Grace and Dolly Under the Sea

The summer days are slowly disappearing.  It's not the heat that dissipates.  It's the hot, dry days of Indian Summer that come along.  And the draining of the lake I hike around every morning, and often kayak in.  Little islands begin to surface and the areas where I paddled my kayak freely, become homes once again to a variety of wildlife.  While good for the two and four-footed creatures, it's a sadness that is keenly felt by me.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE autumn, but the cooler days do not arrive until late October.  It's simply a noticeable change of season.

August has traditionally been the time for families to travel on holiday.  That was something of generations past.  People took to the road and traveled to have adventures and a change of pace and scenery.  And one of the things we always did was go to the beach.  I've had a fascination with the ocean and sea life for as long as I can remember.  And stories, dreams of mermaids lasted long into the years.

August has often been the time when I post a daily illustration of mermaids and beach scenes to my Facebook page.  This year I've concentrated on travel and destinations.  Places where you heart can soar and your soul can heal. 

This August, Rachel and Diana chose The Little Mermaid as their Club Grace theme.  I wasn't sure initially, how I would approach it.  They'd done a mermaid costume one Halloween - and that was before my Dolly Dingle was on the scene.  Diana had drawn a Flounder in the illustration, and I bought a toy Flounder for the display.  Playing Club Grace has taken on a life of its own since I had Dolly Dingle made by Connie Zink.  And this month's theme inspired me rather quickly once I gave it a good think.  I loved the 1989 version and Sebastian was my favorite character.

Some people remember the movie for the song Arial sang about wishing she could be part of their world.  For me it was Under the Sea with Sebastian as the leader of the Hot Crustacean Band.  It was cute and silly and catchy and made me feel wonderful.  A Rastafarian crab.  Go figure!  Move over Bob Marley!  "We got no troubles, Life is dee bubbles!"  "Each little slug here, Cuttin' a rug here under the sea!"

I popped my DVD into the player and watched the movie one more time.  So much I'd forgotten!  So much I remembered.  Hey!  It was research.  Research is a good thing, and "Darlin' its better, Down where its wetter...", under the sea. (Mulan is my other very favorite by the way.)

From the video introduction of August's Club Grace, Rachel indicated that she'd longed for the dress Arial wore when she took her first carriage ride through the town that surrounded Prince Eric's castle.  I was also delighted to once again see the music score where

Eric takes Ariel for a rowboat ride and the land and sea life encourage him to "kiss the girl".  What's interesting is that even before I rewatched the movie, I'd decided on what costumes Dolly Dingle and Remmie Lou would wear.  It simply gave me more inspiration and ideas for accessories.

The funny thing is that the animated drawings I researched on the Internet were no-two-alike.  The colors were always changing, as well as the number of tentacles Ursula had.  I sat there and counted.  We all know the octopus has eight tentacles or legs.

And those little suction cups are called suckers.  But how was I going to create this costume for the 10" chubby Dolly Dingle?  She is NOT easy to sew for.  No matter how many costumes I make for her, each is unique and a challenge.

In viewing the drawings of Ursula, I felt that a thin, black cotton velveteen was the right fabric for the costume.  I almost chose black silk as it was shiny and would look wet, like "under the sea".  Silk has its own challenges, like fraying.  I solve that little issue with Fray Check, but that would require a lot of time.  

And why Ursula for Dolly?  Because every sweet little girl wants to play a badass once in a while.  And, hey!  It would be a challenge.  

After looking through many versions of Ursula, this was the image I liked best.  I decided not to make Jetsom and Flotsam.  That would have required many days of needle felting.  As it was, if you're reading this, Rachel, this collection took me several days to make.  When I think of how long it takes me to make a costume...well, a lot of the work is done in my head and in research, which alone, can take several days.  I seldom just jump into a project unless it's obvious and I have all the materials required.

Conniving little Moray Eels aside, Ursula is great character.  

Dolly as Ursula.

There were a couple of ways to approach the costume.  One was to make it all one piece with "legs" coming off of the bodice.  The other was to make each leg separately and sew them all onto the hem of bodice.  This was the way I chose to do it out of pattern design ease.  

Since Dolly already had two legs, all I needed to make was six!

So, I made six velveteen tentacles lined with purple silk.  Do you enjoy seeing costumes, or projects in the works?  I do because it shows me how something is done for future reference.  

The bodice is lined in black silk and the tentacle ends that are attached to the bodice are hidden beneath the hand hemming of the black lining.

I had some strong and very thin floral wire that I used to give the tentacles the ability to be bent into a curly shape.  I used poly stuffing to give them body and shape.

The last touch to the tentacles was hand sewing on a lighter colored sequin to resemble the suckers.  Two rows would do it on each.  In person, it's very sparkly and pretty, but the photos don't show this well.

I did needle felt the gold snail shell Ursula wears around her neck to capture Ariel's lovely voice.

Her crown, which was actually King Triton's and her trident are gold foil covered cardboard.  Three layers to give them strength.  

Dolly wears a pair of black tights beneath the costume and that's how the eight tentacles were done.

This close up hopefully shows the bling the sequin suckers create.

I also intended for the tentacles with their strong wire to help Dolly stand on her own.  But her feet are not flat on the ground.  That's just a feature of the mold her body was created from.  

Of course, we couldn't forget to dress Remmie Lou.

As I mentioned, Sebastian was my favorite character.  The poor little crab who was charged to keep an eye on the wayward teenage mermaid who desired to become human and win the love of Prince Eric.  

For those who haven't bothered looking this up, Sebastian was a Tropical Ghost Crab.  I just looked that up myself.  How does Disney do this?  Sebastian is just too much!  And trying to make a crab costume for a dog was no easy trick.  I'm not even sure I succeeded, but I gave it my best shot.

What can I say?

Okay, we needed big crab claws.  That was a start.  I used my wonderful Felt Pod felted wool for the costume.  I made the claws to fit over the front paws and I swear they look more like oven mitts but there you go.  It's a DOG COSTUME!  

I created a sort of open face mask to give the impression of Sebastian's lumpy eye sockets and his big lower lip.  Then I embroidered little emphasis lines close to the eyes.

The crab's shell is one little piece that ties around and under Remmie's tummy.  I stretched and worked the wool to give it a crab shell shape. 

Now Remmie Lou can scoot along the bottom of the sea keeping an eye on the troublesome mermaid in her charge.  Maybe I should have included a conductor's baton to lead that Hot Crustacean Band!

Ariel combing her tresses with the dinglehopper.

Finding a small enough fork for Ariel's dinglehopper wasn't difficult to do.  The fork is simply a little jewelry finding; an inexpensive charm.  Sure, I had to buy 30 of them, but no biggie.  Scale is everything to me.

Here she is combing her hair.  The wig?  Well, it's one that I had on hand.  It has that full, lovely look of Ariel's flowing tresses.

Let's ask Scuttle what this is!

Lastly, and I mean last night, I remembered that something was missing.  Ariel's pink treasure sack.

So, before the last rays of sunlight left my studio for taking photos, I whipped up this little pink silk sack in 15 minutes.  

I actually had a blast making this collection to go with Grace's Club Grace Ariel dress.  Just watching the movie again was a joy.  I may just watch it one more time before all is said and done.  

I know I've mentioned this in the past, but August has often been a slow month for me in my studio.  Lately it's been next to impossible to find time to play in there.  The reasons are boring, but reality.  However, when a new Club Grace comes out, everything else gets set aside and time is made so that I can play Club Grace with the other collectors and enthusiasts out there.

"Each little snail here, Know how to wail here, That's why its hotter under the water, Ya' we in luck here, Down in the muck here under the sea!"

 

Grace and Dolly's Club Grace Garden Fun

July arrives!  And with it, the end of a long Club Grace Subscription hiatus!  It feels like so much longer than the few months since February, and the past season's last offering.  It was a white dress you could "dress up", and I was busy working on other things at the time, so I didn't play Club Grace in that last month.  If you recall, I was creating Mardi Gras costumes for several dolls and having a ball with it.  But yes.  Club Grace is back!  I got in and will be playing Grace and Dolly and Remmie Lou again while the current subscription lasts.

And there have been changes since February.  The most significant were the hiring of Christopher Johnson, and the retiring of that dear fellow, Stanley.  Christopher brings an exciting glamour and energy to dressing and displaying both the Tonner dolls and vintage fashion dolls. 

When we were told that Stanley was retiring and leaving 

Turn of the Century Antiques, I felt and heard a collective sigh of sadness round the world.  Stanley rocked Rachel in her cradle as a baby, and then her little daughter Holland Diane.  Stanley was much more than an employee.  He was family and always will be.  We'll all miss him.

But there are other changes that I've noticed as time has gone by, and as Rachel's little daughter grows up.  There is more focus on the contributions of Christopher.  And Holland Diane is a wee social media celebrity even before she knows what one is.  It's a joy to watch how things develop at Turn of the Century Antiques, but it's also a time of change.  Sometimes changes come quickly.  And how do some of us move along with and through changes in our lives?  By getting out in nature.

For myself, my Zen time in nature is by kayaking on the lake, or time spent in my hiking boots on a trail with my dog, Brighton. 

For others, it's getting out into their backyards and digging in good soil and planting flowers or seeds or starters to grow fresh garden produce.  There is nothing as delicious as fresh tomatoes or squash from your own garden.  And sweet cucumbers!

I'm not the gardener.  I'm pretty good with indoor plants, watering them with Miracle Gro, but I'm not a gardener.  When my husband was a child, he grew produce in his backyard.  His grandfather was a farmer in Alabama, and he learned love of the land from him.

During the summer months, he would tend his vegetable garden, daily pick the most beautiful of vegetables they would produce, load up his red wagon, and go door to door selling the vegetables to his neighbors and come home with an empty wagon and a pocket full of change.  He did this for years and saved every nickle.  So much so that his brother, when he married, borrowed money from David to take his bride on a honeymoon.

His mother told the story of how, when he'd till his field, he'd have a small army of robins following behind him, pulling at the earthworms the tilled soil would produce.  The robins would watch for him in the trees, then quietly swoop down behind him and hop along until all had full bellies.

Gardening, whether you grow flowers, shrubs, or vegetables is good for the soul.  Good for the soil.  Good for the earth.  Our garden is good for the birds and squirrels and the deer and the darned gophers!  Hah!  It's a constant battle to keep them at bay, but

David does a pretty good job of it with fencing and netting.  The overgrown vegetables get tossed over the fence into our field in what we call our compost pile, and it is empty the next morning.  The deer keep an eye out for the daily treat.  

The first Club Grace offering for the new season was called Garden Fun, and Grace was given a shorts overalls embroidered with flowers and a gardening hat and pink rose wellies.  

I studied the photos Rachel had provided us as well as Diana Vining's illustrations and paper toys and did my best to create something for both Dolly and Remmie Lou to compliment Grace's outfit.

The box came with a package of adorable Graham 

Cracker Bug Bite cookies, little play, doll sized vegetables and the assortment of story cards and stickers written and illustrated by Diana Vining.  A charming little box of garden joy!

Dolly's own short-alls (I think you call them that), were made from a denim skirt I never wore.  I actually save clothing just to cut up for doll clothing these days.  You never know what item will come in handy in a pinch.

Her wellies are leather with hand-painted roses on them that I drew in with those lovely alcohol markers.  She has a white t-shirt and a white straw hat.  I was confused with the straw bucket hats that were shown on Grace and didn't know that Grace would receive a canvas bucket hat of her own.  This is okay.  Dolly can have something a bit different.  The straps and shorts are closed with snaps.

Remmie Lou got a sun visor, made the same way I created Dolly's wellies.  

Diana Vining created a sweet little backyard fun game of a Remmie Lou treat toss.  Brighton would have consumed the hot dog first, but Remmie Lou knows that she must get all the paper treats in the hole in the net before the hot dog gets eaten.

This was a fun and summery change for the dolls since I kept them in the June Bride costumes until the new season of Club Grace came out.  I feel very fortunate to have been able to sign up for a third season so I could enjoy sewing for Dolly and display these dolls in something new each month.

Below, I'm sharing a few pieces of garden imagery.  One I like in particular, is the illustration by Harry Hintermeister of the little boy loading his cart with his dog looking on and imagining the mouths he'll feed from the labors of his hard work.  It's gorgeous!

We must have a one of anthropomorphic vegetables, one from a Victory Garden, and one that I can identify with.  Which is the little girl who turns her garden box into a miniature village!  That's me.  Oh!  The summers I spent in my grandmother's rock garden, making flower people and little homes for them!

Wishing you all the very best of the last half of July.  If you can't get outside in nature to plant something, enjoy watching something grow.  

Sending love, Melissa

 

Cissy's Green Tea Summer

I'm a tea drinker.  I used to be a confirmed coffee lover and dutifully made a small pot each morning in one of those tiny, 4 cup Mr. Coffee coffee makers.  But sometime, a very long time ago, I switched to tea and now rarely touch the bean.  Oh, I can be spotted knocking back a shot of espresso in a small cup of coffee once a year, maybe, if I'm out with a friend.  But it's rare.  I have a funny story for you.

I was at a UFDC doll convention with a dear friend of mine, and I was meeting up with her at the hotel's coffee spot.  She knew I drank tea and ordered me a huge cup of green tea while I was on my way down.  When I sat at our table, she went to retrieve our order and set down this iced ice creamy coffee drink that looked to die for and my jaw dropped open.  "What?!  You get to have a desserty ice creamy coffee and I get stuck with an old cup of green tea?!"  We laughed, and quickly fixed that little problem, and I drank BOTH!  But, yes, I'm a tea drinker.

My favorite happens to be Tetley's for its dark richness, and I do not have caffeine issues.  I wish I did.  Nothing wakes me up faster in the morning than taking my dog out for a hike or finding I'm about to miss out on ordering the latest Ruby Red Galleria offering!

The tea plant Camellia sinensis is native to East Asia having originated in the borderlands of southwestern China.  The Chinese have been drinking tea for thousands of years.  The earliest evidence of tea consumption in China dates back to the Han dynasty as early as 2nd century BC.  People of the Han dynasty used tea, or steeped herbs, for medicinal purposes.  Before the mid-8th C. Tang Dynasty, tea drinking was primarily a southern Chinese practice.  It became widely popular after this and spread to other countries.  

Laozi, the Chinese philosopher, was said to describe tea as "the froth of liquid jade" and named it the indispensable ingredient.

to the elixir of life. Ancient tea production came in the form of little bricks and could be used for barter or currency.  Loose leaf tea wasn't produced until the Song dynasty, which was to preserve the delicate character favored by court society.

The original teapot also has its origins in China, and dates back to the Ming dynasty (1368 -1644).  Their design was based on the Chinese wine ewer which can be seen in the photo above.  Clay teapots came into production around 1500, but the first teapots in early China were produced from cast iron.

Then of course, you have a large variety of beautifully hand-crafted and decorated tea caddies. This early one to the left features stamped tin containers for loose-leaf tea.  The decorative cap is separate from a second cap that features a knob on the top.

I'd been finishing up Lisa See's latest novel, Lady Tan's Circle of Women, when I began Cissy's Green Tea Summer.  The novel is the story of China's first woman doctor; a "reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty", who would "go on to treat women of every level of society and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later".  There were always midwives, but how women were diagnosed and treated for conditions during these centuries was jaw-dropping.  As there were only male doctors, and they weren't allowed to touch women, a go-between woman sat with the patient, and the male physician sat behind a screen and only asked questions.  Brewed concoctions and teas were prescribed to cure every illness - and of course many women died. Women needed women doctors.

Three easily recognizable herbs that are still used medicinally today are cinnamon, ginger and licorice root.  Two of the other top five herbs are astragulus, known to support kidney and heart 

health, and schisandra berry which can benefit women with osteoporosis.  And then there's green tea. Among the benefits of green tea are improved brain function, fat burning (yay!), its high in antioxidants, and it may help prevent type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Are you still with me?  Well, I find this all fascinating.  

I had this beautiful piece of fabric with a delicate design of genteel life among Chinese women and I longed to make Cissy a dress from it.  I just wanted something to do to pass the time.  And wanted something light and breezy for Cissy to wear this summer.

I created for her a belt of black satin cord with a jewelry finding center of red cinnabar carved into a Double Happiness symbol.  The dress was so simplistic in design that the accessories became the focus of this project.  And I love making accessories.

Cissy's hair is very difficult to pin up and seldom stays in place, but here she's wearing the best I could style for a French Twist.

Detail of the back of her dress and belt closure.

It was the hat and the tea green color of the Swiss straw, that finally gave Cissy's outfit a name and story.  

This simple style of crownless hat was popular in the 1950's.  To me its a take off on the Chinese cone or sun hat.  Minus the point.  Overnight as I was contemplating is simplicity, I came up with the idea to decorate with a black cotton grosgrain band and two black tassels.  

The real fun was in her handbag.  

I found a section in the fabric used for her dress of a single elegant figure, and made that the centerpiece of the bag's design.

Its a small oval bag completely lined and detailed with leather and a macrame cord handle.  This is pure "jewelry making" techniques.  I haven't make a handbag this detailed in a long time and I need to do it now and then to keep the process fresh in my mind.  Guess I need more green tea!

Detail of top.

Detail of lined interior.

I'd finished See's book, along with one of Elin Hildebrand's Nantucket summer reads, and Cissy's outfit all about the same time.  I was lucky to have a pair of green heels that matched the hat and bag to pull this all together.  She has a large gold bracelet of Chinese symbols and a black crystal bead bracelet as well to compliment the details of the hat and belt.  Cissy's Green Tea Summer.

I had a wonderful time researching the history of tea, teapots and finding a selection of gorgeous teapots, tins and vintage miniature Chinese teas sets to share with you.  I may as well add that I caved and purchased the "wine ewer" teapot from a seller in Israel.  This teapot just took my breath away!  

As I've mentioned before, summer is slow time for me creatively.  On purpose.  I took my kayak out on the lake this morning and the surface of the water was like glass.  I read continually.  I try new recipes and the next one is grilled Filipino Chicken in banana ketchup marinade.  I love to try new things and different cuisines.

I hope you're enjoying the days of July.  Let's make this a beauutiful and gentle summer together.

A salute to tea!  Melissa  

Precious dragon tin.

Tea or ginger jar.

Williams and Sonoma must have.

Vintage Chinese teapot

Example of early design in clay.

Isn't this a fun teapot?!

Vintage miniature for a child.

My tea drawer.

Jasmine and ginger tea tins.

Vintage tin.

Love this kind of repeating design!

Detail of the fabric.

Commemorative ornaments.

Vintage miniature.

Cissy antique shops and finds a ewer design.