Kitty Hudson's 1920's Beach Pyjamas

Entering the last unofficial weeks of summer, some of us might be thinking and planning ahead for those months of fall, the 'bers.  Eh?  Me?  Not yet.  I'm going to get as much out of summer as I can while the sun is still high and the nights are warm.  Which means continuing my beach themed costuming.  

After completing Lacie's 1930's beach pyjamas from the Sporting Fashions book, there was one more young lady who I knew would enjoy having a pair and would wear them well.  Kitty Hudson, Heather Cullman's antique 1469.  For those of you who are just learning about my blog, in 2020 I created a lovely trousseau for this doll as she traveled through Europe.  On occasion, I add to her wardrobe, and add to her story.  Her story began in February 2020 if you care to jump to those entries on this blog.  Without further ado...

"Dear Charles, How are you my dearest friend?  As the end of summer approaches, I've noticed our Kitty has become a bit 

despondent while her friends start packing and traveling off to University abroad.  While Kitty is scheduled to attend a private girl's university this fall, she has so much energy yet to spend and could use a little distraction.  I hope your current pursuits in Greece have been rewarding as I read about the discoveries of Byzantium, and the excavating of Corinthian culture.  Fascinating.  I can't to hear all about it when next we meet.  In the meantime, how would you feel about hosting our debutante in Greece?  I know she is quite interested in what you all are doing out there and would love to enjoy the beaches, water and the cuisine of Greece.  Looking forward to hearing from you.  Always, Madame Hoover"

"Dear M, Delighted to hear from you!  We'd be thrilled to entertain Kitty in Greece.  One of the professors has a son her age who is quite skilled sailing his father's yacht and would love to show Kitty a good time.  He enjoys a great group of other kids his age and I think we can keep Kitty busy until her return

to University.  Looking forward to the New Year's party this year in your fabulous salon.  I wouldn't miss it for the world!  Always, as well, Charles"

And so, Madame Hoover and Kitty's mother put their heads together to ensure Kitty had something new and fabulous to wear on those beaches, on the yacht and in cafes as well, for her trip to Greece.  Beach Pyjamas were the latest craze and quite daring as they allowed a young girl to wear pants.  They were smart and fun, allowed a girl to run and play and sit without keeping those fabulous knees held properly together.  A stylish pair would go from beach to cafe in an instant.

Kitty's mother sent along to Madame Hoover, a lovely Italian sunhat that she picked up for Kitty in Italy last year, along with Kitty's favorite French beach shoes that she found at a souvenir shop at one of the resorts in France the same year.   

Dear Madame Hoover, As promised, here are the sun hat and sandals that I'd like you match with a fabric for a pair of beach pyjamas for Kitty.  I have faith you'll come up with just the right yardage to create something fun for her to wear.  My undying gratitude, Mrs. Hudson"

After finishing Lacie Churchill's set, I was still awaiting a fabulous piece of lawn from the U.K.  I was so surprised when it showed up because the print was doll sized.  I had fully expected the sailboat print to be oversized on the doll, which was fine with me as Lacie's costume required such a large print. Of course I had to rework the pattern to fit Kitty, or create a new one, and this is what I did from the existing patterns I kept for Kitty.  I underestimated how much fabric these would require and just about used the entire piece of cloth during the pattern layout.  I had hoped to make a full skirted dress out of the for Grace, but that's not going to happen now.  Which is fine.  

As I'd already made a first pair, there wasn't much to add in description of how they came together for Kitty.  A bodice lined one piece with matching belt.  

What was going to be different is the color scheme of the hat and I'd be making a pair of beach shoes to go with it.

As with all difficult things, I tend to tackle them first because if I'm not successful, there's little point in continuing the project.  All pieces must be present for the overall effect to be a success.

The 1470 by Doug James, has a similar low-heeled foot like the 1469.  I hadn't yet made a flat soled shoe for Kitty, so I was in for a challenge.  I began by trying to make her a pair with a wedged sole to fill in the raised heel of her foot.  I was completely unsuccessful with this venture since the sole turned out more platform than simple wedge.  This foot is 1 1/2" long and the materials would need to be very thin to pull this off.  And I really

wanted to make a pair like those shown in the Sports Fashion book.  I even figured out what to use for the black rubber soles!  But after a week and a half of effort, I started looking further and elsewhere for ideas.

Lucky me, I found this vintage pair of French beach shoes from the 1930s on Pinterest.  The blogger collects antique and vintage clothing and accessories and the stacked heel on these beach shoes was just the thing to complete Kitty's pair.

The process sped along after that.  It was still slow detail work, but at least I knew the heels would work with seven pieces of leather stacked together.  I simply kept adding a layer until the doll could stand flat footed.

This was the result.  A combination of a simplified design from the book's shoes and the soles of the antique French shoes.

In order to get a buckle on them I attached the strap in a way that the foot would slip into them, and the buckle would never have to be messed with. 

With thin pleather or vinyl which is used by doll clothing factories, which makes buckling much easier, these shoes are of cloth and near impossible to wiggle through a tiny buckle.

Solution completed.

On Emily.  My doll and mannequin for Kitty's wardrobe.

Next came the hat.  I had every intention of dying hat straw in an aqua to match the waves on this fabric, thinking it would look so pretty. The dying was successful, the hat turned out pretty, but too small!  I don't know why I thought my mold would fit this head when Lacie's head is so much smaller.  But I screwed up and did not have enough blank straw to make another dyed batch.  I'd ordered more on the 30th of July, and three weeks later it is still not here.  I'll write to Nelly Valentino one more time.  She never answered my inquiry last week.  Frustrating.

Yet one of the color schemes I originally suggested was a navy and white and I had just enough navy hat straw to make a sun hat.  I reworked my mold to enlarge it for Emily's head and began again.  This time with one less row of alternating straw since the crown was a good deal larger.

I also included a complimenting scarf to pick up that aqua color in the waves, and it worked out well.  This was a fabric I had

used years ago, for a beach costume for the princess Elizabeth doll that was popular at the time. (Referring to the reproduction dolls in a much smaller size of the dolls France had presented to the then, princesses Elizabeth and her sister on a state visit.)

Lastly, I asked Heather what she thought of my adding a beach parasol.  The answer was yes, I wish it had been "no".  Ha-ha!  These parasols are as much effort to make as a garment, it not a bit crazier because you need to find the artwork, print it out in multiples, cut out the tiny pieces and manage to make an attractive design with them.  Measuring, temporary taping, accurate spacing, and finally Mod Podging them on.  Then a final seal.

I had every intention of using an aqua parasol as the base, but having to change the hat color scheme pointed me in the direction of the yellow one I had painted earlier as a possible for the bat parasol for the Little Stella.  

I'd seen the beach parasol in the Sports Fashion book on page 164 and wanted to try something like it.  However, finding a clip art of bathing sitters like the ones on that umbrella wasn't going to happen.  It took me three days to settle on a sailboat theme, which is fine, because the umbrella in question did have sailboats on it as well.  I was not trying to replicate in miniature.  The idea was to make a believable 1920s beach themed parasol to go with all the elements of the costume I'd just created.

The yellow picked up the light gold in the fabric print, and I think its catchy and came out well in spite of all the tribulations involved.

Emily is modeling her pair of round sunglasses, and Kitty Hudson received a pair when I made her the bathing costume last year.

Below are some lovely vintage illustrations of days by the sea from the 20s and 30s.  Perhaps the one on the ship is of Madame Hoover's friend, Charles, accompanying Kitty Hudson on a tour of the coast. 

For some reason, summer has never been my favorite season.  So hot.  So dry here.  But this year I'm enjoying it immensely and perhaps that's because I've taken a slower pace to things and have spent time in the sun and sand with two of my favorite dolls.  

It won't last long!  Enjoy the rest of summer!

 

Lacie's Beach Lounging 1930s

Hello!  Happy August.  Summer's last defined month of holidays and coastal dreaming.  The last few weeks have been a rough haul for me as I underwent a surgical procedure, but I'm feeling pretty good again, and healing well.  I hope.  This summer has been a fairly mild one, which is wonderful, but the temps are rising, again, so it's a good day to sit inside and write a journal posting while 97 degrees becomes 100.

And the pre- full moon was glorious last night.  Tonight, it will rise a little later, but we're promised this Sturgeon Moon will be just as large, lovely and luminous.

Last summer, or some months before when I was paying attention, Rachel Hoffman introduced to us the book, Sporting Fashion, Outdoor Girls, 1800 to 1960.  I recall the ice-skating costume that Grace received in her subscription box for Christmas, but I think that was 2023.  I found it strange that it was different from the contemporary clothing we normally get

yet it was inspired by and created to a T by Ruby Red Galleria, from the Sporting Fashion book.  The era of the costume was 1930s.

Then in the summer of 2024, some beautiful costuming was done for Rachel's Land and Sea collection, which also happened to come from the Sporting Fashion book.  I was getting hooked at this point, but when she introduced Season Four, A Journey Through Time, where many of the costumes have come from, I realized that I needed to have a copy.

The book is large and could be used as a bench press, but it's gorgeous.  So long paper doll clothing inspiration!  I wanted to make costumes from this book that Rachel may not be inspired to offer us.  

The photos are from the collection of American Federation of Arts, FIDM, Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design &

Merchandising.  At 343 pages, it's a handful.  A gorgeous coffee table museum art book, but also, now, a source of inspiration for me.  While I don't necessarily enjoy sewing for 16" fashion dolls, this may change at the owning of this book.  I can't put it down.  Stunning costumes and history!

When I saw this Beach Lounging 1930's costume, that did it for me.  Had to make one.  Finding the right fabric would prove more than a challenge and I've added a good couple hundred dollars' worth of Liberty Lawn fabrics to my stash in an attempt to get a good resemblance to the original.  Not a chance.  It was the Italian sunhat that made the decision for me.  I love orange.  That hat!

While the Journey Through Time subscription series was for Grace, I chose to dress Lacie in them

as Grace hasn't yet caught up with all the outfits I have for her.  Grace has a personality all her own, and I enjoy displaying her with little sister, Anne, in complimenting fashions.  Lacie has a vintage model look to her and a beautiful, serene expression.  Just different.  So, she is my contemporary historical fashion doll.

The original beach pyjamas were made from an "Asian silk" as described in the book, with large chrysanthemums and fans.  There was no way I was going to be able to purchase anything close to that, but the lawn fabrics are light, have a lovely hand, and there's a plethora of beautiful bright prints to select from.  The one I made up Lacie's costume from was chosen due to the presence of the orange in it to match the Italian sunhat.

This belted one piece has wide, cool legs for hot summer days on the coast, but dressy enough to go from the sand to the cafe for a chocolate soda.

I hand dyed the Swiss hat straw a bright orange and used an off white in the alternating bands.  To me, this hat is the "bodice", the focal point of this costume.  It's usually one striking detail that inspires me to create a costume in miniature for a doll.

The more I studied the photo, the more I saw.

The scarf.  Initially, I thought the scarf was of the same fabric, but closer inspection told me it was a complimentary silk.  

To make it, I edged a busier floral lawn designed of the same colors, with a solid blue lawn.  There was no other way to create the look.  Ruby Red Galleria may be able to make their own fabrics, but as a seamstress at home, we do what we must.

I added the fabric covered belt with a working prong buckle and used indigo espadrilles by Facets by Marcia for the shoes.  Now, Lacie can ease into the holiday month of August with ease and style.  Just for fun and imagination, perhaps she is summering on the Amalfi coast and picked up the hat there.

The Sporting Fashion book is a must have for anyone who loves the historical fashions Rachel has provided us.  So far, I think she's done eight from this book.  Some were offered in Grace's Season Four and some were offered in the Land and Sea collection.  Brilliant.  I think a good many of us have really enjoyed these.  To me, they are collectible pieces, not just fun fashions.  Lacie will wear them again and again as the seasons change.

The beach pyjamas were just my first from this book and another is coming soon after Kitty Hudson gets a set of her own.  Lawn is a beautiful fabric to work with.  If you never have, give it a try.  Much of what I purchase comes from the U.K.

The pages below are courtesy of Amazon.  I'm not sure they can be read, but if you were lucky enough to be on the Season Four Grace subscription, they might inspire you to purchase the book.

Happy last month of summer!

 

Playing Abigail the Vampire Ballerina

One of the remarkable things about playing dolls is realizing that moment when a doll becomes a friend.  When you've spent so much time with her, she grows a personality and charm that you gravitate to on your best and worst days, because she is there to be special to you in every way.  This is Maisie.  And the funny thing is, she became my friend and muse the instant I pulled her from the box.  

Growing up, dolls were precious commodities and were handled by me as things of worth and exquisite beauty rather than toys to be played with.  Oh, I had my moments with Liddle Kiddles and my troll doll, but the other dolls were as elevated as books.  You cared for them and didn't mark them up.  A lost shoe was a calamity, and each item collected for that doll held its own special meaning and worth.  And, no, I never lost a shoe!

Maisie has grown me in some ways as a doll costumer and set me back just as much in how difficult she is to sew for.  I never used to blink when I set out to make an outfit, for say, a Lawton doll, or 

even the dreaded 16" fashion doll needing darts.  And I'm getting pretty good at making my own darts now, but that's another story.  I even heard confirmation recently from a respected, professional doll costumer, that the Connie Lowe dolls are indeed a challenge to sew for.  Not that this made me feel any better about taking on the latest challenge, but at least I no longer feel like an odd ball.  Well, I am one, but again, that's another story.

Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, okay, last summer, Heather's doll, Eloise got to watch a movie on the plane on her way home from the UFDC convention.  Comfortably lounging on the tray table with a bag of her favorite candy, Sour Patch Kids, she got to choose the movie for the flight home.  And it was Abigail.  A horror movie that came out in April of 2024.  Abigail is the story of a vampire ballerina and Eloise has talked of little else since watching it.  So, like a good mom, Heather asked me to make Eloise an Abigail vampire ballerina costume. 

At first, I was dumbfounded.  A what?!  So, like the good little researcher I am, I Googled it up.  Sure enough.  There was a movie about a vampire ballerina.  Did I watch it?  Not yet, but I did enjoy the trailer.  Oh, and I did read the article written about it on Wikipedia.  

The story is about - do you care? yes - about a little girl, the daughter of a reclusive kingpin who presides over a vast criminal empire, and the five thugs who kidnap her for a ransom of $50 million.  Little do they know as the sun sets that night, that the pre-teen ballerina in their possession is an ancient vampire.  And yes, I will watch it because I like campy horror films.  It was actually a take-off from a 1936 film called Dracula's Daughter.  Now that is one I'd like to see!

And now you know that I like vampire movies and series (and books!), especially when the vampire is played by Matthew Goode.  

But these things really didn't prepare me for conjuring up a vampire ballerina costume.  Especially for a Connie Lowe doll.  I'm still not quite there when it comes to using cut up vintage clothing and sewing outside the box, but I'll get there in time.  I have made dance/ballet costumes, but never the kind with tulle and I'd have to seriously study Tonner's ballet tutus before trying to make a classic style, which is the short, stiff kind used in classical ballets.  What I chose to try was the "romantic" style, which is long and reaches the knee or lower.  This style is most often composed of 5 to 6 layers of tulle.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to make her a parasol.  The longer I contemplated "vampire" and "ballerina", my thoughts drifted to New Orleans where many vampire stories are set.  Visions of Southern elegance, magnolia trees and bayou swamps begged to find their way into this play set.

The parasol is a backdrop, a scenic setting.  How do you create a ballerina tutu that says "vampire"?  You give it some props.  Maybe I didn't need to go in this direction.  Maybe I could have just made a tutu and said, "You figure it out".  But that's not me.  Remember?  I'm an odd ball.  And I really wanted to make another parasol.  So that was the first thing I did while waiting for the tulle to arrive in the mail.

I used the images of bats and treetops from this vintage illustration depicting a certain kind of bat.  These illustrations were most often found in textbooks and nature study books.  I also used the full moon from the illustration which helped give the twilight hue of lavender an eerie feel.  

I like bats!  They eat mosquitos.  They're little night birds.

This was one of the more difficult parasols that've I've painted and decorated.  I'd actually considered including magnolias on it, but the bats alone, flying about at twilight felt elegant and serene.

Designing the artwork for these parasols takes an incredible amount of thought and effort.  It's something I love to do, and it beat learning Photoshop when it comes to backgrounds.  One is a prop and an accessory.  The other, a tool I wish I'd had under my belt for this project.

I knew before I even watched the trailer to the movie, that I wanted to make the romantic style tutu.  The idea of a child flitting and hopping through the woods in a flowing ballet dress, pretending to sneak up and bite her victims, required the look of clouds and mist.

I studied various tutu skirts at this length and chose to begin the tulle almost at a the hip.  The amount of gathering required to get this one look, would consume her tiny body if the tulle gathers were at the waist.  I have seen these skirts separate from the bodice tops and that worked for me.

The other noted detail was how to get the idea of vampire written on the tutu.  Blood.  Gotta have blood.  But Abigail was a ballerina and took her talent seriously.  A beautiful, clean tutu to perform in was required.  The blood and gore come later when she's pissed off.

To do this, I purchased tiny tear drop shaped red gems.  I think these might be used on fingernails but can be used on a variety of crafting project.  Five pointed inwards would make a nice flower for instance.  Anyway, I bought them in two sizes.  One was much too large and got tossed, but the tiny ones were perfect.

They also have a bit of sticky on the back and I pressed one to the corner of Maisie's mouth - and no, it will not hurt the resin - and followed the blood drop trail down her tutu.  Another set dusts the skirt when things get messy.

Again, what would a vampire ballerina costume look like?

Still classy, still beautiful, but with blood drop gems.

Maisie modeling a the costume in another ballet position with the parasol

And let's not forget that since vampires are sensitive to the sun, a large parasol is the perfect foil for keeping the sun away!

The back.  I actually made long darts in the bodice in the back to accommodate Maisie's behind.  The bodice is long enough to cover the panel that the tulle is sewn into.  

Normally they would be two separate pieces but when dressing the doll, they tending to separate.  This design was easily solved by tacking the top to the bottom.  Sometimes I forget that I'm dressing a doll, not a person.  It worked.

The cape.  Once again, How do you design a ballet costume to say "vampire"?  The vampire cape.  Oh!  This was fun!

Let it be said that I'm getting to the point that sewing black with black thread is coming to an end.  I simply cannot see what I'm doing any longer.  I wear glasses anyway, and no matter how bright the lights are, it's very difficult.  I'll grump about this, but I really do need to find an easier way to see what I'm doing.

This little cape has your typical vampire collar.  With the skinny neck this little doll has, and the width between her shoulder and chin being equally small, a smaller collar was necessary.  A long hair wig would cover it completely.  Couldn't be helped, but Maisie's little pigtails allow you to see what it looks like.

While sewing this, I decided to add finger loops so Eloise could flap around like a little bat flying through the twilight sky.

Don't tempt me!

The collar.

Loving the cape.

And then came the slippers.  About halfway through this process, I looked up a YouTube on how ballet pointe shoes are made.  We used to call them toe shoes, but now they are referred to as pointe shoes.  Thought you'd like to know that.

The intent was to make a pair of toe shoes as close to the real deal as possible.  Took me a week just to design and create them, but that's pretty typical.  I used to think the toe boxes were made of wood, and maybe at one time they were, but the toe boxes are now made from composite, like PaperClay and the paper mache is made in large vats like dough.  The YouTube never showed exactly how the composite was applied and formed, but believe it or not, I'd already made toe boxes from a new chunk of PaperClay.  

Once dried and sanded, I gessoed the boxes for smoothness and strength then got to work on the soles.  I won't go into the details from here, but it felt pretty good knowing I'd guessed the toe box material before even watching the YouTube.  

The bottoms of the pointe shoes.

I also looked up exactly where the ribbons should be sewn and it made sense.  I did not have silk satin ribbon in this size and color, so I used normal silk ribbon.  It actually lends a more Connie Lowe feel to the shoes.

One thing I've not mentioned is that I did make little pants to go underneath.  I do not use elastic in my sewing as elastic deteriorates over time.  And since the silk panties were lined, they are made in a way that I came up with, but not necessarily how they should have been made.  I really have not figured that out yet.  This is what the creative process is all about.  Figuring things out as you go along.  

And there are stockings.  A little bigger to get that Connie Lowe loose look.  But they still stay up for all that flitting about in the woods.

I stood Maisie up in the costume and frowned.  It was just too plain.  Ugh   Now what?  So, I started looking at ballet costumes once again and decided to sew on flowers in a random pattern.  Lastly, I added a bit of lavender silk ribbon to match the twilight color of the parasol.

Finally, a hair band of white flowers, a bit oversized for that special whimsical look.

Here, Maisie does a little barre work at the park bench.

Of course, now I want to make another ballet costume, but I'll be taking a little break for a while.  I may not make the pointe shoes with toe boxes this time, more slipper-like instead, but I do want to try a more costume box look in the next one.

This was a big project that took a lot of study, design and concentration to complete.  If it looks effortless, I did my job well.

Enjoy the sun and sunshiny days!  Eloise will be under the parasol until the sun sets!

From the film.