This Bud's For You

The rain came back this afternoon quite unexpected, and now it is simply grey, drizzly and cold.  Is there a better way, then, to spend the afternoon than on reflection of a project finally realized? 

 Last summer I acquired a reproduction of the Lettie Lane Doll House doll.  It was ever the intention to work on a kit to dress the doll with a respected doll artist.  She'd develop the dress pieces, and I would make the hats to go into the kit.  This, of course, did not come to fruition, so I was left with a hat mold I was not truly happy with, although the hat it made was lovely.  So when I was asked to make the dress and hat for a customer and friend a few months ago, I agree to do it.  But, finding a good match to the blue on white print from 100 years ago was impossible.  Many have said they would make it on the computer, but I have tried such a thing long ago when dressing doll house dolls and the ink is never a deep enough color.  So almost having given up, my friend gave me the green light to make it in a fabric of my choosing.  I chose a tiny yellow rose bud Lawn. 

The design of the dress is true to the original as well as the size of the straw hat.  The little skirt piece was pleated, pressed with a craft iron, and hand sewn onto the one piece bodice.  The dress on this 3" doll is completely hand stitched, and the lace was hand sewn on as well.  While the original dress was sewn onto the doll, I couldn't follow suit since I did not have my friend's doll.  I added two tiny shank buttons and made equally tiny thread loops.  The result is a dress that can be removed, and a dolly that just might get more clothing in the future. 

The new mold for the hat was made with a button and a round box.  It actually worked quite well, and this one I'll keep for future hats should there be any requests.  I'm pleased with the outcome and so is my customer.  My Lettie was proud to show off the little dressed doll, even though she has yet to receive a new dress herself.  One thing at a time.

I just discovered something about the blogsite.  You can click on the photos and they will enlarge for you!  Also, you'll notice that the last three posts are more evenly layed out.  I think I have an old computer and some upgrade must have occurred to correct the problems I was having earlier.  The wide spaces, etc., were never an intention. 

Here's to yellow rose buds!  This one is for you.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

Pail Memories of Summer

"Wherever it is likely that you grew up in America between 1880 and 1950 and played along a shoreline during balmy summer days, you owned a beach pail."  (Theriaults)  And, today these beautifully lithographed beach pails from long ago, the ones that managed to survive, sun, sand and rust, are highly prized by collectors. They were often thematic with nursery scenes, anthropomorphic animals, and naturally, children playing by the shore. 

Back last summer a customer commissioned me to paint her a little beach pail for the 1911 Daisy doll.  As with all my projects I carefully reseach and dream until the vision is clear between my little mouse ears as to how I wish to approach the piece.  Finding a suitable little pail the correct size, and not some cheaply made wedding favor, was quite a task.  What I eventually found was a set of Hallmark votive candles melted into three little vintage-type pails.  I was delighted, and of course bought them.  Preparing them for the hand-painted scene I wished to do was another matter.  Getting the wax out was the first matter to solve.  What I discovered was that hitting the metal with a hair dyrer would loosen the wax until you could pop out the candle.  Thinking this was the end of the story, I tried to enamel spray paint the pail thinking it would cover the existing paint such as you see on the green pail.  This was not to be the case as the enamel ran into a sticky mess.  The problem?  Wax had dispersed somehow on the exterior as well as thinly coating the interior.  To solve this problem I took a bottle of Pure Acetone and scrubbed away at the little pail for hours removing any existing wax and paint, such as you see in the black pail.

Next was to mask off the interior, the edges and the handle at separate times to enamel spray the pail red and the handle gold, leaving the edges the original black of the pail.  I had a very good idea of how I wished to pail to look as I was trying to emulate a pail from around the same time Daisy was "born", which had been lithographed with Art Nouveau borders around a serene Victorian display of children playing in the sand.   This pail was shown in the Theriault's book Life's a Beach.  The wonderous pails and tin beach toys within those pages were enchanting and highly inspiring.  Yet after several days of base paint preparations, time and tide saw me working on a variety of other projects appropriate to the seasons before I could once again pick up the pail and begin the task of painting the beach scene and border.

By the time the first of January rolled around, I'd been mocked for several months by this little pail, and I seriously doubted whether or not I could actually paint it.  Out of practice painting in miniature, I began very slowly once again selecting an appropriate scene that would be size appropriate for the pail.  I chose one of a little girl and her brother startled by a little crab racing along the shore that I found on the Internet.  The little girl takes her shovel and tries to shoo the pinching shell creature back into the water...or perchance into her own little beach pail.  The color scheme I chose closely resembles the original, although altered to blend with a shiny red pepper pail.  The Nouveau gold enamel work, purple pansies and scroll corners at the top were inspired by the pail in Life's a Beach.

The last and nerve wracking thing to do, once the painting was complete, was to spray it with a high gloss finish to protect the artwork and enamel.  I knew the gloss would adhere nicely to acrylic paint, enamel and to metal, but would this work on the combination?  I took a deep breath and gently sprayed the gloss back and forth wetting it thoroughly.  It took two coats and the result is what you see. 

As you can see there are two more pails to do something with.  Perhaps I'll do another.  One for my own Daisy.  Perhaps two, and sell the other.   When the winter winds whip hard and snow blankets the ground, it is the memories of summer that keep us warm.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse 

Surely we love sewing beautiful dresses and coats for our dollies, but how often do we remember that they, too, need a little more than panties? So with Lettie, I decided to start from the bottom, up, dressing her. I used the original pattern set from 1911 for her underwaist, half slip and drawers. Working with a fine batiste and a pretty lace, I managed to stitch her up some underclothing.

I noticed when cutting out the drawers that they would have been mighty tight, making sitting comfortably, impossible. So I widened the pattern piece giving her enough room that when wearing the drawers they wouldn't pull around her waist or thighs. I also had a second opportunity to perfect stitching lace on with a sewing machine. By using a tiny zig-zag and placing the edge of the fabric next to the edge of the lace, it attaches like a whip-stitch, only tighter and more permanently. Any areas missed by the machine can be easily hand stitched into place. Lettie also needed socks and slip-ons, so I made those up as well. She'll need brown boots, pink slip-ons and white beach shoes as well, but those will come in time.

Along with making her undergarments, I decided it was high time to learn the proper way of making thread loops for button closures. People kept telling me to use a button hole stitch and it was confounding! "Two threads and a buttonhole stitch", they kept insisting. It came to mind as I was researching such stitches that the term buttonhole stitch was being used most likely because we were attempting to use the loop as a button closure. In actuality, its a blanket stitch over two strands of thread. If you begin your loop from the right by inserting your needle into the cloth, come up a 1/4" to the left (or however large you need the loop to be), and come back over to the right to make a little loop, you can begin the process of making blanket stitches over the thread. I felt like I was earning a mousy merit badge in knot tying doing this, but the results were great. Here are some photos to help you make one.

Nowhere on the Internet could I find examples of how to make one, so I honestly hope these help. My gift to you! They make the outfit so much nicer as an heirloom piece.

Currently I'm working on a dress for Daisy, now that Lettie is "decent". I'm attempting a scalloped collar and cuffs for the yellow coat dress. After much frustration with this and three collars later, I discovered that the original pattern had to be redrawn as a Peter Pan collar, then scalloped. I'm doing this by hand and not machine, and will share with you how I did it in my next post.

Back to the task!

Love,
Miss E. Mouse

Welcome 2012, The Year of Lettie Lane

Just as promised, I am typing one pawed to bring you the last post of 2011. And, there I am! Being tenderly upheld by my new little muse, Lettie Lane. She will be the star of 2012 as her doll house was introduced in The Ladies' Home Journal 100 years ago in the year 1912.

I have long loved the Lettie Lane paper dolls illustrated by Sheila Young, and this particular one, "Pictures of a Little American Girl", just spoke to my heart and I decided she must come to life as a friend for Daisy.

This beautiful antique reproduction was made by the stellar doll artist, Connie Zink, of Land of Oz Dolls, to my exacting specification. Unlike Daisy, she is a German Kestner 174 mold. My intention, and you know I'm good to my word, is to bring to life her clothing from her paper doll page. Just yesterday I ventured out of my little hole in the wall and joined a friend of mine on a journey to San Francisco's Britex Fabrics store on Maiden Lane in Union Square. I bought so many beautiful fabrics in cotton silks, cotton sateens, and cotton velveteens to make these lovely outfits. Ribbons, threads, laces and trims joined the shopping bag and I'm ready to begin 2012 sewing for Lettie Lane.

Is she truly Lettie? We like to believe that the Lettie Lane Paper Dolls depict "Lettie" in all her forms. And, because my Daisy is a blonde and blue eyed little lass, my Lettie had to be her own girl and thusly a brunette with brown eyes. She is wearing a "Lettie" wig purchased from Dollspart Supply, and she will have all the stockings, shoes and hats to go with her lavish wardrobe.

2011 has been an incredible year overall, and it saw Miss E. Mouse add a new dimension to her work as an heirloom doll accessorist, in the form of sewing doll clothing.

So ring in the bells and settle into a gentle winter embracing the beloved pasttimes of reading good books, playing dolls and keeping those little paws busy creating beauty in every corner of your life.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

A Daisy Christmas or Merry Christmouse

It hardly seems another year has come and gone. Its been a very dry and chilly winter solstice, but for a mouse, the dry leaves remain a joy to scurry through. With so much behind us, and so very much ahead, I remain inspired and never tire from one project to the next. Certainly November was a month of very hard work, and sometimes into the night, but Miss E. Mouse is pleased with what came out of it. The December 1911 issue of The Ladie's Home Journal is truly the most outstanding and lovely of the five Daisy issues offered. There were so many pages of gorgeous illustrations of items a girl could make for Christmas, and pages of cut-out paper toys for dolls. One of them was A Christmas Tree For the Dolls, and of this, I made a peg wooden affair in the exact size from the issue.

There were two pages that enchanted me as well, and these were Christmas gifts made in Cretonne, a cabbage rose design. I chose to make the Sewing Chair, The Colonial Work Bag, and the doilly boxes from these pages. But, one of the most enchanting, was the Snow Baby Cake from the "dainties" page. Before I'd even begun making this cake, I had to find tiny snow babies and was very lucky to find a miniature doll shoppe that carried them, made by a lady in England.

The Snow Baby Cake was quite an undertaking as it was made of air drying clay and took a week and a half to completely "bake". The frosting was made from modeling gel, and I made the tiny mistletoe, myself, from scrapbooking leaves and milk glass beads from Prague.

The Colonial Work Bag was yet another intricate challenge. Nada Christensen made the tiny porcelain head on a shoulder plate and even attached it with elastic stringing so the head would turn. The tiny arms are about 1/2" long or smaller! And, just what is a Colonial Work Bag? Nowhere could I find a true definition, so Miss E. Mouse claims it to be a Dolly Work Bag. Much study of the illustration brought me to design the bag "dress" as a drawstring bag opening up under the apron. If you asked me how I did all this, I could barely tell you today as I just fiddled with it all until it came together. Her hair is tiny bits of curled mohair under a silk bonnet. One photo I never took a good one of, details that there is a covered "button" at the bottom of the bag. Girls could use the bag to decorate their dressers or door knobs, too.

The Sewing Chair is a novelty that I think has transcended time. If you look in fabric stores, I believe Mary Englebreit made similar notions. This little chair's base is wood, of course, and I covered in it Cretonne. It even has "stuffing" to feel like a real chair and could be used as Dolly's pin cushion. The chair seat lifts on Shaker style pegging. I included two tiny threaded spools, a needle, and a tiny pair of working scissors.

Two Dolly Varden costumes were made for Daisy. I kept one for my own doll. The one you see in the photo was the first one The Ruffle Queen made. So very many more ruffles than the Pumpkin Costume. This was an original Daisy pattern from the Christmas page of patterns for her. And, who is Dolly Varden? I never found out. So much for Google. I'd like to think she was a lady from the stories and illustrations of Kate Greenaway. The dress pattern and hat is certainly reminiscent of that era. This dress was made from a beautiful new Japanese cloth call Yuwa. Its a delicate cotton with a lovely drape printed from vintage inspired patterns. Pink velveteen bands the hat and makes up the cumberbund and drawstring bag. I even added a little silk embroidery to the hat band. I really love the way the Dolly Varden outfit came out. It was for "a Christmas party" for Daisy.

Finally, I just finished this little apron from Daisy's School Page of patterns. Its the perfect little touch to keep her Christmas finery neat and tidy while she bakes cookies. This pattern was particularly difficult for me since the apron is completely lined. Even the pockets are lined, and 1/2" covered buttons are used on the side tabs, and to close the back. As I teach myself how to sew and put these patterns together, I'm gaining as much useful knowledge as any of the accessories and toys have given me in the past. I've added a new dimension to my work!

One of the nicest gifts I got this year was from a dear friend who sent me a set of tiny Hallmark ornaments of mini sewing mice! The acknowledgment was loving and encouraging.

I promise this will not be my last blog of the year. I have so much to share about where my work is headed in 2012. Daisy's 100th birthday year has been fabulous. She has really stolen my heart, and yet the horizon is bright for someone new and equally wonderful.

Wishing you all a holiday filled with warmth, joy, and definitely a little cheese!

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

The Great Pumpkin

Seems like an eternity since I last wrote, and September 7th, may well be in mouse years! So please bear with me while I catch up a little. Truthfully I had this entire entry written in my mind and had hoped to post it in October. Then November came and it was time to make Daisy items for Christmas, and that was a long and tiring month in the process. I so wanted these items to be enjoyed all holiday season long, ready by December the first!

As many of my friends can attest, I was the mouse that did not sew. However, when making the miniature version of The Ladies' Home Journal for October, I spotted these costumes a girl could make from 1911, and had to try the Pumpkin Costume. It was one of those illustrations that cried out to come to life. I'd had plenty of experience with buckram based hats and knew the pumpkin hat would be fun to do, and by the end of this experience, I had to claim myself The Ruffle Queen.

I started with a basic Daisy dress pattern and altered it to make this costume up. Yards and yards of ruffles later, I'd learned so much about ravelling fabric. I'd never intended to sell this costume. It came with the little purse, the hat and a pair of black leather slip-on shoes I'd made. Still, I wanted to see what would happen if I did try to sell it. Curiousity busied the mouse and all. Well, it sold! Not only that, I had to make a second one for a customer. It was about this time that I received a new sewing machine for my birthday (which was September 18th). Its a Juki Pro Quilter, and let me tell you, this top of the line little piece of machinery magic almost sews by itself! While I made the second costume, I had to learn how to use the machine and realized how very delicate computerized sewing machines can be.

Along with five copies of the miniature Ladie's Home Journal, I also miniaturized a sheet of party favors from the original magazine. These were place cards, book marks, and favors all detailed with tiny runes. Oh, to have lived in 1911 when everything was made by hand and cleverly thought out and crafted!

I never got to make the witch costume from the page of costumes, so I will save that for next October, or when the bug bites just to do it. The hat alone would be wonderful to make!

Since the sewing bug has been seeping into my little veins, I've done little else. Its a new craft to learn and the patterns from 1911 came without instruction. One more thing to master I suppose. Its a wonderful challenge, and as a friend of mine, Laurie, who is teaching me by way of email, tells me, its like a puzzle. A puzzle you put together to form one picture.

All Hallow's Eve has come and gone, and Christmas is now two days away. I have one more story to tell you before I wish you happy holidays!

Love,

Miss E. Mouse

Indian Summer

From my little hole in the wall, Missy Mouse presents... This is the verbiage on the little labels I affix to every package going out. And, from my little hole in the wall, I emerge after a long blogging haitus. April? What happened to May and June? The summer sailed by like so many dragonflies and dandelion puffs. I can hardly believe that it is September, and in this month I have a birthday. Miss E. Mouse is yet another year older and what does she have to show for it? Let me see...

Well first of all, I started sewing. "Oh, no! Did she really?" Well sort of. I often think that new branches grow from the creative tree out of necessity. As you know, this is Daisy's 100th anniversary year, and so many seamstresses new to Daisy have been sewing her twenty-five outfit trousseau. I happen to have a "thing" for indian costumes, and wished to give this one a try. It is actually on the December pattern page and the costume, along with a Red Riding Hood costume, were for Daisy's New Years parties. So we learn a little history and understand that children dressed up in fairytale costumes for their New Years parties.

When I was little Grandmother Mouse made me an indian tap dance costume. I still have it and have always treasured the idea of them. So I gave it the ol' one-two try. And, that is what I did, times two, this summer. The costume in this photo was the first one I made. The second has since gone to its new home. While the pattern appears simple, and it is, the dress is made from Ultrasuede Light, so were the moccasins, and this is not the easiest fabric to hand stitch on. First you must understand that all the fringe was hand-cut out of the Ultrasuede. The moccasin pattern had to be designed to look like the illustration, and one had to also figure out the braided belt which is affixed to the dress. The belt and headband are lambskin leather, painted and beaded with real turquoise and coral chip beads. A delicate silver lace trims the headband as well. Real matching parrot feathers complete the headband. For detailed photos, do please visit my website in the Daisy album. Will I sew another dress or costume? Most definitely, but only costumes as I leave the true heirloom sewing of the trousseau to experienced talent.

I also began making hats! Way back in time, Mother Mouse's great aunts ran a millinery shop outside of New Orleans. Perhaps its in the genes. But, I love it! Hats are great fun and quite a challenge. I learned the basics of hat making all at once from Barbara De Vilbiss, who had me make a silk top hat beginning with buckram and wire. These skills I take to heart, so four years later, hat making was more a progression than a beginning. Daisy has lots of hats, so I've been busy with them. She also has shoes. Adding to the moccasins, you can see the teal Oxfords I made on the Daisy pages of my website. This has all been quite a transition from making miniature items as Daisy is an antique reproduction, 18" tall. Oh, and let's not forget the hat stands! A dear customer asked me to make her one, but one would never be enough, so I made three. You can see them in this photo I'll call Daisy's Hat Shoppe.

Finally as school was nearing, the school bag needed to be sewn. Earlier I'd acquired a "lot" of antique school books and music sheets, plays and readers that a teacher used between 1907 and 1912. From these I made miniatures of a few to go into the Circle D school bag. There again, and old skill from the 1970's, embroidery, had to blossom again. Another leaf on the new branch of creativity.

And, what is in store for the fall? Well, there are two last issues from the 1911 Ladies' Home Journals that featured Daisy and her patterns. One is October's, and the last is December's. They will be reproduced in miniature, but along with them, I plan to make some of the toys and items found in the issues. Attached is a photo of the Snow Baby cake. I could not resist this one! I hunted until I was blue in the whiskers, but finally found a miniature shoppe that carried porcelain snow babies for doll houses. I'll make the tiny mistletoe myself and have the pieces I need to do this now. There will be other Christmassy things as well, but we'll save those for a blog when I can share them completed.

This month finds me readying for Halloween. First I must miniaturize October's issue, but there is also Halloween ephemera to make for Daisy's party. And, yes. I need to make her a Halloween costume. One like they wore in the postcards from that era. She did not have a pattern for a Halloween costume, so this is just something I will "throw" together. LOL As if I ever just throw something together. However, she will look sweet in it displaying the items I will make from the issue.

I must thank Diana and Menno for pulling on my tail to get me blogging again. I won't let so much time go by for the next one.

Its that time of year when I make lots of applesause for winter, build corn shocks from summer's last harvest, and begin spreading pumpkins around the yard for color. I expect to have alot of great fun with Daisy items through the end of the year, and lo and behold, I even gessoed the Lettie Lane Doll House so I can begin painting it!!! Finally.

Wishing you all a pleasant transition through autumn.

Love,

Miss E. Mouse