A Passport to Adventure: The UFDC 2018 Convention

Well, goodness me.  I guess I've been rather quiet lately, but in truth, I've been very busy with little goodies for the last couple of months.  I've just returned from the UFDC 2018 convention, A Passport to Adventure.  It was held in broiling hot Phoenix, and it looks like we all escaped just in time for their divine temperatures of 117 degrees.  You see, I'm an outdoors person - at least in the morning hours (to hike my dogs), but this past week I was stuck indoors, in a big Marriott hotel, with dolls and friends.  Which isn't a bad thing.


And, while I'd like to share some of the stuff I did at convention, which isn't quite "creative process" talk (or maybe it is), I did spent quite a bit of time on table favors for the events I attended, little pass-along gifts for special friends, and I did take some workshops to pass the time.

After writing the article on Ruby Ho for Spring Doll News, and creating and writing up instructions for Year of the Dog toys for Ten Ping dolls, I was still in felt mode and came up with the idea for Fripon hand puppets for the Bleuette collectors, whose table I sat at during the final banquet night.  This was probably back in April, but I couldn't share these with you since these, and the other favors, had to be a surprise.  I have no idea who reads my journal, but thank you all for sticking with me as I continue to toodle in my studio. 

I also wanted to introduce you to Belinda (see first photo), who was my play doll and mascot during convention.  She was the 8" companion doll to the 12" souvenir doll we received the final night.  I was tickled to pieces with Belinda, who has the Ten Ping body, but a little face of her own.  Ruby Ho made extra "adventure" outfits for both dolls, which I purchased ahead of time, and Belinda wore her green shorts outfit most of the time due to the incredibly hot weather.  Not having a lot of money to spend there, I collected little things just for her, to tuck into her travel case, and purchased one of Gail Wilson's LE 3" Hitty's at the luncheon she gave.

Moving along, I wasn't quite sure what to do for the Hitty luncheon Gail put on, as I don't really collect Hitty dolls and attended this for a friend.  People who collect Hitty generally have everything a 6" Hitty doll could want, so I made little boxes with the Mountain Ash flower fairy on them to tuck treasures into.  As the story goes, Hitty was carved of Mountain Ash, so it seemed fitting.  My friend, Jean, provided me with the die cut boxes that folded up beautifully, are sturdy, and I cut and glued the fairy pictures on.  Simple, yes, but pretty. 

Since I was attending Rosemarie Ionker's (Boneka) luncheon, An Indonesian Fantasy, I had to come up with something unique for favors for our table.  This was a toughie.  I started doing research on Indonesia and what might be symbolic to the islands, and discovered that the Komodo Dragon was a national symbol.  I went nuts!  I watched Youtubes of Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island and fell in love with this tropical paradise.  Ever typing away in Google searches, I found a paper Komodo Dragon,  miniaturized it and made ten of them.  I knew the ladies would probably pale at the sight of them - wonder if I'd lost my mind, so I tried to make the packaging as informative and cute as possible.  I thought they were cute, and felt very clever coming up with this.  Claudia, Rosemarie's daughter, loved them, so there you go.  I pleased one person. 

Being a big fan of Ten Ping, and since Ruby Red Galleria was the souvenir artist this year, I made a few China babies, or what I call "star" dolls, for friends who were as nuts about this line of dolls as myself.  Ruby had made tiny dolls with heads like these for one of her Ten Pings, so I followed her design concept and just made the heads and queues a little bigger.  The aprons are supposed to tie on, but I wanted to do something different, and decorated them with tiny buttons.  

Darlene Lane is one of the premiere doll artists of the UFDC, and always does fabulous reproduction mignonettes for her souvenir dolls.  This year she was doing one for the region of Alsace-Lorraine.  I attended this dinner for my friend as well.  The event was outstanding.  The best one of the week - and it wasn't just the exquisite meal we had, but the presentation, too, on the history of this region, and in particular, the illustrations of Hansi, of the children, villages, and war postcards.  And, this is why I'll interrupt this dialog for just a moment to say, Yes!, going to a convention can be part of the "creative process", because now I want to make a doll in this costuming. 

Anyway, after a bit of research, and not a lot of luck, the only thing I could come up with was little baskets of cabbage for a regional dish.  Basically, a kind of sauerkraut.  I was panicking because the pieces were coming from China, and still hadn't shown up two weeks prior to my departure.  So I asked Betsy, who I was attending the event for, if she had any ideas.  This is when I learned that the town of Selestat is known for the first to cut and trim Christmas trees.  They decorated them with red apples for the story of Adam and Eve, and unblessed hosts for their Catholic religion.  Well, I just had to jump on that one!  So I purchased 4" trees and miniature red apples and had a happy time with the glue gun. 

What's nice is that the presenter at the event, who was sitting at my table, told me she was grateful that I'd done this, since she'd run out of time to talk about Selestat.  By the way, the tradition of the Easter Bunny came from this region as well, dating back to the mid 17th c.

With a little time to kill before I left, I needle felted a little Becassine doll for a friend who was putting on the Bleuette Gathering.  Heather is a lovely person, and I just wanted to give her a little gift in friendship.  So I sat down and needle felted her a 4 1/2" Becassine doll for one of her Bleuette's to hold.  I used an image off of one of the antique G-L books I have.  Interesting that the illustrations of Hansi look quite similar to those in these books.  Same time frame, too.  Is a style of illustration indicative of a time and era?  Food for thought.  The Becassine does have red and white striped legs under that skirt.  She's on wire armature, so she can be posed.

While at convention, I took a few workshops to keep the days flying by, although I did spend a lot of time reading.  So much down time.  I don't have a cell phone or Ipad for emails, so these trips are non-electronic.  Normally I finish these workshop pieces at home, but I worked on them in my room when not reading, or pining for a hike outdoors.  Or watching Seinfeld reruns.

The first full day I was there, I took a workshop for a doll on a swing, or Bebe Balancoire.  I don't think anyone in that room expected 1/2 scale miniatures, but this is what we got.  (If anyone has been with me since I first began this journal, you might recall the Bebe Balancoire I did in red and cream, after the antique one in Etrennes.) It takes skill at this scale.  Normally I'd do this kind of work with tweezers and my mag lamp, but instead, it was arm's length eyeballing.  Its a beautiful little thing.  This photo was taken in my room at the desk I worked at.  Catherine Mather, the Australian artist, indicated we would glue these pieces to the boards we covered, but I'll sew mine on as the originals were done.  Tiny!  Catherine's a very creative woman.  I like her work.  The doll is about 2  to 2 1/2" tall. 

Following that class, I took Playtime at Claudia's Bali Retreat, which was for a set of outfits in Batik by Boneka.  We had to embroider the top, finish seams and hems, etc.  Cute little pieces and so colorful.  Quite a generous set, too.  Rosemarie also had batik carry bags made for the clothing and we finished those as well. 

The last workshop I took was for a French Fashion travel bag.  Took me 15 minutes to put this together (for a 2 1/2 hour scheduled class), so I did the bag for the lady who sat next to me since she was exhausted and a bit flustered from the last event she'd just strolled in from.  I chose the blue fabric.  Hers was the gold.  So yes, I got to create, do things creative while there.  I would have gone nuts otherwise since I'm always working on something.

I had a great time at convention, and Belinda kept me company throughout the six days I was there.  I may look for a few more things for her travel case, too (the green one sitting next to her in the top photo, that RRG made, not to be confused with the FF travel bag).

Below are a few more photos I took.  I was in awe of this 19th c. German doll house at one of the antique doll dealers' booths.  There is a photo of the Indonesian Fantasy souvenir doll we got (who can wear the Bali Retreat clothing), and a photo of the centerpiece doll that was dressed in dance costuming.  I wish we'd gotten those!  The seated Indonesian boy was the companion doll you could purchase. But, I did convince the luncheon folks to sell the orange netting and sequin umbrellas to those who wanted them - ME.  I love orange.  And, Claudia's husband made the aluminum baskets in miniature for us.  These regional items typically store flowers and fruits in the households.  Love it.  And, Belinda receiving her Hitty doll, checking out a large saguaro cactus, and testing the air after a brief sprinkling of rain.

Now its time to put all my treasures away and get busy on something new.  Alsace-Lorraine!  We're in a heat wave of our own right now, so staying indoors doing doll things is the way to go.  Any season!

Love,

Melissa 

  

Cassandra, the Gypsy Girl

Summer conjures up so many feelings in us.  The thrill of the last school bell (still!), the desire for sandy shores and beach chairs, the sound of the ice cream truck (do they even have those any longer?), and a restlessness for faraway places.  To travel unimpeded...perhaps in a glorious wooden caravan with a bell that tinkles suspended from an ornate hook by the door.  Perhaps to meet up with Dorothy's traveling salesman who just happens to have a crystal ball on board.  I'd grab my dog and my basket in a blink and go with him anywhere.


Truly, we all know (I hope) that the gypsy life of years gone by was not a picnic, and there was simply no such thing as feminism.  Girls were bought and sold, used, abused and beaten.  A girl dare not fall in love with any man her father did not pick for her.  Shall I go on?  No.  Because when we muse on "gypsy", we imagine the exotic, the untamed, the swirl of colorful skirts, and the teller of fortunes by palmistry, tarot cards, and that translucent orb, the crystal ball. 

In my research, I was reading a wonderful blog by a woman whose great-grandmother was a gypsy.  She included this stunning studio photograph of her great-grandmother, and had written "that all gypsy girls were dancers and fortune tellers".  Sadly before I had a chance to read the entire journal entry, my computer froze up and I had to reboot.  So be it.  Try as I might, I could not recover the article. So I continued looking for a photo that would inspire. 

  

I have made several gypsy costumes for dolls over the years, but a recent purchase of a "fortune teller" doll by a friend got me interested in making one from the knickers up.  I have a cabinet of sad little Lawton dolls who over time have lost an accessory, gotten dirty with age, or were simply no longer wanted.  These are the dolls I create "brand new" ones from.  And, so it was for the Lawton "Danielle" I had stashed away.  She's a 14" wood body and porcelain, which are the dolls I most prefer to create with.

After some continued browsing around the Internet and Pinterest, I found this fabulous studio portrait of two gypsy girls in costuming that caught my eye.  So unusual.  Pleated skirts!  The caption read "They appear to be wearing traditional ethnic clothing.  The photographer is Olga, and the studio is located in Oravicza, Romania."  Bingo.  That did the trick.  Had to do this one.  And, lucky me, I got to select the colors the skirts and scarves would be.  In other words, I had to "make this up".  Test my mettle, as a creative sort and all that. 

I pulled out all my silks and made several piles of coordinating patterns and colors.  I wanted this costume to be as authentic to what these girls actually wore in the sepia photograph as I could make it.  For all I know, they could have been wearing red and aqua.  But, I liked the earthiness of the burgundy, mauve and purple.  Sunset colors.  Summer sunset colors.  And so I began. 

I'm not a fan of making undergarments.  Never have been.  Why?  They do not show.  Seems a waste of effort.  But, after I found a suitable wig for the doll, I made a pair of knickers in a beautifully woven shirting cotton.  No photo.  Sorry.  Can anyone tell me what a girl child, a gypsy girl child would have worn under those skirts?  Maybe your guess is a good as mine.  Knickers seemed likely for the time period.  No one's going to see them anyway, and I wished to concentrate on the costume. 

A blouse was next.  I've seen many images of gypsy girls in short, puffed sleeves.  Peasant blouses.  And, women with alluring, eye catching décolletage.  Cassandra is a child, and she also has a wood body - not that this has ever bothered me - but long, billowing sleeves seemed right for her - in opposition to the costuming in the photograph.  My doll.  I can mix it up a bit if I like, but I did create the high ruffle collar for the blouse.  As she is a "cabinet doll" and will never be redressed (by me at least), I closed the blouse with little snaps in the back.

Not liking to work with velveteen very much, I did the vest next.  Oh how I forget how difficult it is to work with!  Especially lining it.  The velveteen has mind of its own.  I do pin the silk lining to it alternating the direction of the pins, but it never really wants to behave.  Third try, I got it.  I lined it with a beautiful black silk that has tiny gold embroidery on it.  Little diamonds of gold.  It was the only black silk I had on hand, and this felt right.  Use what you have on hand.  The belt naturally came next.  Do all the velveteen at once!

The belt is decorated with a heavy gold thread that I tacked on to create the design.  The paillettes I used throughout this costume were heavy jeweler's pieces.  I found these 3/8" pieces offered on Ebay and bought all five sets of them.  I had no idea how many I'd use, and its best to be safe than sorry.  They are hammered (indented), textured.  I would have had to make my own from the plastic ones with a hole punch, and fully intended to do so, but the almost "bronze" color of them looked wonderful with the warm colors of silk. 

I had plenty of this burgundy silk left over from Louise Godey's first holiday dress.  I spent a good deal of time pleating and pressing, and pleating a pressing to get this skirt made.  I always hem the fabric first when pleating, then measure the length its going to be.  In this case, 6 1/2".  So far so good.  I attached the waistband, and began on the unusual,. and separate apron skirt that falls to the back and front.  Pleated, once again, but with paillettes running up the sides of the two apron pieces.  Took some figuring out, but I attached a waistband that opens at one side and closes with a hook and thread loop.  I had to make this shorter by an inch, and also make the pleats slightly smaller.  Worn by a child, the volume created by these pleats would indeed provide a wonderful fullness as she spun around and banged her little tambourine. 

Her main head scarf is this horrid-to-work-with tissue weight silk jacquard.  I love this silk.  Its one of the prettiest pieces I have and folds and ties up like a dream, but it ravels like crazy thing the minute a needle touches it.  I did finish the edges with tiny twice folded over edges machine-sewn down.  My sewing machine has a rolled edge foot attachment, but I'll be darned if I've ever gotten it to work.  I know this can be done by hand, but I'm not sure I'd really have the patience to do this - especially for a doll's scarf that's all folded up and tucked in.  (Its just not that important to me, nor do I think it detracts in any way.  This is not an heirloom wedding veil.  My rationale.)

Saved for last was the sewing-on of the paillettes.  Each pleat point on the apron was given one and each paillette is sewn on with its own little knot.  Five go up each side of the apron pieces.  They are sewn to the edges of the vest going up to just below the shoulders.  I never thought I'd get them all sewn on, but all I kept thinking about was how some gypsy mother sewed all of them to these children's costumes - and probably faster and with more skill than imaginable.  What I was doing was nothing in comparison. 

Finally, it was time to make her a pair of slippers, sandals...something on her feet.  Dancing shoes that were also practical for everyday wear.  I created a pattern for a sort of espadrille, and used a dark wine-brown leather for them.  I wanted something that was summery.  A shoe that would be cool and comfortable, speak to the warm days and nights of the season.  I like this style and hope to use it again sometime. 

After I had her dressed, there was still something missing.  A necklace and a little "color spot", a little pizazz to the overall look.  I bought some chain, tiny jump rings and a lobster clasp and made her a "coin" necklace with some 3/8" pressed jeweler's coins.  The color spot was another scarf added as a hair band.  Both scarf styles are noted as proper gypsy wear, and look lovely together.  The fringe on both her hip sash and head wrap were done by pulling horizontal threads out from the fabric. 

I came up with the name Cassandra after listening to Al Stewart's song Helen and Cassandra.  It just happened to be on my playlist that day.  Cassandra was a Greek goddess who was given the gift of foretelling the future by Apollo.  As the story goes, she did not do his bidding, and he made no one believe her when she predicted the fall of Troy by the Trojan Horse army.  Her fate will not be my little gypsy's, but it is such a lovely name and rolls off the tongue like the swirl of silk skirts.  She can be fortune teller and dancer.

Below are some wonderful studio portraits of gypsy girls.  You might even recognize one of them.  Wishing you a pleasant summer!

Love,

Melissa  

    

Last Rainy Day in May

Lately we really haven't been able to plan our days around the nightly weather report.  They kept predicting a high in the 80's every five days out , but with each week that passed, it remained cool and breezy.  In fact, yesterday was like a day in Monterey with fog and chilly temperatures.  Then finally, they hit the nail on the head.  Its not really a fault.  We can only predict, for what happens in the atmosphere is entirely up to the atmosphere.  But, this morning when I turned over in bed, I could hear the plink-plink-plink in the little fireplace set in the wall, and when I lifted my head to see over the lump next to me, the clock read a quarter to eight.  Ahhh...  How very good it felt to sleep in.  And, it was raining. 

So I headed off to my studio once I'd had my tea, and started puttering around.  The idea for a true Etrenne kept niggling at me.  What was I thinking?!  How could I possibly make a doll accessory and have it be incomplete?  So I began making a leather bound sketchbook to fit inside Mary's art sketch box.  I lined the inside with a cotton dimity, cut the pages, made a cotton binding, covered it in a nice green leather, but I wasn't having fun.  It was just something to pass the time.  But, then I started really thinking about her pencil, and asked myself, "What did Victorians actually use for sketching those botanicals?" 

I started looking up "Victorian drawing tools" and was delivered to medical implements.  I suppose the word "tools" was a little too broad a theme.  I knew they weren't using wooden No. 2's, so I gambled on the words "Victorian pencils".  But, of course!  These were some of the first mechanical pencils!  Wow.  Now I was excited. 

Although the history of pencils can be traced back as far as 500 years, the first mechanical pencil patent wasn’t applied for until 1822, when John Hawkins and Sampson Mordan patented an “ever-pointed” pencil in Britain.  Vague details exist of a brass propelling pencil that used a spring as early as 1636, and an actual early mechanical pencil was found on the wreckage of the HMS Pandora, a ship that sank in 1791.  The propelling pencils, or push button lever pencils had refillable graphite leads.  As I was researching how these decorative mechanical pencils were rendered, I found some incredibly beautiful ones, some with fascinating details.  But, of course they were.  They were Victorian.  It leaves me wondering how often these were used for writing as well as drawing, since they were far handier to carry along than pen and ink bottles.

So I got busy and picked up a little basswood stick and started carving a little pencil with my X-acto blade.  I knew right away that I wasn't going to be able to create anything as decorative as a sterling silver mechanical pencil, but that was okay.  I think the shape enthralled me as much as anything else.  Its the shape of a pin vise.  Its the shape of a hypodermic needle.  Its a vial with a very narrow hole going all the way through it.  Engineering wise, this makes me wonder if the latter implements were conceived from the general idea of the mechanical pencil.  Think about it.

Either way, Mary now owns a note book for sketching and a mechanical pencil to tuck into her sketch box!

A couple of days before, I was changing out the costuming for my Ruby Red Galleria Ten Ping Family dolls and decided that yellows and greens would be a fine summer clothing theme for them.  However, poor cousin Ping Li did not have anything to match.  So I got busy and made her a summer set to coordinate with theirs.  I used the same pattern for her wrap top, that I used under the smock for the winter set.  I added a skirt for warmer weather, and made her a new pair of slippers to wear as well.  Now the Pings can go on a picnic with cousin Ping Li.

This is fun.  This is how I enjoy spending my time, besides reading, and being with my dogs. 

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday weekend...rain or shine!

Love,

Melissa 

 

 

 

Mary Lennox Peach Garden Sketching

Back to Misselthwaite Manor...


I don't know, maybe its Spring that inspired me, but honestly, it was and is, my true intention to keep making these lovely Peck Aubry paper doll outfits until Mary's closet is full.  And, Mary is such a pretty doll that she makes for wonderful playtime, sewing time.


With roses in bloom and summer's apricots and peaches just around the corner, I decided that it was time to try and make the peach dress from this collection.  I've long admired it, although I wondered time and again, just what it would take to bring it to life.  Its a very unusual pattern, and it had all that detail on the ribbon bands.  Its odd, but with this one, after the challenge I had with Alice By the Sea, I just launched into this and kept going without missing a beat.  Of course I engaged in a little prep work beforehand.

I'd been fussing over what to do for the embroidered bands.  And, I'm positive this was one of the reasons it took so long for me to even consider making it.  They were not lace.  It looked like a zig-zag pattern, but in Victorian times, perhaps this would have been called a chevron pattern.  Either way, I was refusing to do that much embroidery, so I wanted to see if my sewing machine would do the stitch. This meant, of course, reading the manual.  I don't like manuals, and I don't like pattern instructions...much less recipes that call for more than five ingredients.  I generally have to read through these things ten times before anything begins to gel in my brain.  I'm a "wing it" girl.  But, I so did not want to do all that embroidery, that I forced myself to try.

I have a Juki Exceed Quilt and Pro Special.  I love it.  Most people love their sewing machines, and swear by them.  I do, too, but I'm realistic.  I think I've used a 1/100 of its capacity, and let's hope that's not what I'm doing with my brain!  I did find the right stitch for an embroidered zig-zag though.  It took about six steps to get there, so I wrote them down with sketches of the buttons I'd have to push and the stitch length I wished.  I know how silly this sounds, but I really hate instructions.  So I tried the stitch on different weights fabric.  Tried it with a interfacing, tried it on a silk-satin ribbon...I tried it.  But, every time I did it, the stitch pulled at the tips.  Please don't say I should have read up on how to adjust the tension.  The machine is supposed to be smart enough to figure it out.  What I did figure out was that I would have to hand embroider all of this.  So I began.  Why not?  Its not like I don't labor at these things anyway.

However, the bands were in the future.  I first had to figure out what was going on in the dress to make a pattern.  This was definitely a time when you insist on making a mock up.  I had this lovely dark peach colored fabric that I'd put away with the others I'd purchased to make some of Mary's wardrobe.  No problem.  All set to go.  However, the fabric, which is probably a chiffon like silk, would not hold a pleat no matter what setting I put the iron on...without melting the fabric.  So off to Jo Ann's I went in search of a peach cotton to use.  Of course this would have been the correct choice originally, but I was so set on the color of the fabric I'd purchased.  I just don't learn sometimes.  I did find a suitable peach cotton, so now I was ready to go.

I started designing the pattern with the triangular collar piece.  This is one of the designs that first catches your eye, so it had to be done right.  I was also concerned on getting the embroidered bands spaced correctly, and making certain that they were just the right width.  They needed to be a little under a half an inch to look right on Mary.  Again, the dimensions illustrated for a paper doll don't always figure for the doll you're sewing for, so you just make adjustments and do your best.  The mock up was done just for the immediate-need details and a sense of what was required to put it together once the patterns were drawn.  I always use a fabric of equal weight for this to ensure that it will look similar, drape right, pleat correctly.

Let me see if I can describe the parts of this dress.  The base is a full bodice and there's a finished panel, a placket, that goes on top of the bodice where the embroidered bands are sewn on.  On top of this is the triangular pleated collar piece, and the rectangular pieces that go over the shoulders goes under this.  There is a high collar edged in lace, that is embroidered with the design as well.  The sleeves have what I call "bucket cuffs" that turn up over the sleeve edge once sewn on.  There's a lovely batiste Swiss lace that edges the center placket and the "over sleeves". 

When it came to the bands, they had to be made by hand.  They're not a bias tape, but were made on the grain, pressed over from right to left, then slightly less the width pressed left to right, under.  This makes a nice band since the edges are clean and there isn't "fray to mess with on the underside.  These bands were cut and hand sewn onto the placket, then embroidered.  One of the things my machine stitch showed me was how it should be done using two threads.  There are also wee dots at every interval of zig-zag.  Just for the fun of it, I measured how much band I had to embroider and it came out to roughly 54".  And, it took time.  The collar band is embroidered the same way as the hem and packet bands.  However, the cuffs were treated a bit differently.

Firs of all, with the cuffs, there are three bands of zig-zag, and the wee dots are only on the top and bottom, and the pattern is a bit larger.  To get the stitches equidistant, I ran a gather stitch through the middle of the cuff to use as a pattern.  The points are marked by the distance of the gather stitches, skipping one in the middle.  This really helped, and the top and bottom row were measured out with a ruler.  My eyes were going a bit wonky doing this, but it was worth it.  The smaller embroidery design, which is dominant on this dress, was done by eyeballing it.

Again the bands on the hem of the dress were hand stitched on, and then embroidered.  I can't tell you how happy I felt to reach the last two inches of each band.  Almost done!  Then I lined the skirt and attached it to the bodice.  Its closed in the back with four hooks and thread loops from the high collar to the end of the triangular piece, then three buttons and loops to the waist.  Of course, none of this shows with her long hair, but I know its finished properly.  Yes, there was a lot of embroidery to be done, but it was worth the patience and time to execute it.

So what else was in this illustration?  A box.  Mary was carrying some sort of little suitcase.  It was too small for an over night case, and she didn't go to school, so she didn't need a case for books (she was tutored at Misslethwaite Manor).  I decided it must be a Victorian art box.  Something to put her sketching pad and pencil in, and maybe a small set of water color paints.  Victorians did beautifully detailed botanical drawings, so this must be what Peck-Aubry had in mind.

Its been far too long for me to remember the last time I used my table saw to make anything like this, but I was happy to explore making one just the same.  I do like accessories.  I feel they complete the look of anything you sew.  Otherwise, you just have a dress.  No matter how pretty it is, its just a dress.  The accessories tell the story.  This little art box is 4" by 2 1/2".  Its made from basswood and the color is derived from a mix of paint and gesso so the grain shows through.  This is the second one I made.  The first attempt was stained with Minwax and did not come out nicely at all.  Nor did it look like the one Mary carries in the illustration.  I'm very particular about this. 

Upon close study of the illustration, I decided to use fine "rope" for the pulls that hold the leather handle to the case.  I drilled little holes in the top to insert them through, then knot them off.  The leather handle and straps are machine stitched with an off yellow thread, and the buckled straps are just that.  Straps.  Brass fittings for the hinges where set and there's a decorative latch on the top.  Yes, the case is fully functional, opens and closes quite nicely, but getting the leather end to go through the buckle was a nightmare (even though this is thin leather), so it will stay closed.  A real Etrenne would have contained a sketch pad and pencil, but I'm done.  I will never display Mary sketching, so that case is closed, so to speak.  Leather bumpers cover each corner.  Those were fun to figure out.  At least I can feel confident that I can still do this kind of work.  Its all I did for years on end, so it was not a great departure for me from sewing.

Mary's hat was from her debut dress, and her Robin friend is always close by.  Below is a Victorian botanical sketch of a peach colored rose.  I'm most certain that Mary's art case carries such a pretty representation.

Love,

Melissa