Touring 1950, from the Sporting Fashion Book

Mid September is nearly upon us.  I can feel the change in the season as the sun sinks earlier in the evening, the patio is in shade until noon, the evenings are cool and the mornings a bit cooler.  Pumpkins are showing up in giant bins in front of grocery stores.  My husband cleared off the vegetable garden and the two cows next door got a treat of the pulled cornstalks.  One year I'd made corn shocks and boy was that a mess!  I love this time of year.  I don't think there's a season I don't enjoy, but I'm not quite ready to see summer go although I'm aware that her tail end is swishing its skirt out on the horizon.  

It's been a month since I last posted a blog, and it feels good to be sitting here feeling another sense of accomplishment.  There are difficult projects and then there are really difficult projects.  This was one of them.  After the 1930s Beach Pyjamas, I really wanted to make this Southwestern/Mexicana 1950s touring outfit from the Sporting Fashions book.  I mean, what was there to this?  A skirt and a peasant blouse.  No biggie.  Right? 

Well, it's my conclusion that the reason this costume got into the museum book is that it ISN'T just a typical skirt and a peasant blouse, and the reason I wanted to make it for Lacie, is because it was so incredibly beautiful.  The elements here are a skirt, blouse, a stamped leather bag, a belt, silver cuff bracelets, and a form of huarache sandal.

Every piece I was looking for to make this costume took days and sometimes weeks before the right one came in the mail.  The skirt fabric came from an Etsy seller in Canada. Upon learning that I'd have to cut the scene from the middle of this half yard of fabric, I went to order the second half, only to be told she was no longer shipping to the U.S.  But, I had an angel looking out for me and my Canadian friend stepped in to purchase it for me then send it along.  The thing was, if I made a mistake, it was back to square one, so I really needed that second piece.  I'm eternally grateful, although as it turns out, I didn't need it.  In searching for the fabric, I was looking for content and color.

There was no way I was going to find a miniature version of the original in a fabric.  I looked for five days before settling on the fabric I chose.

Other pieces collected for this costume were equally challenging to find, especially in locating the tiniest rick rack available.  People kept sending me 1/4" rick rack and I needed what they call 1/8", but I think its tinier.  And trying to sew down the middle of it is not for the faint of heart.

I'll talk about the other pieces further on, but while this fabric was finding its way to me at the start, I

did two things.  I studied the blouse, and I began the shoes which I assumed would be the most difficult to make.

This blouse is simply one of the most enchanting boho items I've ever come across in a book or on a rack.  It is not your run of the mill peasant blouse, and I found that out the hard way. If you really want to recreate something as accurately as possible, you have to study what you see, then think of how it was constructed, not to mention, make a pattern that will allow this.

With the shoes, I bought a pair of cork platforms from Facets Boutique.  I deconstructed them to use the base, and make my own foot covers and straps.  What I discovered is that the cork platforms are plastic or resin covered with a thin sheet of cork.  Not a solid piece of cork.  I like taking things apart to see how 

they were made.  If you ever do this, just be careful and warm them up in a heating pad to melt the glue so you don't tear the pieces as you pull them apart.  

These huaraches, for lack of a better term, are slip-ons with a wide strap across the back of the heel.  They're heavily braided or embroidered and I had to find a way to make a facsimile of them.  

The strap fabric is also the same that goes around the entire foot with the patterned top as a separate piece.  

I have a sewing machine that you can dial about 150 different embroidery patterns with, and I used a sort of double helix pattern on a brown striped cotton fabric that I have a ton of.   The feet of this doll are long, but there's still not much room for embellishments when it comes to the top of the foot.

This is what I came up with.  There's a sunburst on the top of the shoe and I did my best to get the stripes even enough that the larger dark stripe would be the edge.  Fiddly work.  This is ALL fiddly work.  

And then there was the shoulder bag.  It's a saddle bag for Pete's sake!  Look at that wonderful little horse saddle that forms the flap of the bag!  It's one of the most incredibly clever things I've ever seen.  I want one for me just to hang on the wall!  

I found this lovely Etsy seller that made tiny, stamped leather bags for Barbie and Hitty sized dolls and talked her into making me one in the correct scale for Lacie.  She was intrigued by the saddle and thinks she'd like to try it as she has actually made miniature leather horse saddles before.  Well, maybe someday if she does this, she'll contact me and I'll purchase it from her.  In the meantime, she made me a lovely bag to go with the touring outfit, and I'm pleased.  This kind of leather and tooling takes a mini leather shop to accomplish.  I used to work at one for women's bags.  I know what goes into something

like this. 

She worked carefully with me to make sure the handle was the right length as well as the other dimensions.  I love working with other artists who are willing to take on a commission because it interests them.

Just a little bigger.  "Oh, it'll cost more!"  Not really.  But that's okay.  The bag is not sewn, but tooled to look like stitching, then glued together.  I love the bag and its perfect for Lacie.

I also spent a great deal of time finding Southwest silver cuff bracelets for the costume. Pinkie rings do the trick.  If you recall, I had a heck of a time finding the right "rings" for the bangles used with the beach pyjamas.  This was slightly easier as the seller made these to order.  I gave her the length the flat metal should be and they came out great.  One has a buffalo stamping and the other, the thunderbird. 

I love southwest jewelry.  I spent a great deal of time in the Southwest and in the Four Corners in roadside jewelry markets, as well as hiking red rock canyons.

The fabric arrived, and as I mentioned, to get the print I wanted, I had to cut from center and in the right width and length.  It took me a day of the Nervous Nellies to actually do it.  Only when my Canadian friend rescued me for that second piece, did I push forward.  

What I really wanted was the look of the original skirt.  And how was I going to get that?  Well, after studying the skirt some more, I realized it looked painted.  So that's what I did.  I painted the upper and lower edges in a similar watercolor fashion to the original.  Then, and only then did I fully read the description of the skirt, which I've attached in a scan at the bottom of this blog.  

Guess what?  The original skirt was hand painted!  I had to laugh.  Not only that, but all those white spots that the camera caught were sequins.  Ah ha!  So, I decided that I must embellish the main characters with itty bitty 2mm sequins.  Had a heck of a time 

finding those, too.  To get the look, I used the clear holographic sequins and sewed them on, one by one.  Its kind of fun when you get in the rhythm of it.  I read somewhere that bead and sequin work is in the same category as embroidery.  No doubt, beads and sequins are much more forgiving.  I have worked with sequins before, but this was the first time I did so comprehensively.

Since the main characters, the senorita and her admirer as well as the mules they're riding were embellished in the original, I did the same for the fellow in the Mexican hat, his little donkey laden with baskets and the palm tree behind them.  Just enough.  Not too much.  It took me three days to embroider on the teeny tiny sequins on.

Close up.

Another accessory was the belt.  This was the easiest piece to make for this costume.  Black leather, prong backed silver sunburst conchos, and a gorgeous little buckle.

I needed a 1/2" buckle for this belt and hunted and searched for vintage ones.  I ended up having to purchase a lot of 40 buckles just to get this one.  And that is how much of this goes.  A yard for an inch.  You'll be able to see the sunburst conchos better in the photo of the costume from behind.  Lacie has a very tiny waist, but I was able to secure five of the conchos onto the leather.

The costume.

From behind.

The last thing to get made was the impossible peasant blouse.  Having never made one for a doll, especially one with a full collar, this took some effort, and I wore my thinking cap out.  I wore these blouses in Junior High and in High School, and actually made them myself, but they were made by running elastic through the neck and the ends of the puffed sleeves.  Bear with me here, because this is interesting.  

I looked up vintage patterns to see the backs of the envelopes for the shape of the pattern.  I was not going to find a doll pattern with this particular blouse, because the only one that exists, is the one I just made.

I actually bought a pdf of an American Girl peasant blouse/dress that was really cute, and it did was show me how to attach a full collar, flip it over, and sew a seam to run elastic through.  Standard pleasant blouse stuff but with a collar.

However, if you go back to the original photo, you'll see rick rack on the sleeve edge and rick rack on the neck edge that are trims.  Sew rick rack as trim on the neck of top with elastic and it's not going to stretch.  Same with the sleeves.  So how do you get it on the doll?

The answer to this was open the blouse at the back and sew a short seam at the bottom.  Sew on the collar, flip it over, and run two gathering stitches to the top edge instead of using elastic.  Stitch the gathers in place and attach the rick rack.

For the sleeves, add a tiny cuff to support the rick rack trim.  Believe me, I studied this blouse down to the stitch.  This was the only way to get this look.  The collar is so long that it took me magnification to see the rick rack on the sleeve edge.  I have a close-up photo above showing that tiny bit of sleeve.

The collar itself is a work of art and I really wanted to replicate it the best that I could.  Starting at the bottom I made a tiny pick ruffle edged in green zigzag to finish it and added a row of orange rick rack.  Then the black silk ribbon.  Then the jacquard that I painstakingly removed the loopy edges from.  And so on up the collar.

It was hard to determine how long the collar would be with all the flipping over and gathering, so after it was done, it all came out and I had to trim the collar and do it over again.  I would never have been satisfied otherwise.

These two photographs illustrate the green rick rack on the neckline and puffed sleeves.

I added two red flowers to Lacie's blonde curls, slipped her shoes on and called it done.

This costume took me a month to make and a lot of time finding the right bits and pieces, but this is just one way I play dolls.  It's worth putting in the time and effort when trying to replicate in miniature some of these fabulous outfits from this book.

I know what the next one will be, and the one after that.  I'm hooked.  It's something to do and it's fun to see something come to life like this from a book.

It's also time to start seriously thinking about Halloween and Christmas.  I don't think I'll be making any costumes this year (I say that now), but I will decorate some areas and dress up some dolls that have costumes.  And RRFF will be coming out with two new Halloween dolls.  I'm in!   I'm hoping we get Halloween costumes from the VDC for out dolls (wink wink).

The thing is, I'm on a roll, and when I get on a roll, as with these Sporting Fashion outfits, I need to see it through.  I may not have the inspiration or drive for them down the road, so best take advantage of this energy.  And there's the holidays coming up and I need to sew gifts.  That's the 'bers!  The months breeze by so quickly and before you know it, you're ringing in the new year. 

I also have a birthday coming up next week on the 18th.  Pizza.  I want pizza!  I'm turning 68 and it's a trip.  I don't think of myself at such an age, but I made it this far and hope to keep going. Ruby Ho had a birthday on the 9th, and I was tickled to learn she was a Virgo, too.  All that attention to detail is a typical Virgo trait. 

Click on any of these images to see them in full size and do click on the Touring description below.  It's fun to read.  Until next time, enjoy this beautiful season watching summer into fall.

 

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!