Sporting Fashion with Lady Lacie - Hunting 1840

October!  Is there any prettier, more colorful month full of seasonal changes and excitement?  I don't think so.  Even while California will never boast the color of states much further east, we have a change that is clear and vibrant in its own way.  Today as I sit writing this journal, brown leaves lift and dance about in the wind that's promised to bring snow to the Sierras and rain to the foothills.  I took three afternoons to make homemade applesauce with my husband (he peels and cores), from the Golden Delicious apples that grow on two of our trees in our small orchard.  The apples were perfect this year.  Just the color of the turning persimmons add a bright spot where leafless trees will soon stand.  October!

The next costume from the book Sporting Fashion, Outdoor Girls 1800 -1960, was destined to be Hunting 1840's.  Just another in between fashion that isn't quite Victorian and not even close to Regency.  I'd truly love to know where these costumes came from.  In my imagination, I see this one having been pulled from a large wooden trunk discovered in an attic in an Eastern European  

country.  When women took to hunting dressed as this mannequin is, they were of the nobility with time on their hands to ride horses, walk in mazed gardens, attend social balls, and spend hours with needle work and small books.  In the photo research I did for this piece, I primarily found your typical Annie Get Your Gun photos, as well as frontier women who would use a rifle to hunt to eat, or one to defend hearth and home.  There were plenty of Edwardian photos of women with hunting rifles, and one I found that was purely Victorian and well staged in a studio.  I do believe this was still a time of heavy portraiture in oils rather than photography, and while one might be painting with the lady in question astride a horse, hunting would not have been a choice of portraiture.  And yet, the woman who wore this ensemble was well heeled and utterly feminine.

While looking through the many pages of this terribly heavy tome of fashion, I kept coming back to this one.  I loved it.  I loved the colors, the feel of autumn, the warmth and 

function this dress provided for walking in the woods, rifle in hand.  The hat was intriguing.  But the game bag was the key feature to me.  That wise and playful little fox enchanted me.  I love little foxes.  And let's stop here for a moment.  These game bags often depicted the animal of the hunt, so why on earth would I want to create this for Lady Lacie?  You cannot erase history.  You learn from history.  And maybe fox were plenty, perhaps too many and needed to be culled.  I don't know.  But for this rendition in doll fashion, Lacie does not shoot foxes.  If she sees one, she aims at a tree and scares the fox away so no one will hurt it.  It is possible that on these hunts, Lacie took a deer or two, but honorably and with the sole intent of the animal being used as food, warmth from the hide and tools made from the antlers.

I've imagined that the woman who made this game bag

did so beneath a large picture window well-lit by the day's sun, near the warmth of a fire and in a chair well suited for comfort as she carefully stitched and beaded this needle point scene.  It may have taken her two years to stitch the art that made this gorgeous bag and handle.  The leather work, the final creating of the bag would have been done by an artisan skilled in leather.  

I also spent some time looking for antique game bags and was only able to find one.  It's not something a photographer would take a photo of in 1840.  While the first camera was invented in 1816, there were far more interesting subjects to capture.  However, in the photos at the end of this journal posting, you can see examples, but they were made at least fifty years later.  However, I did find a real one on Etsy.  It was French and probably Victorian in age.  Quite a different piece than our Sports Fashion one.  Which once again brought to mind that the woman who hunted, made this herself and the bag as individual as she was.

Here is the one from France.  The needle work embroidery appears to have been done on velvet.  I found it interesting to see the macrame, or tatter and tassel fringe on the front of the bag.  Macrame is nothing new.  It dates back as far as ancient Assyria.  With its revival in the 1970's, it's easy to see where we might think it contemporary.  But it's not.  The art of knotting has been around a very long time.

Note that the bag has two handles.  This information will be important further along this blog.

Detail of the deer that was embroidered.

It was the bag that drew me into making this outfit.  I spent many hours studying the photo of the bag under magnification.  The fox scene appeared to be needle pointed and later embroidered with bead work.  This again spoke to the station of the lady who made it.  

I used a piece of buckram from the roll I purchased long ago to make hats from and printed the image onto it through my rugged little printer.  There was

no way I was going to spend two years trying to micro needle point, and the texture of the buckram would lend itself to the look and feel of the original.  I painted it.  Using the light print on the canvas, I carefully painted the scene with watercolor pencils and a OO brush.  When I read that the bag had been beaded, I was eager to try that.  I wanted authenticity.  I'm laughing as I write this because that meant finding micro beads to work with and a needle that would go through them.  I met an Etsy seller, who was more than generous and wonderful to work with.

After discovering that your normal seed bead was just too big, I found vintage Italian micro beads (by the ounce) from 1940, by this seller.  She guided me that John James indeed make a proper needle for this in size 15.  She sold me 00 (double aught) beading thread to work with as well.  To top it off, she threaded one of the needles for me.  Bless her heart.  But I still had to bead the bag.  In the photo above, you can see the size difference of seed bead to micro bead and the needles used.  Those micro beads are the size of the tiny white candies, nonpareil.  The worst of this was that even with the John James 15, some of the beads wouldn't thread.  That meant trying 10-15 beads sometimes just to get a bead that would work.  

Where did the lady in question do the beading?  Around the leaves.  I had a lot of time to think about this.  Was she beading for the look of frost on the flora?  Had some beads gone missing over time?  Or did she bead randomly at her

will?  I stuck to what I saw or could determine were beads.  I will NEVER do this again.  This was pure artistic torture.  But I stayed with it, and did it because I wanted this bag to be as exact a miniature of the original as I could get.  Barbara DeVilbiss's words always come back to me.  "Maybe this isn't for you?"  Yes, it is.  I want to do this.  Just when I thought I was done, I remembered the strap!  My stomach sinks just thinking about it.  But I made the strap to match.  Who knows?  Maybe it took this woman THREE years to make this bag.

As I was constructing the bag (I hadn't even started the dress yet and two weeks had gone by...two and a half?), I realized that there was something quite different about this shoulder bag.  A normal shoulder bag would have two straps or one with rings attached to the gusset.  A cross body would be the same with one strap.  But the strap on this bag was attached to the bag on the front, both ends.  So, what was going on in the back of the bag?

It took me a few days and a conversation with my friend, Betsy, to figure this out.  The back would be loose.  Hanging open.  Can't have that.  I finally decided that there'd be leather ties that would extend from the front inside to four little holes in back of the bag to cinch it shut.  Makes sense.  How I wish I could see the original!  But this is what's called artistic license.  Sometimes you have to make things up.  At least this made sense to me.

The bag's gusset and back are made from distressed cloth to give it a happily used look.  And of course, leather.  The rings were another agony as I looked for just the right size.  Remember the jump rings I used for bracelets?  These are much smaller, but sturdier than a normal jump ring.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but the first thing I bought for this ensemble was the rifle.  It is still a bit short for what was used in the photograph, but close enough.  Lady Lacie is on a stand and that shortens the look a bit as well.

Time to tackle the dress.  The gown would have been made from wool, but no thickness of wool, or thinness, would have made this work on a doll Lacie's size.  I tried.  Instead, I found a flannel that was gorgeous, soft and tightly woven, suitable for the look.  It was still thick though and there was only so much fullness/width I could give the skirt since when you gather it, it has to fit into a bodice waist that's only 3" plus a bit more on each side of the center.  

Further study of the photograph and dress revealed that the bodice had drop shoulders that end in both a short cap sleeve with a lantern sleeve below it.  That's three thicknesses of fabric with a gathered sleeve top as well to sew together to make this sleeve.  So, selecting a thin woven fabric was essential not only for the waist but sleeves.  

There are four long darts, front and back.  Darts scare me.  I know they shouldn't, but they do when you have to design a bodice from scratch.  I call it sculpting.  The darts help sculpt the bodice to a feminine frame.  It took several whacks and a the same amount of

seam ripping to get it right.  Once I did, I gained a tremendous understanding of what I was doing, along with where to measure the darts from centers and sides.  These are basic darts and no more than 1/8" wide at the bottom.  This also played into the selection of material.  In the center of the bodice is a one-sided pleat.  Here's my take on it.  If the woman sewing the dress did not have a pattern to refer to, she shaped it to her body the same way I shaped it to the doll.  The center pleat could easily have been a way to tighten the bodice instead of cutting fabric again.  

The back is usually simpler in design, and still was even with the four darts sewn into it.

Three snaps and one hook and thread loop at the waist close the gown in the back.  Of course, the dress is fully lined which is why you don't see a sewn hem.

One view of the ensemble.

Next, we come to the hat.  Such an unusual style, but most intriguing to me.  When designing the pattern, I first imagined "chef's hat meets news boy cap".  But I was wrong.  Closer inspection showed that there is a flat round sewn into a wide band that gathers and meets the second band that the visor is sewn to at the base.  

Once again, I had the wrong wool, but the right color.  I didn't back down from this, even though the wool was definitely too thick.  I worked on this hat for a solid week, all by hand, stitching and ripping out until I got it right.

When I was just about to give up, it occurred to me that I was focusing on the top look more than how it sat on the head.  The top was actually great, but the band around the head was too small.

I did try a different wool, but the look of a chef's hat even with the most minimal of gathers was still present.  

I saved the top and visor and recut a wider band to fit around the head and stitched the hat once more.  

I like this hat.  It's so different than anything I've tried before for a doll to wear. Like the beading, it will never get made again, so the effort is really all on the design.

I kept looking for images of men's hats from this time period.  I don't recognize the shape as anything but 

purely European in design.  Just yesterday I found this photo of two 19th century men wearing what is called a winter hat. The style is exactly the same, minus the fur on the man standing.  The hat on the seated man isn't a high.  In the book's description, the hat was a "cotton outdoorsman's hat borrowed from the male wardrobe".  So, the woman was wearing a man's hat.  I find this all very interesting.  It's never just an outfit, an ensemble to me, but a rich lesson in historical dressing which then speaks of the history and times the person wearing it would have lived.

Lastly, there were the gloves.  I've made gloves before.  Leather fingered gloves but never on a subject so small.  Those fingers are the size of toothpicks!  Which of course, meant very tiny blanket stitches around the very edges of the leather.  I use old, vintage ladies' gloves to make gloves like this.  The leather is soft and paper thin.  I love the artistry of these antique gloves and often have trouble cutting them up because of their beauty.

Truth be told, they cannot be worn by hands of today unless they are very small hands with very skinny fingers.

On making the gloves, I wasn't sure I really wanted to struggle with them, but after those micro beads, I had to ask myself what my problem was.  I won't quit until it's what I envisioned, and only the best replica in miniature of the original was going to pass with me.  So, I made the gloves.  I was lucky.  The first pattern I drew worked.  But I did test the thumb and first finger on the hand first before proceeding.  If those tugged on and fit, I'd continue.  The gloves were made in a day.  

The scarf was eluding me.  Cutting down a silk scarf from today wasn't going to give me the look I was after.  The silk is difficult to work with and its puffy when folded around a doll's neck.  I shrugged.  Made one of cotton.  It was too big, too thick.  So I made one of fine silk dupioni.  The book's description said that she'd worn a red scarf to identify her to other hunters.  So pure red it became.  At some point you have to say "done", and I did.  

Every element of this ensemble plays off the next.  In order to complete the look, each piece had to be made and even though I struggled through much of it, I persisted and completed.  It's just me, but I need a sense of accomplishment now and then.  To really stretch myself and see if I can pull something off.

I'm happy to be done.  This is perfect timing as well, even though the project took me two weeks longer than planned.  Its October and nearing mid-month.  Autumn is fully engaged with nature and Lady Lacy is eager to walk the woods, enjoy the earthy scents brought on by rain and sun, feel the cold snap on her cheeks while she's cozily warm in a proper hunting gown, and save little foxes on the run.

I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I have in sharing it.  Below are some photos I found on Pinterest of women hunting.  The first one shows the woman with a game bag.  The fourth, the Edwardian one, I love for the dog.  The final one is probably the oldest, and I included it because of the hat.  I've also included a scan of the text from the book.  

The sky has darkened and it's begun to rain.  It is now the end of the day, and I'm ready to simply relax with a cup of hot tea.  Until next time.  Next stop, Halloween!

  

 

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!