Sister Bear: A Norse Folktale

Spring is near.  While winter persists in many parts of the country, we missed it entirely this year.  And January, which I've always considered well into winter, was my month to tuck into a quiet project and cozy myself away from the cold.  

You may recall me occasionally talking about my Sister Bear project.  The long-term project that began a couple of years ago with the purchase of another Wendy Lawton, Prim and Proper.  This little 11 1/2" doll is my favorite to dress.  One was used for Alice Illustrated, and therefore I get to play with this doll from time to time.  I knew when I started this project that it would take great patience and perseverance on my part, and it did.  

When I first saw this book by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Linda Graves, I knew, I just knew that someday I'd create something from it.  The illustrations are beyond gorgeous and the Norse folktale is delightful.  Its the story of a young girl named Halva and the polar bear cub she finds one spring, alone in the woods.

"Halva takes the cub home, where they name her Sister Bear.  Not only does Sister Bear hunt for the family and protect Halva, but she likes to dance while Halva plays the flute.

Halva decides to show off Sister Bear to the king of Denmark who liked remarkable things.  On their journey, they run into trouble with some big, ugly, hungry trolls, and Halva learns just how lucky she is to have a loving friend like Sister Bear."

Along with the sweet story and the lavish illustrations, my love of polar bears was a deciding factor in beginning this journey of my own.  And there is no mistaking the comparison of a girl and her dog.  Not that I believe for one minute that my own dog would defend me against big, ugly trolls, especially if one gave him a cookie.  It would be me protecting him!  

The story begins when one spring day while out in the woods, Halva comes upon an abandoned little white cub.  When the mother does not return, Halva pulls off her petticoat, wraps the little bear up and takes her home.  The idea was met with resistance, but she loved the little cub, and the little cub loved her back "with all of its great heart".

She makes it an embroidered coat, and it sleeps by her bed at night.  It runs beside her when she is out in her sleigh.  And the bear likes to dance to the music Halva plays on her little wooden flute.

When considering how to represent Halva, I had to choose between featuring her with a young, but large polar bear dressed in embroidered coats or Halva in spring with the baby tucked inside her petticoat.  The bear cub won out.

There was also the costume design factor of which outfit to

try and emulate most.  Each time Halva is drawn, the costume changes dramatically.  It was very confusing, so I took the blouse, vest and gathering sack from the cover, and the skirt, apron and shoes from Halva taking the little cub home.  I looked and looked and bought and set aside countless pieces of fabric for the striped skirt as none would do.  The ruffled hem had me searching for months as well as I didn't want to commit to such a task as embroidering the design.  A ruffle like that would have taken a year to embroider on its own.

The story begins in spring and ends after Christmas when she and Sister Bear, on their journey to see the king, end up minding a cottage abandoned by a family frightened off by trolls. The costuming changes into winter wear for both Halva and Sister Bear, but my point is that this might be considered a story of Christmas.  When that idea sunk in, I looked for Christmas prints, and this is where I found a suitable ruffle. 

I began two years ago by embroidering the peasant blouse.  Frustrated and exhausted with that free hand, detailed effort, Halva sat undressed as I took on other projects.  This January, I finally decided to push my doubts and fears aside and just do it.  I wanted this doll.  No one was going to make it for me, and it wasn't going to make itself.  So, I tucked in and worked to completion.

Here's Halva feeding the little cub on a gorgeously embroidered pillow.  I do believe this is my favorite illustration in the book.

Let's start with the blouse.  I tried to consider how such a blouse would be made without the aid of a sewing machine.  Five rough cut simple pieces consisting of two sleeves, two front pieces to help create the opening at the neck and a back.  All were stitched or embroidered together with red thread.  

The sleeves are elaborately embroidered with little red hearts and a geometric border pattern.  This design was from the blouse on the cover illustration. 

A lace runs through the collar to cinch if desired.

As I mentioned, Halva sat for a good long time in just the blouse.

When I picked up the project again, I started working on the vest.  This may have been in November of last year, only three months ago, but it was significantly difficult enough that I set it aside to work on Christmas gifts and other sewing projects.

The piping or edging is red silk on a bias. It was best cloth to use for this purpose as it's all so tiny in construction.  I'm not the world's best embroiderer and it's not my aim to be so.  Decorative stitching on this scale and on fine wool takes a great deal of planning and pulling out. While satin stitching was done for the border U, I chose a simpler version for the interior design.  

I would learn as I went that a straight pin positioned before you take the next stitch is a good way to "help" create a better, more uniform design.  When you pull the thread up, pin the point you're aiming for and stretch the thread to it to see if the line is correct.  Make sense?  It's still tricky but works better than just eyeballing it.

Satisfied with the vest, I started working on the gathering bag that ties to her waist. I love making purses and bags.  Accessories are everything to me.  This was also a way to get working on black out of the way and done with.  Black is very difficult to work on.

In the midst of all this, I began to run out of the red thread and couldn't find a match anywhere.  Another lesson learned.  Keep the number of the color with the thread.

I sewed a cording of my own making around the edges as everything else was too thick and not the right color.  The beaded tassels were fun.  The jeweled latch is a jewelry finding I found on Etsy that I embellished with crystals.  Real stones for this jeweled piece would have been cabochons, or uncut stones.  We make do with what we have and what works best.

The apron is a small piece of Swiss Batiste that I embroidered with an azure blue thread and a persimmon pink.  This made-up design was as close as I could get to one Linda Graves drew.  It took quite a lot of math to accurately get a perfect number of diamonds with connectors for accurate spacing.  Somehow, along with the border embroidery design, it worked out.  I'm pickier than the eye is.  

What was occurring during this time was that Halva's waist was getting pretty thick.  Between the doubled skirt with waistband and the apron waistband with ties, and the blouse!, it all still fit nicely under the vest.  phew!

So, let's talk about the skirt.  Once again there was the dilemma of illustrator vs seamstress/designer.  In the spring illustration this all looks like one skirt.  The ruffle falling from the piped or banded edge of the stripes.  On this scale it wasn't going to happen.  I fiddled and agonized over this for days.  Finally, and once I had the Mary Engelbreit fabric for the ruffle, I made a batiste under skirt to add the ruffle to.  Both stripe and batiste are sewn into the waistband.  

As far as the stripe goes, you won't find this fabric.  I made it.  It's a green and white stripe that I embroidered red stripes through.  I'm laughing as I write this because only I'd be crazy enough to do such a thing.  Do it on a machine?  Yeah.  Tried.  No stitch available gave me the look I wanted.  So, when I say I embroidered the entire costume, it's pretty much close to the truth.

Detail of the back.

And Halva's clogs were last.  These are sturdy leather clogs or work shoes with tole painted flowers on them.  Thin red trim was painted on them as well.  Took three or four coats of acrylic paint to get the color to show up, and I love doing this kind of work.

Please remember that you can click on any of these photos to see them enlarged.  Then just click back.

Oh yes.  Well Halva did carry the baby bear home in her petticoat.  So, I had to make a petticoat.  I was tempted to just to make a square edged in lace like a tablecloth, which is what the illustration looked like (with fringe?), but what's the fun in that?  No.  We've gone this far, so keep doing it right.  

Lucky me that I had this Swiss lace that made up a quick little petticoat.  I ran a tie through the turned over waistband for cinching.  Would it fit under the dress?  Do you really have to ask that?

I don't like or use elastic for projects like this.  Elastic disintegrates over time.  And speaking of rotting rubber, I had to remove a yellowed and crumbling elastic band from the wig that held the braid in place and use needle and thread to secure it.  

Finally, the star of the show.  The character of the title of the book.  Just a wee polar bear cub.

Was making Sister Bear any easier?  Of course, not.  I must have used at least five photos to make her.  Everyone seems to make polar bears differently.  And what I wanted most of all was look of the baby bear taking a spoon of porridge.  That happy little open mouth.  

He is a tiny little thing but had to be for Halva to carry home.

When Sister Bear is in the petticoat, all of this is pinned in place for the look, as well as making sure it stays in the doll's arms.  The last two photos, as well as the very first one, show Halva carrying the little bear.

Go ahead and ask.  Will I make a larger Sister Bear dressed in an embroidered coat?  The more I've thought about it, the more I think that I'd like to.  Halva will need the winter travel costume as well.  This might be a good project to have done for next Christmas.  In the meantime, as spring slowly emerges, let's enjoy Sister Bear's first months as a baby with Halva.

If you love folktales and children's books, Sister Bear is not to be missed.  Below are more illustrations from the book that I found online with captions from the story. 

Until the next time, Happy Valentine's Day!  Happy Lunar New Year!

Impressed by the bear's helpfulness, mother names her Sister Bear.

Sister Bear loves to dance to Halva's wooden flute.

The journey to see the king.

Halva and Sister Bear are invited back to the Gusterson's cottage after chasing off the trolls.

Halva and Sister Bear run into the troll and scare them off with a warning.

Detail of the journey image.

A Christmas visit with the Gustersons.

So, she sat for so long.

 

Mardi Gras with Prague and Piggy

Welcome February!  Just as predicted, January was a quiet month and one where I dug in and worked on Halva for the story Sister Bear.  As I tell people sometimes, "The doll isn't going to make itself, so I'd best make up my mind and get busy!"  That can be difficult when all you're doing each time you sit down is free embroidering intricate little designs on doll clothing.   But guess what?!  She's almost done.  Just a few things left to do including needle felting Sister Bear, the baby polar bear that Halva finds and adopts.

And sometimes you have to set such a project aside and work on something else that's time critical.  And believe me, February is chalk full of fun events, all mid-month.  Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, and Lunar New Year.  I even bought a new Lunar New Year Lego project this morning.  With over 1,000 pieces, I think I'd just make the vase with the plum blossoms!  This year.  These miniature, adult targeted Lego sets are fabulous, but take a very long time to put together. 

But I'm already digressing.  Maybe that's because I just finished Ellowyne's cheongsam for Lunar New Year.  I've been hoping that the VDC will offer in her next subscription box, an appropriate outfit to wear in Chinatown, San Francisco on the 17th.  One can always hope! So, I made the cheongsam just in case. I hate sewing with jacquard.  Miserable stuff!

Before that though, I set Halva aside and made Eloise, Maisie's cousin, a Mardi Gras outfit.  If there was ever a doll that would have a ball at Mardi Gras, its Eloise.  

I was looking for ideas on Pinterest, as I always do, and found these heat transfers for Mardi Gras.  One of them was this great, Throw Me Something Mister one.

That was Eloise!  However, the smallest size would've been appropriate for only a human's shirt pocket.  I kept looking.  Once again I was reminded of artist, Connie Born's, Mardi Gras Mischief dolls.  While "mischief" describes Eloise to a T, there was no way that doll would enjoy wearing such a costume as this.  Minus the coins or doubloons on the face, this would be a great costume for another doll.  I was just looking at these OOAK dolls, and they can sell for $800 on the Internet.  Connie created these unique dolls to celebrate the culture and spirit of Louisiana.  Awesome concept!

So, I continued to poke around for what might suit Eloise.  Then I came upon bambinocheride on Etsy who also sold the DTF Heat Transfers.  When I saw the one saying, "Don't make me go all voodoo on you!", I knew I'd found what I wanted.  I went ahead and orderd the smallest size and when it arrived, I absolutely could NOT use it.  Way too big.  So I wrote to the seller, who would never give me her name.  Or his name?  But that person was a dear and worked with me to get me just the perfect size for these Little Stella dolls.

I sent this person photos of what I did for Eloise for Christmas and told her (let's go with that), that I didn't want a frilly, pretty thing, but a "throw me something mister" look.  She laughed and said she had my back and redid them for free in a 2" size.  I purchased a mini heat setter on Amazon and she led me through how to use the thing.

I meet some of the most incredibly great people while working on projects.  These are my kind of people.  Let's have fun and help each other create things of joy and beauty!  I thanked her profusely and shared photos of the finished product and maybe someday we'll work together again.  Sprinkle star dust where you can and watch it sparkle!

I had this purple and pink striped fabric that's like a thin, light woven linen.  I kept thinking that it can get pretty warm in New Orleans even during mid-February, so I ran with this.  Still learning how to design outside the box for these Connie Lowe dolls, I borrowed from other designers, the pantaloon idea.  One of my next

projects will be circus costuming for both Eloise and Maisie, and working on this project helped point me in the right direction.  Let's face it.  I can't change who I am, but I can work on inserting elements from other designs that are fun to work with.

The most important thing for me with this costume, was to boldly feature and emphasize the Mardi Gras voodoo doll and the silly words.

The arm socks are perfect for cooler weather, and paired with socks of the same stripe, create a fun contrast.  

I love how the pantaloons turned out.  I've seen several ways of making these garments and will try other designs in the future.

Maybe the one thing I did that turned this from an A-type costume to a "getting there Connie Lowe outfit", was ripping strips of silk for the ribbons.  Silk is so expensive and getting hard to come by, but

it needs to be ripped and frayed to get that look.  Crunched, too.  I decorated the top hat with them and with a bit left over, I added crunched ribbons to the sides of the pantaloons.

I had also selected the Mardi Grawr transfer with the dinosaur.  He's awfully cute.  What to do with him?  Make a bag to collect all those treasures thrown from those floats.  Throw me something mister!

Here the bag up close with some beads I added for fun.

But we couldn't stop there.  Let's get Eloise's dog, Prague, and Piggy from the Alice set, dressed up for Mardi Gras, too.

This little pig is the Steiff I use for Alice Illustrated and was the model for Piggy.  

While thinking about what might connect the top hat to the costume besides ribbons, I came up with a wool vest with Mardi Gras pins on it.  It didn't look quite right over the voodoo doll smock, so I made a tube top.  Hey!  There is a large Irish presence in New Orleans.  She does look a little like a leprechaun here.  But it's a variation and just as fun.

I really wanted to make something for Kitty Hudson, but Eloise came first and maybe we can do that next year.  Below are two more illustrations of Deco costuming for parties and Mardi Gras.  I may have to try the house in the first one, or the window in the second.  More ideas for the Dennison's tissue paper costumes?  I love making costumes.  More than anything else, costuming is FUN.

Below I'm resharing past Mardi Gras costumes.  Each very different.  Each unique. I hope Eloise has a great time in New Orleans on the 16th!  

And now it's back to Halva, until the next three pieces of jacquard arrive.  Lacie needs a Chinese New Year outfit.  Cheongsam or pants and tunic?  I'll decide then.  

Happy month of February!

 

2025 in Review

Winter Solstice has arrived. It marks the official beginning of winter and symbolizes renewal and hope for the lengthening days ahead.  For myself, the winter solstice tells me that the 'bers have ended, the final celebration of the year is four days away, and it's time to look forward to a new year.  As the seeds sleep beneath the wet and sometimes frozen soil, as certain animals hibernate, some carrying new life that will give birth just as spring begins the thaw, it's time for me to tuck in and quietly plan and dream of what I wish to do in the new year.

Part of what helps me plan is to reflect on what has been, what I learned from it, and what brings me the most joy.  Just last night I made a silly "jolly holly reindeer headband" for Ellowyne just so she could channel a little holiday spirit while she tucked in at home and watched the Hallmark movie, Single on the 25th.  For Ellowyne, who will timelessly endure, even revel in her ennui and singlehood, the movie was the perfect choice.  But do you know what my favorite part of planning this vignette was?  

The chunky gray socks.  Comfy wear for watching TV on a damp winter's night.  This is what I wear, sans the party dress.  But that's Ellowyne.  Vintagely, fashionably chic through her dismissal of anything appealing or exciting.

Some people write a Christmas letter.  I did this for a few years.  I even tried writing a Christmas letter to all my friends on Facebook last year.  But it didn't have photos, and I like photos.  My life is primarily one of quiet walks with my dog, cooking good meals for my husband, and working on projects that will continue to grow and inspire me.  And collecting dolls! So, this year, I'm writing this blog as the official Christmas letter and year in review.  And it might be fun to see how I jumped from one thing to the next.

January was time to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Now that Anne is the doll to display with Grace, and not Dolly Dingle, I made Anne a special Chinese New Year dress to compliment Grace's from the VDC.  The pets got their own masks and paper lanterns were made.

Do remember that you can click on each photo to see them enlarged.

Still in January, I'd discovered Jan Brett's Alice in a Winter Wonderland book.  Oh my.  Me and Alice.  So, I had to make Alice Illustrated the outfit and needle felt her card penguin.  She is still dressed in this a year later, so I really loved this one.  Mini bear fur is not easy to sew into clothing, and the boots came out wonderful.

My breath catches when I come to Little Stella.  She was a gift and one that has sustained my joy throughout the year.  And still does.  I didn't know what to do with her, so I bought the Connie Lowe book and printed out the paper doll page from a UFDC article.  Since making paper doll clothes is something I like to do, I dressed her in the paper doll outfit.  

In the book, there's a section called Stella Gets a Puppy.  When Connie was in Prague at a doll show, she traded a doll for a box of old animal toys.  Then set up a story on the streets of Prague where Stella finds and puppy and begs to bring him home.  The dog was named Prague after the city.  This touched my heart so deeply that I needle felted Maisie one.

My friend's birthday was on April 2nd, so I made her doll a birthday dress and party hat.

Then I found the Barbie's New Dream House I'd been looking for.  One that was newly assembled with many pages still not punched out and ready to put together.  I love this doll house and will keep it as minty as it arrived.

May arrives, and I'm sewing another outfit for Eloise, my friend's Little Stella.  The Alice was a request, and I continued to try and get the feel of how true costume designers of Connie Lowe's dolls operate.  Basically, its trash bin clothes that turn out so adorable! It's hard not to be the A type designer I am, and I often wonder if I really need to push myself outside the box like they do.  Yet, this one was a winner, and I needle felted the pig baby to go with it.

Now, Piggy and Prague and part of Eloise's adventures.

May was also the month that our Beach Basic Gwendolyn dolls came out.  I love the vintage 60's look, especially of Poppy Parker dolls, so Gwendolyn was a shoo-in for me.

She needed a beach hat to go with her two-piece swimsuit and when I spotted this vintage advertisement for kooky beach hats, I had to give this one a try.  I had a lot of fun making it.

In June, my friend, Betsy, sent me three little Gail Wilson folk dolls to do something with.  She wanted one of them dressed for herself, so I started looking at folk toys since Gail's dolls always came with their own folk toys.  I happened upon this artist that made litte wooden toys and that would be the inspiration for a folk Alice and White Rabbit.

Unfortunately, she wanted long sleeves on the dress, and I may at some point ask for the doll back to redo the sleeves.  Alice always had short, puffed sleeves to me.   

Around the same time, Rachel Hoffman announced that Robert Tonner was making a Sybil reboot.  And Rachel put out a challenge for us to create our version of new Sybil and send it in.  We'd get a lovely credit voucher for future purchases, so I was on board.

Sybil is supposed to be a grumpy cat, so I needle felted one.  This project fell flat, too.  Other people were making crafty cat representations and people went wild for them, and my poor little kitty got lost in the shuffle.

Come July when the UFDC convention was happening and I was sitting this one out, a request came for an Abigail Vampire Ballerina costume for Eloise.  I worked like crazy to make a beautiful costume for a vampire child, and I think this one fell flat, too.  I should have just made it like a dress with a pair of tights. 

This little doll is not easy to dress and for me, even more of a challenge.

With the heat of August and missing the warm sands of beaches, I decided to try making something for Lacie.  She was wearing all the Journey Through Time costumes made for the Grace subscription boxes.

I'd just bought the book Sporting Fashion, that a few of the Journey outfits had been designed from.  I decided to try the 1930's Beach Pyjamas.  I enjoyed making this but had a seriously difficult time finding a fabric that matched well to the illustration.  Still, it came out light, airy, and summery.

Right after that, I made one for Kitty Hudson, and added a sailboat beach umbrella.

The espadrilles took most of the time, and came out delightful.

September is birthday month, and I always like to make something special for myself.  I chose the 1950's Touring outfit from the Sporting Fashions book, to make for Lacie.  

The peasant blouse was a real challenge as its not made like a normal peasant blouse with elastic at the neck and sleeves.  This was an embellished and embroidered work of art for a fashionable tourist.

The skirt.  Oh my. Well, there's an entire blog on this for September.  It was a journey.  The skirt is heavily embellished with tiny sequins as was the original.

I'd also commissioned the "saddle bag".  A latigo tooled leather delight.  Let's not forget the espadrilles.

And straight into October from there for Lacie's Sporting Fashion, Hunting 1840's outfit.  It was all about the game bag.  With the darling little fox on it, embellished with the tiniest Italian glass beads imaginable.  Beads the size of non-pariels requiring a very special needle.

November began the time of making Christmas gifts, and a Nightmare Before Christmas, Sally outfit was due for Eloise.  This one came together so quickly that I didn't even draft a pattern.  Fun!

And Noelle, an 8" Maggie Iacono redressed as one of Santa's Elves with wooden pull toys from the artist that made the folk rabbit for the folk Alice.

Next, a true little folk doll, Anja.  Another one of Gail Wilson's early porcelain, stuffed body.  She was inspired by the book A Christmas Wish about a Swedish child named Anja and the animal friends she made.

Last, but done before Noelle and Anja, was the Grinch costume for Eloise.  I learned a new way of embroidering on clothing when you cannot transfer a pattern or draw on the cloth.  With Sally and Grinch, I finally felt myself stepping a toe outside the box.

You might have a favorite, or perhaps none at all.  But this year I felt like I was bouncing around from doll shape and size, and from strict boundaries to playful sewing.  All of it was serious.  I am never not serious when I sit down to create something, but the freedom I felt with Sally was delightful.

However, when considering all I accomplished over the last year, Lacie's Hunting 1840's stands out as a favorite.  I'd purchased a second Lacie to be a model and ended up with an art doll.  One that won't be undressed and played with.  She is who she is.  And the game bag, not to mention the hat, will always be a reminder of what I can do when I put my mind to it.

What's in store for the New Year?  At least three more Sporting Fashion ensembles.  And I'd really love to finish the doll representing the child from the book Sister Bear.  It's good to plan.  Having a goal is important to sustain purpose in our lives. And I'm open to any new challenges coming my way.  This is how I grow and learn as a costume designer for dolls.

As I close on this year in review, I close some doors and open new ones. January first is always a fresh start for me.  I'm already sad that the ornaments will soon be put away and the tree retired for another year. But the day is still young, Christmas is just counting hours away now, and there's always hope for snow.  Thank you for taking this journey with me.  Wishing you a Merry Christmas and an especially fine new year!