Carmen Miranda - a prize winning Blythe

Hard to believe but the Sydney BlytheFest was over 3 weeks ago now - high time I posted something about it?  !!  And this post is going to a boastful one - because Audrey won 3rd prize in "Celebrity Look-Alike Stock" and she is tremendously proud of herself!

There is quite a lot of costume for one doll who stands only 12" high - would you like to see some of the details?





Starting at the top with the all-important Tutti-Frutti Hat!




Made like a stage costume Carmen Miranda head-dress with a felt helmet underneath.  For a human I would've used millinery or slipper felt - thick and stiff - for the doll scale I used craft felt and it stretched with all the handling - grrr
Given all the weight & height of this head-dress it would've been better if it had remained snug-fitting.

The turban effect is created by 2 squares of fabric draped and stitched in place - the fall of fabric over one ear helps balance the weight of the basket of fruit.

I couldn't find a little cane basket and ran out of time to search for one.  The basket I did find was perfect in every way - except for weight.  It is made of metal, brass I think, really pretty, perfect size and an oval shape (just like a Blythe doll's head) but it would've been much better in cane and light-weight.

Luckily I had the faux fruit erasers in stash - again they are rather too heavy - but they looked good (especially those cherries!)  The bananas were a great find at the last minute - though I did have to buy a huge bag of them - they weigh almost nothing.  Lots of bright coloured ribbon, bows & roses, as 'filler' and feathers for height.  They are just chicken feathers but I curled the filaments so they look as fluffy & pretty as possible.


Carmen Miranda often wore big hoop earrings and I couldn't resist using a Blythe pull-ring (a red resin one by JemGirl on Etsy).

Working on down - the tie-up top.  I needed stretch without bulk for this tiny garment - hand knitting seemed the way to go, with fabric sleeves sewn on.

Here is a back view of the costume:

Lets see some detail of sleeve, earring ... the yoke of the skirt and you'll notice those nails!
The nail polish is acrylic paint - not sealed, we'll probably wash it off one day!  Meanwhile, Audrey has been getting regular manicures which I think she quite enjoys!

The yoke of the skirt is super-tight - waist-band made of ribbon ...

The skirt is circular, it trains longer at the back and is split at the front.  Covered with rows & rows of ribbon - satin & organdza ...






I was going to cover the gathered edges with thin ribbon on all the layers - but only did so on the bottom-most as it really wasn't necessary.






Carmen Miranda wore big platform shoes because she was self-conscious about being rather short. 
These were made for Barbie and they were pink - I painted them and put glitter on (most of which has fallen off!)

And you can see the beads I tried to weight the corners of the frills with.

Well - all in all it is a lot of costume for one small doll to manage and I think Audrey did very well as "The Lady with the Tutti-Frutti Hat".

Had a wonderful day, though I spent most of it behind my sale table - which was massively overstocked!  Sold well on the day, but lots left over which is gradually going into my Etsy shop BlytheStar.

Next post I'll show off the other 2 costumes - non-prize winning but great fun to make.