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.

More Stitches and some Facilitating

I have been working hard - here is some proof!

That's what happens to a pin made to do too much - poor thing!

The Facilitating was at a Workshop held by The Watershed on King Street, I had great fun and it was quite a success so they will be holding another  Upcycle your wardrobe workshop  more info here. 


Currently I'm working full-time sewing costumes for some musicals and I can only show you a few peeps.



Lots of stitches in that costume and the shiny velvet stuff is not easy to work with.

This beaded "cage" was a joint effort - all the major construction was by another - I did the smaller beads which are tiger-tail - lots of organic, wobbling lines to break up the straighter, structural work and wherever one crosses another they are wired together ... Quite a massive thing but very pretty and twinkly.



Most of what I can show you is knitting stitches rather than sewn ones - here are some knittings made for family & friends over the last few months ...

Socks - quite plain and traditional in a nice "denim" yarn - Araucania Ranco Solids.

 

Jacket for a new baby - an old pattern (from the 80's) and nice cheerful red wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

For my Granddaughter - an interconnecting set of accessories to keep her warm.  Little people are very apt to lose small items of clothing like mittens & scarves so my idea with these was to make them connected and thus, rather more difficult to lose.

Scarf with Mitts attached

The Scarf is long enough to go round then down the arms to her hands - where it ends in the mittens.  There are button-holes along the edges of the scarf which can be buttoned to the beanie hat.

And you can't see the buttons in this picture but they are there in a decorative grouping.

Of course my granddaughter has her own ideas about her clothes - she loved the beanie but insisted on wearing it pulled down almost over her eyes.  She wasn't impressed by the scarf - perhaps it is too wide.
Oh well - it served as a good project to start teaching her brother how to knit.  And he really enjoyed helping me to "stab the stitch, throttle the stitch, walk it round the ship and push it off the plank".   Piratical Knitting  :-)  

He preferred helping with the variegated yarn sections ... and that yummy yarn is "Knitcol" by Adriafil.  I bought it in a lovely little yarn shop / cafe in Nancy, France - a shop utterly crammed to the gunnels with wonderful yarns :-)   I bought 2 colourways of the Knitcol - the other will make a similar interconnected set for my grandson.

Another yarn purchase in France was the utterly gorgeous mohair I bought in Vezelay - I've blogged previously - and you can buy this yarn on-line   No, I'm not getting a kick-back.  Yes, I'll be buying more of this yarn - for a 1950's style big mohair jumper?  :-)



This is the loveliest mohair - very long haired, but quite soft, not wire-like and skritchy; it even has a slight lustre - divine.



With the 2 colours I bought I've made myself a simple lace cowl. 

Isn't it lovely?

Have I mentioned that I love this mohair?

Aren't those colours gorgeous?


Did I say that these are THE colours of spring in France?   The light green of new leaves against a freshly washed sky.

Aaaargh can I go back to France?     NOW!!