Challenge 5 - The Susie Challenge

This challenge is not going to be an easy one (not that ANY of them are!!) Susie is such a SMALL doll, but is so deceptive, she is, in reality the same size as a Barbie doll, but with a far more realistic figure.

Where to start? Well, the internet obviously, spending hours and hours looking at sites devoted to her and pictures of her. It is always good to see as many pictures as you can, even the bad ones, then you will be able to discern what works and what doesn’t!

Trying to decide on one country or place was another headache. The Miss Universe internet site was helpful, they had the contestants dressed in National Costumes, some of which were inspirational, some of which weren’t!!

…But then you come over all patriotic and decide to do none of the countries that you had short listed...

Spain, with all that lace and Flamenco.
Ireland, all the rich greens and detailed dancing costumes.
Thailand, intricate beading and rich gold embellishments.
Egypt, truly distinctive, turquoise gold and many other sumptuous combinations.

No, I chose England, one of the few without a National Costume!
So, ok, what could be more English than London? What could be more London than Buckingham Palace?
One of the most iconic places in the capital, everyone knows it and everyone knows the poor guys who have to stand outside guarding it! If you think of an outfit for Buckingham Palace this would have to be the first thing that springs to mind.
These are the Foot Guards of the Household Cavalry. Made up of The Grenadier Guards, The Coldstream Guards, The Welsh, Irish and Scots Guards. They are posted to the Queens Guard on rotation and they wear the red jackets with their subtle differences according to the regiment.

The very distinctive red and black uniform!

So a bit more research and a few more ideas…

The next thing to do is to make this into a contemporary outfit for a young lady.
My initial thought was to make a white mini dress with red stripes down the sides somehow, representing the St George (England) Flag. The jacket I wanted cropped but when you put the two together, you get a kind of Bell Boy/ Majorette look, that completely misses the point! (See below)

However, I decided I liked the cropped jacket and thought about making a skirt underneath which continues on from the jacket to make it look like it is part of it, but is actually completely separate.
I wanted the skirt to be a bit flirty and give the outfit a less formal military look. By keeping it short and having the frilly underskirt, it made it more fun and girly.

I started with the white gypsy style blouse first, this is a bit of a nod to all those thousands of traditional National Costumes that have blouses like this, and believe me there are a lot!
Because the blouse is gathered and elasticated, it has to be in the finest cotton lawn imaginable. The top edge is trimmed with lace, the top and the sleeves are elasticated with shirring elastic.
This worked really well, I kept the seams microscopic to try to keep the bulk down, however, later on as I kept fitting the bodice of the skirt, the blouse would ride up, hang out, fall out, and actually become quite a pain! The solution? To make her a pair of knickers and sew the blouse to the knickers, making a rather fabulous body suit, dead easy to get on and off as all the top is elasticated and very full!
I was beginning to lose the St George colours at this point, so decided to add a red bow to the blouse where it would be seen, and to the knickers where it wouldn’t!

So, there go the England colours, just to satisfy my need!
Next comes the skirt. This I wanted to fit perfectly without making her look too fat when she has the jacket on. It is made in five panels, fully lined, fully fitted. The skirt was initially gathered chiffon, keeping it light and full, but it just wasn’t right. See below. You can also see here quite plainly, the problem I was having with the press studs! Imagine what it would look like if both the jacket and the skirt had press studs sticking out like this!?

The skirt had to be re-done, this time with a pleated skirt in a cotton fabric. It holds the pleats really sharp and still looks the part. I didn’t want to sew stripes down the sides of the skirt, this would have made it too stiff and formal, so the ribbon was caught into the seam and just left hanging, this gives it a more playful, carefree feel.

Now the jacket, this was a real test of patience! The pattern pieces are tiny scraps of paper (easily lost!) therefore the jacket is made up of tiny scraps of fabric! Every seam had to be pressed to within an inch of it’s life to keep everything perfectly flat and flawless, really not easy with a standard iron, but here’s a tip for you - use a rolled up towel and stuff it inside the jacket, smooth all the creases and get it as flat as you can with your fingers first, then iron out the rest, you can get a pretty good finish this way even with a great enormous iron! Oh, and use lots of steam!
I wanted gold on the jacket, just like the real ones, but too much would have swamped the doll so I made her epaulettes and collar in black and gold, then trimmed the front with tiny “brass buttons”.
The join between the jacket and the skirt had to “disappear” and the only way to do this was to emphasise it! So, she has a very wide black leather belt with a big (little) brass buckle. The hole in the belt is trimmed with a minute brass eyelet.
Now for the finishing touches, a hat!
Well, there’s a problem for a start! A bearskin? Nah, I don’t think so!! ...Who ever designed those things?
Then I thought about the Glengarry.

This would work but would make the outfit look too Scottish. The only real solution is to make a hat that is just a simple straight forward hat.
This was made by molding felt, a new and fun experience, very easy to do, just soak the felt in very hot water and mold over an object, in this case a bottle top!
The narrow gingham ribbon was stitched around the edge with a little bow in the back and a silver embellishment on the front.
The long white boots have had a red stripe painted down the sides to match the outfit and reflect the red ribbons on the skirt and blouse.

Then just for fun I put the jacket with jeans just to show that it doesn’t have to be so formal! The jeans are not included with the outfit, they are just to show how versatile this outfit could be!