The Kirsten Project | Kirsten Saves the Day

Grab your foraged berries, sit down and join me for the latest installment of The Kirsten Project. For this edition, we’re going into the woods to recreate Kirsten’s summertime ensemble based on her story Kirsten Saves the Day.

For much of this book, Kirsten spends her time in the woods near her family farm, collecting berries, fishing in the creek and getting into trouble with her younger brother. For my costume, I’ve chosen to take most of my design decisions from the American Girl catalog and the styling of the doll in her straw hat, blue and white striped dress, bird whistle and red boots - all with an eye to period correct silhouettes. Let’s break down each piece with more detail on my artistic choices with the historical references I used to create my look.

Wide Brim Straw Hat

Like Kirsten, I’m wearing a wide brim straw hat, trimmed with traditional petersham ribbon and adorned with a bunch of bright red faux cherries. I chose to use the same style of straw hood (a milliner’s term for a dome shape hat base) as my doll’s hat. After wetting the straw, I blocked it on a wooden crown and brim mold, pinned and tied it into place and then allowed it to dry. Afterwards I simply tacked the ribbon and berries into place and added a few green leaves made from raw silk ribbon.

Alternatively (and more historically accurate), a straw hat could be made by braiding the straw into long ribbon like pieces, sewing them around and around onto themselves to form the shape of the crown and then outward to the brim. This is definitely a technique I want to try one day! Here’s a great clip from Edwardian Farm where Ruth Goodman doing just this!

Summer Work Dress

For summer, Kirsten wears a lightweight cotton work dress. Creating this piece was a fun way to combine the character’s dress (which I believe was inspired by this painting) with a historically accurate adult silhouette. As I breakdown each portion of the dress, I’ll assign it to one of three categories - matches doll AND historically accurate, matches doll but without historical research and upgraded for historical accuracy.

Let’s start with the bodice of the dress. Kirsten has a squared neckline but I chose to do a more rounded shape, which I believe to be a historical upgrade. Sure, there are examples of square necklines in the 19th century, but they are often deeper (like the 1870s) or constructed by way of shoulder straps as was done in the 18th century and early 19th. Neither of those examples result in the high neckline that was used in work dresses of the 1850s - thus I opted for a round neck.

To fit the bust line of a woman’s dress (my chest is rather large and a ten year old girl wouldn’t have developed in that area yet) I used a pair of darts on each side. This is a historical upgrade based on countless examples from the era.

To capture the look of the shorter sleeve doll’s dress, I created a two piece sleeve to mirror examples I found in my research. This style of sleeve, composed of a short upper sleeve and a fuller under sleeve, was common during the 1840s-1850s. Like the doll dress, I added piping details to the upper sleeve along with a bias detail which was purely my own design decision. Adult women would have always worn long sleeves for daytime in the 19th century. For a laboring woman, sleeves provided a layer of protection - from the sun or other elements. A woman in higher society would have also shielded herself from the sun, AND from the eyes of others outside her social class. In private evening functions, it would have been acceptable to reveal the arms, shoulders and décoletté, but never in the daytime hours.

Other bodice elements like the dropped shoulders, center front buttons and cross grain waistband are both historically accurate and used in the doll’s dress.

To achieve the fullness I wanted for my skirt, I created cartridge pleats, which I hand sewed to my waistband. The doll’s dress doesn’t have the same fullness to fit into the waistband, so hers is simply gathered.

Finally, I opted to incorporate Kirsten’s growth stripes at the hem of the skirt - something absolutely used for younger girls in the 1850s, but not something you see as often on women’s skirts. I’m ok with veering from accuracy here because I feel this helps my costume capture the essence of Kirsten’s summer look.

Blue and White Striped Fabric

The blue and white stripe of the fabric is something I believe was popular in the 1980s when the Kirsten doll was designed and found it’s way into her summer look. Historically I’ve found more examples of similar stripes in late 19th/early 20th than the 1850s (again, I think this is the influence of Carl Larsson), although that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist then too, I just couldn’t find concrete examples like I have in my previous editions of The Kirsten Project. Thus, this is a portion of my costume where I’ve opted to copy the doll without extant dresses or historical images to work from.

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Cotton yarn dyed fabric such as this was sold in general stores across the country (I’ve found dozens of newspaper advertisements from this time period, like the one here from March of 1854 in Plymouth, Indiana) and likely made in the US. If it came from a Southern mill, it came from cotton that was grown, harvested and woven by enslaved labor. Many mills (in both the North and South), used child labor for their small size and tiny hands. If that sounds awful (it is!), please consider that textile and garment production in 2020 still happens elsewhere in the world under conditions most of us would never willingly endure. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean there’s not a human cost. If that feels icky to you, consider shopping second hand, sewing your own clothing, upcycling or repurposing what you already have or seeking out fair trade clothing made under ethical conditions.

Bird Necklace and Boots

To round out my Kirsten Saves the Day costume, I’m wearing a wooden bird necklace and pair of red leather lace up boots. In Kirsten’s summer book she has a bird whistle, which is something I believe was designed for parity alongside the other original dolls (Samantha and Molly) who also have whistles in their summer stories. I have found bird whistles which weren’t necklaces or wooden whistles that weren’t in the shape of birds. I settled for shape of a bird that didn’t have a whistle function and found a small wooden bird via a cute etsy store. I drilled a small hole in the eye area and threaded some waxed cotton string through, tied in a simple knot a trimmed. My kids are already fighting on who gets to wear the necklace each day.

My boots (pictured above) were a secondhand find on eBay, but were originally a taupe color. I dyed them myself into a rich vivid red and the process was pretty easy (if you’re a neat and tidy kind of DIY person). You can see me wearing them with Kirsten’s birthday dress here.

That’s a wrap for my summer edition of The Kirsten Project - I hope you’ve enjoyed! You can see my previous costumes by clicking the links for Meet Kirsten, Kirsten’s Surprise, Happy Birthday Kirsten and Changes for Kirsten.

Time Traveling | Edwardian Era circa 1903

I’ve fallen down another rabbit hole. I really didn’t intend to do any new eras this year, but somehow I landed right at the turn of the century in the Edwardian era. As I make my way through time and historical dress, I’ve come to appreciate silhouettes I was never initially drawn to. Regency didn’t tickle my fancy until I went to the Jane Austen Festival and the extreme hourglass of strong shoulders, puffed pigeon blouses and trumpet skirts didn’t feel particularly appealing to me either. Until now!!

I’ve been wanting to recreate some family photos for a while (like this one of my great grandmother Mary in her 1901 wedding portrait), so with a shelter in place order upon me, I thought, there’s no time like now to test the waters! Let me tell you about my 1903 Edwardian ensemble!

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Hat + Hair

Almost every element of my costume was from things I had in my home, which includes my hat! I used the veiling off a 1960s pill box hat and the straw from another. I ordered a dozen white ostrich feathers to get more of that Edwardian volume.

To get the Gibson Girl mass of hair, I made the modern version of an Edwardian hair rat, which was essentially a hair covered wreath one places over her head like a crown, with loose hair draped over the face and heck. Once in place, that hair is wrapped over the crown and pinned down. I made my hair rat from the leg of an old pair of tights, filled with yarn. It worked perfectly!

Shirtwaist

What makes a blouse fit into the Edwardian era? A high neckline, insertion lace, fine cotton and most importantly, excess volume at the front to create a pigeon bust silhouette. I opted to use the 1903 blousewaist pattern from Truly Victorian because of it’s simple design. Then the magic really comes in with the insertion lace. This entire top is actually upcycled from the skirt a 1960s dress I had in my garage (see the before here). once removed from the bodice I had over 3.5 yards of fabric to work with, plus the lace and trims that went with it. I researched designs from dozens of extant shirtwaists along with magazines from the era and this is the design I came up with. I think it looks quite authentic and I plan on wearing it for costume and modern outfits!

The high neckline is achieved with a stock - a separate collar. I used the same design elements for a cohesive look.

Under my shirtwaist I’m wearing my mid 19th century corset. I’d love to make an Edwardian S-bend corset down the line, but with my Victorian corset I’m still able to get a 10” difference between my bust and waist. The “desirable” (high fashion) proportions in Edwardian times were a bust ten inches bigger than the waist, and hips 15” bigger than the waist. This was often done with padding in both the chest and hips. Look though enough historic everyday photos and you’ll see plenty of women that don’t have such a dramatic difference (Please spare me on corsetry lectures. Most women did not tight lace to extremes like pop culture would have one believe).

I also have on a corset cover to both smooth out the lines of the corset and to add additional volume to my pigeon bust. I made it without a pattern and used scrap fabric and mismatched buttons. Make do!

Finally, I accessorized the shirtwaist with a small bar pin and locket on my left chest, as I saw in so many historic photographs from that time period.

Skirt + Shoes

My skirt is a rather simple style and also made up from a 1903 Truly Victorian Pattern. I had to make a few adjustments to get the seven gores cut out of some navy wool I had in my stash. The hem is faced with 4” wide denim to give it more of a trumpet shape, which could be further emphasized with a starched petticoat.

My shoes are black Mae’s from American Duchess in my normal size. They did fit snuggly but have already started to stretch out nicely with one wear. Because of my skinny ankles the style I initially ordered didn’t work out, but this is a pair I see myself wearing in modern life as well as with costumes from 1900-1930! The quality is outstanding and well worth the price and the only “new” thing I bought for this entire look!

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So that’s my foray into the Edwardian era! I loved making my blouse so much I made a second shirtwaist with the same pattern a week later! I plan on making a white skirt to match this shirtwaist as well because I see some lawn croquet in my future. If you’re wondering what these images look like in full color, no worries - I’ll be posting them to my Instagram in the coming days and weeks. If there’s enough interest in a tutorial for how I edit them, I’d be happy to put that together as well! I do think they help take you back in time and feel really real to me, if that makes sense!

The Kirsten Project | Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

Spring has arrived! The chickens are laying a rainbow of colorful eggs, the redbuds have popped and the fruit trees are blooming! Warmer days lead us outside to play and prepare our gardens for the summer ahead! Between these moments, I’ve been sneaking away time here and there to finish my 1850s spring dress, based off Happy Birthday, Kirsten! and I am so happy with how the project has turned out! I’d love to tell you more about my design process and how I took the original cover art by Renée Graef and translated it into women’s dress informed by the fashion trends of the era. If you haven’t see my research posts on 200 Years of Gingham, Tiered Skirts, Girls’ Dresses, Pink in the 19th century or my intro post, I encourage you to check those out first! This edition of The Kirsten Project requires a little more description, so grab a hot cup of coffee and join me for this springtime delight!

While past my costumes (Meet Kirsten, Kirsten’s Surprise and Changes for Kirsten) have very closely mirrored the illustrations and doll clothes, I’ve taken more artistic liberties based on historical sources with the adult version of Kirsten’s springtime dress.

Let’s start with the obvious: for my woman’s interpretation of the birthday dress, I have chosen not to wear a pinafore style apron. I’ve made this decision for a couple of reasons: firstly, pinafores, like the one worn by Kirsten are almost entirely worn by younger girls (like I did in my childhood version, 28 years ago!) Secondly, if an adult women did wear an apron, it would have almost always been a practical work time covering for her dress and not a fashion accessory. Of course there are always outlying examples against the rule, but I’m happy with my choice to omit a pinafore from my version of this costume. As with past projects I have found some extant items of what I’m guessing the team at Pleasant Company may have referenced, which you can find on my corresponding research post. (All of my visual examples are on that page, so keep it open to look back to as you read this post!)

Neckline

Instead of the high neckline of the Pleasant Company Kirsten birthday dress, I’ve instead opted for a lower and wider shape and I did this to bring some variation to the project. It’s absolutely historically correct for women and girls to have worn high necklines through the 1850s but it’s also correct to see a more open shape. If you look back to my post on popular girl’s silhouettes of this era, you’ll see how this holds true. A wide neck, short sleeve, gathered front dress was incredibly popular through a large majority of the 19th century (example 2, 2.1). Sometimes these open necklines are paired with an additional layer underneath for modesty or morning/afternoon wear (example 3).

Because I’ve omitted the pinafore, I chose to using vintage crochet lace at the neckline with a slight triangular shape. I’ve found examples of this in daguerreotypes (example 4, 4.1) and I think it nicely mirrors the lines of Kirsten’s apron without being childish.

Bodice

My starting point for this dress was a commercial pattern (McCalls 7988) drafted by costumer Angela Clayton, based off of a dress from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (example 5).

The bodice is composed on a yoke, gathered center front portion and sides that wrap around the torso to a back princess seam and two center back sections. This kind of construction really reminds me of 18th Century Italian gowns because there is no side seam like we see in modern clothing. The yoke also extends over the shoulder just like an 18th century style. If you look closely you can see I paid careful attention to matching my plaid, which meant that I sewed almost every seam by hand to get a perfect flow of the gingham! The bodice is lined in white twill to give it extra strength because the skirt is very heavy. Two boning channels finish out the center back and trouser hooks and bars are sewn to the lining to close the bodice.

Even though I didn’t layer a pinafore over top my dress, check out how the front style lines both narrow in at the waist. This style of bodice was common for both girls and women, as can be seen in examples 6, 6.1.

Sleeves

In her birthday story, Kirsten wears a short sleeved dress. This presents a slight problem for an adult interpretation because women of the 1850s did not often reveal their bare arms during the day - both out of modesty and practicality. For evening attire the rules change as one is surrounded by her peers and may show more skin.

The dropped shoulder attaches to layered upper and lower sleeves and two sets of 36” of ruffles. These two sleeves are stacked on top of one another and then sewn to the shoulder seem. Piping is used throughout. Like the neckline, I trimmed the lower sleeve ruffle with antique hand crocheted trim to refer back to the pointed trim on Kirsten’s apron.

For these photos I’ve decided to style the dress without an under layer because I wanted to capture the look and feel of Kirsten’s birthday dress, but I have posed for a few shots with the dress over a shirt waist - a look shown in many fashion plates from the 1850s (example 7, 7.1, 7.2). I’ll post those in coming weeks on my instagram page.

Skirt

Kirsten’s Birthday outfit by Pleasant Company has three visual layers to her skirt - her pinafore, dress and petticoat. I’ve chosen to interpret these layers into the very fashionable three tiered skirts of the 1850s. The first tier of the skirt is 135” wide and cartridge pleated into the waistline with an additional petticoat underneath that’s built into the dress. Imagine on knee length gingham layer over a white floor length layer (which serves as the base for the second and third layers). I hand sewed the top layer and petticoat to a 1” thick strip of twill tape the length of my waist. That tape was later sewn directly to the twill lining and the bodice was overlapped and hand sewn down to each pleat.

Now back to the bottom layers! I don’t currently have a set of hoops to wear underneath but if I ever add them to my costume kit, they would really extend and widen the look of the skirt! The bottom two layers are 240” wide, gathered, and sewn down directly on the petticoat. Prior to any construction, I marked the placement of the layers. That’s because each tier is hemmed before gathering by turning up the bottom edge and covering it with the 3” wide bias detail (which was appliquéd by hand on top!) This is one element of my costume that doesn’t have any direct reference back to Kirsten’s PC dress, but was an artistic decision that ties back to historical research. (examples 8, 8.1)

Flower Crown

So much of this springtime edition of The Kirsten Project revolves around what was in fashion during the 1850s - color trends (think pink!), gingham fabric, and voluminous tiered skirts. One element that has ties to both fashion and to Swedish culture is Kirsten’s flower crown.

One of Sweden’s biggest (and oldest) celebrations is the summer solstice tradition of Midsummar. Flower crowns are worn by young and old, men, women, boy and girls. The tradition goes that unmarried people pick seven different kinds of wildflowers to make into their crowns and then put them under their pillows to dream of their future spouse. This reminded me of the following passage in Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

“Pick as many daisies as you can!” Anna told everyone. “We’re going to make daisy chains.” All eight girls fanned out across the meadow. It was the day of the barn raising and they were picking wildflowers.”

“Happy Birthday, Kirsten!” Lisbeth said. She placed a wreath of flowers on Kirsten’s head. The blossoms tickled Kirsten’s ears through her long hair. 

And although it’s not part of her outfit, Kirsten’s mom also bakes a cake called Jordgubbstårta, topped with strawberries and fresh cream - a very popular Swedish Midsommar dessert! 

Flower crowns aren’t limited to Scandinavian culture of course. Queen Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms at her 1840 wedding and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln wore flowers in her hair for many of her portraits (examples 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3). You’ll find floral hair decorations throughout the 1840s-1860s on fashion plates and in lady’s magazines.

In the pioneer spirit of making do with what’s available, I used flowers I could find in my stash of old spring wreaths and intermixed those with faux flowers I bought this winter in preparations for this project. I really love cobbling together what I can find around the house and I don’t think it could have been as lovely if I had bought everything new. And just in case you’re wondering, there are seven different types of blossoms arranged throughout. I’d sleep on it, but I’ve already found my perfect match in my husband Adam, who shot most of these photos (Felix also took a few!!) 

Around my neck I’m re-wearing the amber heart necklace on a brown silk ribbon (I dyed it using walnut husks I collected from my yard!), which was a part of my Meet Kirsten look.

Socks and Boots

I’ve always loved the combination of pink with red and Kirsten’s birthday cover outfit is no exception! I searched high and low for weeks to find a pair of vintage Justin lace up boots and actually found them in a shade of taupe on eBay (see the before here)! I used leather dye to give them their rich red hue. Red shoes were popular for Victorian children, although examples of this particular color and style together were difficult to research. More often I found examples that buttoned up the outer ankle, which was a common style of boot at the time. I’m also wearing blue and white striped socks (ready made), just like the cover.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this springtime installment of The Kirsten Project! Many thanks to those of you who chipped in this winter to help me purchase my fabric and supplies that made this costume possible. And thank you to all of you that have been so encouraging in this process, including the American Girls podcast, the Serious Crafts podcast and every person who has messaged me to share their own American Girl stories over the past months! It feels good to think about a time when I was a child - safe, curious, inspired, and playful. Completing this project, photographing, editing and writing about it - has been a positive light that has kept me from sinking too far into darkness while isolated. Here’s to silver linings, the beauty of a new season and all of the good things to come.

The Kirsten Project | Dress Inspiration

dress, late 1830s, metropolitan museum of art, daguerrotypes of women and girls in mid 19th century dresses

The real root of The Kirsten Project has been for me to try to untangle the mystery of how each aspect of Kirsten’s costume came together and to make my best guess on what Pleasant Company used as an inspiration, all while staying true to early photos and extant pieces of 1850s fashion.

pleasant company catalog

Luckily, when it comes to Kirsten’s dress, we know exactly where to look… remember the early catalogs and the girl sized dresses you could buy to match your doll? On Kirsten’s page an ecru printed dress was shown with the following copy:

“This antique dress was Pleasant Company’s inspiration for Kirsten’s wardrobe. Made with loving care more than 125 years ago by a mother that took pride in tiny stitches, it’s hem faced in coordinating fabric, a practical, thrifty way to use precious scraps of material, but such a pretty touch that we did it on purpose when we recreated Kirsten’s dresses for you.”

This extant dress is also shown in the “Peek Into the Past” section at the end of Kirsten Saves the Day and in Welcome to Kirsten’s World 1854. If you look closely you can find picture credits (right behind the title page back at the front). This dress is from the Wisconsin Historical Society and thanks to a gift from Pleasant T. Rowland herself (the creator of Pleasant Company and the American Girls), the entire children’s clothing collection is available to view to the public. God bless the museums that post their collections online - it’s a priceless resource for costumers like me! It took me just minutes to scan through the collection before I found the dress that inspired Kirsten’s! The description of the dress reads:

“Ecru-colored cotton, printed with a half-drop pattern of small red and brown radishes on a ground of small scattered brown spots; hand-sewn; slightly above natural waistline, with inset self-fabric band, 1.5" wide, with pattern going the opposite direction from the rest of the dress, and piped on both seams; bodice is gathered into the waistband in a section in the center; calf-length skirt is cartridge pleated into the waistband all the way around; long and full bishop-style sleeves; 1.5" pleat taken in above hem of skirt; narrow band collar; various calicos used to line hem of skirt, waistband, and bodice; center back opening closes with 5 white cone-shaped glass shank buttons from neck to waist, and two metal hooks and eyes at the waistband.”

women and girls in printed dresses, radish print child’s dress, 1853-1857, wisconsin historical society

The signature elements I will recreate in my adult sized dress (which are also very similar to the dress shown above from The Met) are: dropped shoulders with piping on the armscye, full sleeves pleated into a cuff, fan pleating at the center front (gathered in the girl’s version), piping at the waistline, gauged/cartridge pleats to attach the skirt to waist and finally, a printed hem facing that differs from the body of the dress. I’m using a sewing pattern that has been made from an existing dress dated between 1856-1862.

Prints from an 1850’s Swatch Book

While the original dress is ecru with a small radish print, Kirsten’s dress is described in Meet Kirsten as “patterned with little red flowers” and has a blue background. My guess is that the blue, paired with the red stripes of her traditional Swedish apron, created a very American look for Kirsten. This shade of blue was also pretty popular in the 1980s when the character was created. While there are a lot more examples of brownish tones during this era, as seen at left, some blues do survive. I’ve created my own adult sized print based on the description of Kirsten’s dress, illustrations from her series and from the doll’s original printed dress. I can’t wait to reveal it to you in the final photos of this project!

Extant examples of blue print fabric from the mid-19th century (Top LEFT 1845-1850 MODE MUSEUM HASSELT, TOP RIGHT 1867-1869, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, CHILD’s Dress 1850-1855, Metropolitan museum of art)