Thoughts on Design — Kit's Movie Jumper & Blouse

When I found the fabric (used in the blouse above) I new it was a very close match to the fabric in the blouse that Kit wore with a navy blue V-neck jumper in the movie.



I've completed the blouse, and in the process of perfecting a pattern for the jumper. Unfortunately, it's hard to see the exact design even when pausing the movie to get a better look. There weren't any good full length views of the jumper so I'm combining elements of other jumper patterns from the 1930s.

As you might have already noticed, I have completed more outfits for Kit than any other American Girl doll. Many creative ideas were spurred in 30s fashion because of limited resources — making use of what you had. I remember one of my earliest assignments in a graphic design class was to develop a logo with my first name, a circle and a triangle. We had to use every letter in our name and one circle and one triangle - nothing more - nothing less. We could only use black ink, no color. And we had to come up with 5 distinctively different designs with only those elements. That is the true challenge in design — using what you have to accomplish your goal. Remember the scene in the Appolo 13 movie when the NASA engineers had to come up with a solution using only objects available to the astronauts? A true challenge.

My earliest days sewing were making Barbie doll clothes, using only the fabric scraps and trims that were too small for my mother to use for anything else. The challenge was making something attractive only with what was on hand. A big part of the fun was looking for what goodies I could find to put together for a cool new outfit.

So in thinking about why I lean toward making more clothes for Kit I realized it is because I have lots of fabrics I inherited from my mother's stash that are perfect for 1930s designs. The fabric inspires what I'm making next. When I have an idea for a design and can't find the right fabric to accomplish the look, it gets really frustrating. I've gone to the store looking for just the right fabric for an idea and can't find anything suitable, but usually come home with something else that called to me for a totally different project. With the limited fabric stores available these days I've learned to start my next creation with the fabric guiding my path.