A Miss Pinch Pelisse
Inspiration.
Constance loves to read and re-read Hitty – Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field. She has always admired a particular garment shown in one of the illustrations by Dorothy Lathrop. In the 1860’s, original Hitty ends up in a rich family whose dressmaker, Miss Pinch, outfits her in a splendid wardrobe. Hitty says ” How can I describe the blue velvet Pelisse embroidered with garlands no bigger than pinheads? How to tell of the little feathered hat, and the muff of white eiderdown?
The perfect fabric.
A friend of the Quimper Hittys, clearing out her closet one day dropped off this long-sleeved blue velvet top. Almost immediately Constance began thinking, dreaming and hinting.
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Darns and Repairs.
Torn and worn areas are found all over the top. Constance points out how unsightly they are.
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Worn out area.
Great big holes and rips under both arms.
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Stains and Rips.
Staining and soiling is so hard to remove from velvet.
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Dreaming of Hitty Finery.
It obviously can’t be worn by a human in this condition, but small pieces can work around the bad areas…wouldn’t it make a nice little Pelisse? Hint, hint.
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This is the first post about making the “Miss Pinch Pelisse”… click here to see all the posts about the Pelisse.
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Quimper Hittys 
It would be the PERFECT Pelisse. Lucky Constance! And good luck to her seamstress who gets to work with the beautiful fabric.
It is beautiful fabric, though the garment has seen better days…It will be fun seeing what I can do with it.
Constance seems to always come through the toughest of situations…looking forward to what comes of this lovely pelisse, now in Constance’s little wooden hands.
Constance didn’t find it too tough to persuade her human that this was perfect pelisse material…keep posted!
Oh my. This is going to set all the Quimper Hittys abuzz. I bet their cupboard will be ringing with chatter for days now.
I predict Someone is going to want to wear it to the opera.
Wonderful pelisse material and beautiful color. Constance and her sisters would each like to have a dress, I am sure. What does little Min think?
We are working on the pelisse – it is true they all want one! Min is definitely not getting one as she has a habit of consorting with spiders and getting into messy places irregardless of what clothes she has on.
These sorts of projects that repurpose things are absolutely wonderful! That is incredible fabric, no doubt about it, the results could be totally smashing!
They could be, cross your webbed little fingers and toes for luck!
Sounds good to me. They must have given me the other piece. Robin Campbell
Wouldn’t that be funny!