You’ve got a friend...

When I think of Mrs. Ashley Wilkes (aka Melanie or “Ms. Mellie”), I akin her with friendship. Have you ever had THAT friend? You know the one, the friend who doesn’t judge you (even when you probably deserve it). They’re almost miraculously oblivious to your flaws and somehow think you’re the moon and the stars. I happen to be blessed enough to have one just like that and it’s an extremely special thing... my “bestie” reminds me so much of Ms. Melanie because not only does she NOT have a malicious bone in her body but she also has that special something that makes people respect and look up to her because there is such an abundance of innate goodness. She leads in a quiet, almost demure way. That’s the thing about Melanie (and my bestie too in fact), you just can’t help but like her.

The first time I watched Gone with the Wind and for a long time thereafter, I will admit that I thought of Melanie as a doormat. I would roll my eyes just waiting for the vivacious and sassy Scarlett to come back on the scene. My longtime obsession with this movie kept reinforcing this opinion... My thought process was that Melanie HAD to know what’s going on….her sister-in-law (because remember, Scarlet married Melanie’s brother) is in love with HER man, how could she NOT KNOW?! Scarlett, the woman who can have any man on the hemisphere, a woman who will steal her own sister’s longtime beau, a woman who (gasp) drives her own buggy and runs her own business, is after HER man, everyone knows it, how can’t she?? She not only puts up with Scarlett, but she’s STILL her friend, and a good one at that. . .that was my perception of Melanie... that is until I read the book, and in doing so, I discovered what I now think of as Melanie’s “silent strength”. It takes an enormously strong woman to trust not only her husband but also her best friend. Yes, she suspects what’s going on, but at the end of the day, she trusts them both. Now that’s strength. 

Think about it, who thinks on her feet when Scarlett kills that Yankee solider who breaks in? She literally gives Scarlett the nightgown off her back to wipe up the blood and helps her conceal the murder.... Who has a baby even though it is clear that health-wise it probably isn’t a good idea? Who goes against society and not only is kind to Belle Watling, but takes her contribution? Who makes the final call about that controversial auction? Who convinces Rhett to let them bury Bonnie? And who thinks on her feet again when the police are after the gentlemen for going after Scarlett’s attacker? Melanie. ALLLL Melanie!!! She’s actually quite a strong women, but in typical Melanie form, you wouldn't know it because she just never makes a fuss.

That’s the thing about Gone with the Wind, there’s many layers and ways to looks at it. Most think of it as a love story/romantic drama but I have grown to think of it more as a movie about friendship. When you really think of it, the men are in and out of the story, they’re bootlegging, in prison, at war, or they've passed away but Melanie and Scarlett, they’re the constants. The movie makes out like Ms. Scarlett is the heroine with her grand declaring of “I’ll never be hungry again,” but I’m just going to say it, once I read the book, I discovered that Melanie is the one to be revered.

I would be remiss not to talk about the amazing actress who played her in the movie, Olivia de Havilland. Olivia got an Oscar nod as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal but not the win, she DID go on to win Best Actress in a Leading Role for both The Heiress and The Snake Pit. If you are a stitcher and have not seen The Heiress, I highly recommend seeking it out as needlework does play a part (although small) in this drama (and FYI this has been colorized so if you hate black and white movies, this may be an option). And in 2017 Ms. de Havilland was made a Dame as she was awarded Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, by Queen Elizabeth. I mean we always knew she was a classy lady and that was evident in her portrayal of Melanie. As I post, Ms. de Havilland is the only surviving member of the cast and today just so happens to be her 104^th birthday (and no, that number is NOT a type-o, 104!!!). Ms. de Havilland, I wish you the happiest of birthdays. . . and with that, HOW are we going to do this justice on our canvas?? Even though Melanie is plainer than Scarlett, Melanie’s still a leader in society and the moral compass of what’s in good taste, so we need to treat her as such. When you look at the reference photo (above), that bow is bigger than I am willing to go for scale’s sake.  . .So many details to think about! I mean no pressure, right??

This pink gown just screams for silk and because the shades match so well, I’m using three of my favorite brands. Splendor S824, Planet Earth 6 ply silk in Romance 1017, and Soie Cristale color 2031 and as I usually do, I’m using three strands of each. Now I know a lot of you really like to completely cover the canvas, but as I’ve stated before, there’s a time and place for that and then there’s a time to let the wonderful painting peak through and do the work -- this is one of those times.

Since I already had a few ideas for the bodice, I decided to start with the skirt, but as I often do, there were a few false starts as far as stitches were concerned. I tried a few different darning patterns all of which didn’t work out for one reason or another. They looked too stripy, looked too much like what we did for Scarlett's or it was too difficult to follow the shading. In the end, Parisian stitch ended up giving just enough coverage, seemed to follow the drape of the skirt and worked for the areas that needed shading. For the corset area of the bodice, I used a stitch called Damask. All of these stitches are from “Stitches to Go.” Funny thing about the name of this stitch—the book has TWO Damask stitches and I just so happened to use both. For the area of as the bodice, I used the Damask stitch at the top of the page which reminds me of arrows. I am in the habit of taking a close-up photo of areas before I begin an area to use as reference, you will see why this comes in handy. I stitched right over the lines depicting the darting/corseting and will need my reference photo to gauge where to put the lines back in. As I’ve mentioned before, Fidelis creates the most incredible tassels so she has an extensive collection of gimp for covering tassel heads and she just so happened to have the perfect color -- I just love when that happens! Gimp is so striking when couched down, especially with clear thread, so that’s how I featured the darts/corseting. If you don’t have easy access to gimp like I do, Painter’s thread has some pretty hand dyed versions but gimp is around, you just have to look for it, you might have luck on Etsy if all else fails. I have come to like it so much, I’ve started hoarding—I mean collecting—it when I see it in my travels.

For the bib area of the neckline, I used the other Damask stitch and on the right-hand side, I flipped the stitch by turning the diagram one turn clockwise – this is a great tip, to flip a stitch, play with turning the book in either direction until the angle is what you want. Once again, I stitched right over the curls of the painted lace—you’ll see why in a moment. The puff sleeves were stitched in alternating continental.

 Now what to do with that lace?? So you remember Bonnie’s doll buttons? Well, I decided I needed a fine, small scale lace so again, I looked for doll materials and this beautiful doll lace is the correct scale. This one happened to have the right amount of space to feed through a coordinating 4mm silk ribbon. Plant Earth Fiber had the perfect shade in Lollipop 011. I wove the ribbon through every other channel of the lace and although a 2 or 3mm probably would have fit better, 4mm worked fine with some finessing. After I fed the ribbon through the lace, I attached it using my trusty clear beading thread using my reference photo and used a thick laying tool to open up the hole in the canvas and used the plunge method to bring both ends to the back (you can then use your needle to close the big hole back up and restore the canvas to it’s usual weave). If you don’t remember the plunge method, you can find details HERE. For now I am ignoring the lace at the top as I want to stitch Melanie’s skin first and it could be in my way. Using the same silk ribbon brand and color only in size 10mm this time, I made a bow using the technique using a fork and attached it by tacking it on. You may want to attach the bow as we get closer to the end. I also highly recommend using just a touch of Fray Check on the ends so the silk ribbon won’t unravel. Make sure you have a Fray Check that says it doesn’t show and dries soft – I would test it on a scrap before putting it on my finished bow. And just to manage expectations, I probably wasted a good foot of ribbon and a half hour trying to make the perfect looking bow. It took several tries and is quite fiddly work but I didn’t want any strange folds as the devil really is in the details. If you aren’t familiar with the fork technique, HERE's the video I referenced. It’s a handy little trick to have in your back pocket.

And let's look at our progress of Melanie thus far:

In our next episode we’ll continue working on Melanie. . .possibly doing something fun with the hair. .  .and not to be coy, but just wait until you see what we have planned for that fan! In the meantime, I hope we all channel the spirit of Ms. Mellie by being sweet and kind to each other.

Oh dear where are my smelling salts? I think I shall faint!

Many stories have a character similar to Aunt Pittypat Hamilton. Someone who grounds the story in the past. Not unlike the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey, she values etiquette very highly. Unlike today, asking “what will people think?” seems is a very relevant point, but unlike the Dowager, she doesn’t have those snappy quick one liners. She does serve her purpose though, she’s setting the scenes of the expectations of society of the time.

In this day and age, I think we’re just used to stronger women. Scarlett is obviously pointedly portrayed as the strongest female character and even in her own quiet way, as is Melanie to a degree, but Aunt Pittypat is just SO delicate (eye roll). And I think thereon lies my ambivalence, I think. On the one hand, as the childless aunt, I get it, a lady needs some help every once in a while but as a modern woman, I was raised to be strong and highly capable. How I long for the days when these roles were much more clearly defined and expectations of society were more clear. But the thing is, she over does it— always pulling out those smelling salts so she doesn’t faint, which actually we now know was often due to either a too-tight corset or being too warm from so many layers of clothing in the heat of the deep south. This is especially so of Aunt Pittypat who is often seen with a shawl and all trussed-up like a thanksgiving turkey, often covered all the way up to her neck— a few things we need to keep in mind when we’re making stitch choices. 

Sometimes designers paint canvases in such a way that it’s difficult to use the particular specialty stitch you want. This was the case with the diamonds across the bust of Ms. Pittypat’s dress. The diamonds are painted at an angle and they’re different sizes. I’m assume this was done to show perspective, so I quickly decided that to stitch right over the painted pattern to create my own grid was probably the easiest way to go. I stitched a Double Hungarian in four strands of Planet Earth Port V 1172 which is an overdyed thread. And notice I’m stitching right over her collar too, we’ll bring that back later, I promise. I then used two strands of DMC 550 to outline the diamonds in a zig-zag pattern and three strands to stitch Nobuko for the solid dark area that look like straps and her empire waist. I flipped the stitch direction of the Nobuko to suit the angles appropriately and stitched basketweave for the verticals empire waistline. I don’t use basketweave/tent, but I always incorporate a bit into every canvas as it gives the eye a place to rest, you can’t have everything be the highlight. Then I stitched Serendipity stitch using the overdyed Planet Earth thread for the area under the waistline, which I think of as her tummy and top of her skirt.

I originally was going to applique purple ribbon for the dark purple/strap-like areas and waistline but it just didn’t look right... it looked too much like suspenders. Just goes to show you, what you think is a given might not always work. And honestly Nobuko is one of my favorite stitches. My students often say think I believe that no canvas is complete without a bit of Nobuko, and they’re probably right because it’s a very versatile stitch. I think I said it before and at the risk of repeating myself, the classics are just that for a reason— because they WORK! 

And speaking of classics, we’re using T stitch (aka alternating basketweave) for the sleeve. This is one of those areas you often encounter where the painting is vague,  where does the shoulder end and the sleeve begin? I have found the best way to treat those kinds of area is use a stitch that doesn’t call attention and let the area just kind of blend in. 

You know what I do want to feature though?  Those dots down either side of her bodice. I don’t know what they are and you can only get an idea that something’s there in our inspiration photo, so I decided sequins would be a good look and I attached them using clear thin quilting thread. It’s a bit of a bear to work with but you can hardly tell they’re attached so it’s worth the aggravation. 

Back to Aunt Pittypat’s trussed-up-ness... we need to do something fabulous with that collar, so I got my hands on a bit of scalloped 1/4 inch doll lace. When you are on your travels and you see bits of lace or trim, or doll buttons, just pick them up for your stash. If your LNS (local needlework shop) doesn’t have what you need, Etsy is also a good way to go. Using the same thin clear quilting thread, I attached the lace using tiny stitches putting subtle little folds as I go which is what will make this lace stand up a bit off the piece and really give dimension. You can obviously attach lace flat but that’s not the look we wanted this time. I did bury the ends of the lace using the loop method that I talked about in my Last Post and I whip-stitched the lace to the back using the same clear thread but you could use one of the purples threads as well. I am pretty pleased with how it came out, if i do say so myself. It is always fascinating to me how it doesn't take much of a little something extra to bring a piece to life.

In our next episode we’ll stitch Aunt Pittypat’s skin, her smelling salts bottle, finish off that sleeve (you didn't think I would leave it that way, did you?) and perhaps talk about her hair. Fidelis is a master with hair techniques but since I know we want dimension, we‘ll probably have to save that to the bitter end...I hate it when I have to be patient! But more to come in our next installment, so stay tuned. And if you haven’t subscribed, please consider doing so and don’t forget to click the link in the email you're receive to verify your subscription (if you don't receive it, please check your junk/spam). And follow Miss Pittypat’s example and spread the word about this blog to your stitching friends.