All set for the sun, these dolls look cool in fully-fashioned knits designed for the beach.
Summer knits for fashion dolls are a great way to use up small left-over scraps of yarn. Plus these small garments knit up so quickly that you can assemble a nifty summer wardrobe with minimal effort.
This time we’re looking at a whole range of doll sizes from the diminutive 11″ Valia, a couple of 16″ BJD girls (Tonner’s resin Ashleigh and the classic Sybarite Couture Savage), right up to the lofty 19 1/2″ CED Constance Dash. Not forgetting the boys, we’ve included a FR Homme swimsuit, modeled here by the launch-issue Francisco Leon.
The best yarns to use for summer knitting are cool, crisp cottons. One great advantage dolls have over us is that they probably won’t actually be swimming in these costumes. The equivalent human-size hand-knit swimsuits would be pretty disastrous under water and even more alarming when rising from the deep. Ursula Andress they ain’t – unless you’re thinking of the version of Dr No where she emerges from the waves in her granny-knit bikini dredging gallons of sea water in a saggy crotch. But this unsavoury spectacle need not concern us – these costumes will look just as sleek as a very sleek thing indeed on our favorite fashion dolls.
The other fantastic thing about beach wear for dolls is that you can find a use for all those vibrant, summer-friendly colors in your yarn stash. If you follow Valia’s lead and accessorize strictly with white, the overall effect becomes stylish rather than garish.
Any bright colors should do the trick – blues and yellows will reflect the mood of sea and sand. Hot pinks, oranges, and citrus hues will look great on darker skin tones and will give a flavor of sultry days by the pool. A sophisticated tone could be achieved in any of these swim suits by sticking to a monochrome palette of purely white or black. You could even try that vintage Barbie vibe of black-and-white stripes.
A LITTLE BATHING BACKGROUND
Knits have always been with us for swimwear, even modern high-performance swimsuits are fashioned from very fine-knit fabric. This was not the case in the early days when crowds first discovered the restorative properties of the sea, as well as other more improper seaside amusement, in the 1800s. At that time, the stylish lady of fashion wore a cumbersome cut-down version of her usual daywear. Very little concession was made to the fact that it was likely to get wet as she climbed down to the water from her bathing machine – a seaside shed on wheels in which she was rolled down to the water’s edge for the sake of decorum.
Knits really came into their own in the 1920s, being ideally suited to the boyish athletic fashions of the time. A lean androgynous figure was the new ideal and body-conscious swimwear was called for – fine knitwear was just the thing as it followed the form of the figure in a way that must have been shocking at the time.
Freed from the ungainly skirts and bathing machines of the previous generation, young women of the twenties began the century’s love affair with sun worship. In keeping with the streamlined silhouette, the Edwardian mob cap was ditched in favor of the new bathing cap which was similar to the cloche hat and perfect for the fashionably bobbed hairstyle of the period.
A less angular, more feminine look arrived on the beaches in the 30s. Swimsuits became more structured and the form-fitting tailoring of the pretty tea-dresses of the period was adapted for the shore. Some of these period styles would even work now as they look quite contemporary to the modern eye. So the one-piece we know today was born. In fact the teal suit modelled by Valia would not look out of place by a 1930s pool.
Since we’re discussing pools, the stars of the silver screen were busily adding them to their luxury homes. The studios courted popular magazines to feature their protégés lounging in the latest swimwear designs. In particular the swimming star Esther Williams (“she’s a star when she’s wet, when she’s dry she’s not”), did much to popularise new innovations in swimwear with her lavish water-themed movies, and the briefer the outfits, the more the public seemed to like her.
By the 1940s, fickle fashion had subtly changed the ideal female outline yet again. The latest bathing styles required expertise in engineering to design garments that enhanced the hourglass shape. Knitted fabrics were reintroduced as the stomach was tightly flattened with stretch control panels, and the suits were structured for shape and definition. Comfort was not a primary consideration, but these new mechanics allowed entirely strapless, yet secure, costumes to be developed.
In the 50s the swimming cap seemed to develop a life of its own. As hair became more elaborate and heavily back-combed, so the investment of hours spent under the drier in the salon had to be protected. Bathing caps were embellished with latex flowers to make them seem fuller and more appealing than the skull-like alternative of the plain unadorned rubber cap. Later in the decade swimcaps were even rooted with nylon hair, much like doll’s hair, to give the appearance of a bubble-cut. Women still favored the one-piece swimsuit during the 50s. The bikini had not yet reached the mainstream and was generally considered to be a rather louche garment – not at all the sort of thing that nice girls would wear.
The next technological development happened in the 60s and allowed the use of high-stretch, resilient, knitted synthetics. Knits were back with a vengeance and the ubiquitous back zipper closure from the 40s and 50s was banished for good. The fashion-conscious crowd of the swinging sixties desired simplicity and ease of use – the swimsuit had to slip on and off with the minimum of effort but still be snug and safe from slippage in use. These modern fabrics allowed for daring cut-away panels; designers minimized the fabric used in the one-piece in the face of the increasing popularity of the ever-smaller bikini.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Versions of the bikini were known in antiquity, bikini-clad women were performed acrobatics in paintings from Ancient Crete. But when the bikini we recognize today was first patented in the 1940s it had quite an impact – as have subsequent versions since. The more itsy-bitsy they’ve become the more they’ve attracted attention. When the 60s British Sex Kitten Diana Dors wore a mink bikini in Venice it caused a sensation.
With the 70s came the G-string, essentially a bikini reduced to a few small triangles connected perilously with strings. Some brave souls even wore hand-crocheted ones and then suffered a saggy loss of dignity if they dared to get them wet. From the G-string the even more eye-poppingly brief tanga was born, so barely-there it was even known as “dental floss” in some quarters. It originated on the beaches of Brazil and gave rise to the Brazilian wax, a painful necessity with so little fabric coverage up front.
The latest innovation from continental Europe is the no-suit-at-all swimsuit. In July 2008, Spain enjoyed its second annual Swimsuit-Free day Día Sin Bañador, sponsored by the Spanish Naturist Federation. The event promotes the benefits of swimming nude and encourages ordinary people to ditch their swimwear on Spanish beaches. It’s hoped that eventually all beaches in the country will be clothing-optional, although technically you can already legally go nude in any public space in Spain. But I don’t think this is going to catch on with Valia and her pals.
THE PATTERNS
There’s a groovy beanie hat which will be on-the-button at any time of the year, some cool retro swimming trunks, and a square-cut bikini. You can adjust the sizes of these items by experimenting with thicker yarn and larger needles for bigger sizes, or do the exact opposite to make smaller garments.
HEAD HUGGER PULL-ON BEANIE
As shwon worn by CED Constance Dash. You’ll need a scrap of
3-ply yarn (about 25 yards), a pair of number 2 (2.75mm) needles. The stitch gauge (tension) is 8 sts to 1 inch. Seed st: K 1, P 1, as many sts as indicated, then on the return row P the K sts and K the P sts.
Row 1: Cast on 36 sts.
Row 2: K 1 row.
Row 3: P 1 row.
Row 4: K 1 row.
Rows 5-8: Work 4 rows seed st.
Row 9: P 1 row.
Row 10: K 1 row.
Row 11: K 1 row.
Rows 12-15: Work 4 rows seed st.
Row 16: P 1 row.
Row 17: K 1 row.
Row 18: K 1 row.
Row 19: P 1 row.
Row 20: (K 4, K 2 tog,) across.
Row 21: P 1 row.
Row 22: (K 3, K 2 tog,) across.
Row 23: P 1 row.
Row 24: (K 2, K 2 tog,) across.
Row 25: P 1 row.
Row 26: Break yarn, leave 12 inches to sew up hat. With K side facing you, insert a crochet hook through stitches from right to left and bring yarn through, draw together, sew back seam, tie off all ends.
FINGERING ON THE SIDE
Shorts worn by Francisco Leon. Use a scrap of 3-ply cotton fingering yarn (about 25 yards) and a pair of number 1 (2.25mm) needles. Stitch gauge = 9 sts to 1 inch.
Cast on 16 sts, K 2 rows. Bind off 2 and knit across.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: K 2 tog, knit across.
Rpt Rows 1 & 2 three times; 10 sts.
Knit 8 rows.
Row A: Knit.
Row B: Inc in first st, k across.
Rpt Rows A & B once; 12 sts.
K across, cast on 2. K 4 rows. Bind off 2, k across.
Rpt Rows 1 & 2 twice; 10 sts on row.
Knit 8 rows.
Rpt Rows A & B four times; 14 sts.
Knit across, cast on 2, knit 1 row & bind off. Sew back seam & sew crotch together.
THE PERFECT YELLOW BIKINI
Modeled by platinum-haired Valia in the first image. Markers are used to show where to increase, decrease, and where to end seams. Always slip markers from one needle to the other as you work. Markers can be: small plastic rings bought at a yarn store, contrasting loops of yarn or string, small pins, rubber bands etc. Work with fingering yarn in your chosen color and a pair of number 1 (2.25mm) needles to give a gauge in stocking stitch of 9 sts = 1″ and 13 rows = 1″.
Swim suit top: Cast on 56 sts. Bind off for straps as follows: Row 1: K 9 , bind off next 10 sts (36 sts remain on left hand needle), k 17 (19 sts remain), bind off next 10 sts (8 sts remain), k 8; 36 sts on needle.
Row 2: K 9, cast on 3 sts, k 18, cast on 3 sts, k 9; 42 sts on needle.
Work short rows in center of next row as follows: K 30, turn work around, sl 1, p 17, turn, sl 1, k 13, turn, sl 1, p 10, turn, sl 1 & knit to end of row. Purl 1 row. Decrease to 28 sts as follows: K 2 tog, p 1, rpt from across. Bind off in ribbing. Sew back seam or sew on snaps.
Swim suit bottom: Cast on 30 sts loosely. Place markers as follows: P 5, PM, p 6, PM, p 8, PM, p 6, PM, p5.
Row 1: Knit across, increasing before 1st marker, after 2nd marker, before 3rd marker, after 4th marker. 4 sts increased.
Row 2: Purl. Rpt rows 1 & 2 until there are 46 sts on needle, ending with a p row. Markers may be removed. Work 6 more rows in stock. st, then bind off, marking center front, between 23rd and 24th sts. Sew back seam and sew center front and back together.
As adapted from original vintage patterns by Virginia Lakin.
Sources and further information
The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch, by Sally Melville. Published by XRX Books, 2002, USA.
Stitch and Bitch and Son of Stitch and Bitch, both by Debbie Stoller. Published by Workman, 2004 and 2007, USA.
Petite Doll Knitting Book, by Virginia Lakin. Published by Lakin Enterprises, 1962, USA.
www.knitty.com Knitting website edited by Amy R Singer.
This feature first appeared in Haute Doll magazine, 2008.