Why Theda Reflects Me
I home office. I work in the technology field, but I dream in literature and the arts. I am especially fond of the lifeworks of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway and I love the Roaring Twenties, and all the ironic poignancy that we associate with the era, knowing the tragedy that was to follow. My office is done up so that I might work all day in the midst of my dreams. I have multi-wall murals of elegant flappers with Art Deco backgrounds and quotes from the Great Gatsby in swirls of art-deco smoke coming from the end of one flapper’s cigarette holder. Photos of long-dead people adorn the walls, and original editions of Hemingway/Fitzgerald serve as paperweights on my steamer-trunk side tables.
This was the world into which I wanted to bring my own sock monkey. The sock monkey itself, made from Original Rockford Red Heel ™ socks, manufactured by Fox River Mills, symbolizes for me my current endeavors. As an I.T. consultant, I do a lot of work for Fox River Mills and I have come to love that business. It is a small, family-owned-and-run business located in Osage, Iowa. The business has been around for over a 100 years. It is a traditional all-American business that reflects the values of its owners. The socks they make are high-quality, cleverly-designed foot-wear for active, outdoor, and sportswear. Great attention is paid to having sustainable environmental practices. A whole product line is devoted to socks made from corn. All socks are made in the U.S.A., providing employment in the rural heartland for many families. A portion of all profits from the women’s product line is given to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. A portion of all the Good Earth Line (corn socks plus) is given to 1% For the Planet. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. It’s a tough world out there currently for small American manufacturers, when many of the big competitors have gone offshore with their manufacturing to China or anywhere you can get cheap, hungry labor and no governmental restrictions on environmental practices, trademark protection, etc.
The sweet, homey little sock monkey symbolizes all this for me. So, Theda is a way for me to bring my two worlds together and create a visible reminder of the things I cherish and am striving to nurture.
The Construction of Theda
Theda was my first experiment with the extra large size of the Original Rockford Redheel ™ socks. My previous four monkeys I made from the large size, which I was told was the size to use. This was fine for Theda, as flappers, in the Art Deco world, were often painted elongated to emphasize an elegant line without much concern for reality. In general, though, it creates an elongated torso that isn’t necessarily attractive in proportion to the arms and legs. Certain monkeys may feel otherwise, but that’s my opinion.
Theda’s body was assembled quickly, now that I have some monkey-making experience. I stuffed her lightly, so she would have that slim, long look. I also placed her mouth fairly low to give her a nice, high forhead. I knew I wanted to have black hair cut in a bob with bangs, so I wanted to make sure there was enough room for all that. For the hair, I cut open the toe and put a bunch of looped yarn in. Then I seamed it shut. I had a lot of yarn, and apparently my seam missed quite a bit of it. But, no problem, I just reattached the unattached with some black embroidery thread, and it looked perfect. It works best for me to make the hair much longer than I intend it to be, and then give the monkey a haircut after the full face is finished.
I spent extra care on Theda’s face. After reading Everything’s Coming Up Sock Monkeys, I wanted to try stylized eyelashes, which look just like a child’s drawing of the sun’s rays coming out of the sun. They’re unattached, varying lengths, and they look really arty to me. For Theda, I did these just under the eyes. I was going to try embroidered or button eyes on my next monkey, as this was the other common convention I saw in all the older sock monkey dolls, but something about that bright, wide-eyed look seemed wrong for the bored, world-weary flapper. (Besides, I still have a whole bag left of glue-on wiggly eyes, and it is an essential trait of the sock monkey doll to use common materials already on hand). So, I glued on some wiggly eyes, and then cut long, droopy eyelids out of felt and tacked those on, half-way over the wiggly eyes. I am very pleased with the effect. I did the nostrils and mouth just the same way as all the others. Everything looked great, so I decided not to mess with it any further. The sock monkey’s face should be simple, in my opinion.
Dressing Theda
And now, the very fun part of making a flapper – dressing her! For my first four monkeys, I bought material with sports’ logos to make football jerseys (which I still haven’t done!) But, here we are, between seasons in Minnesota, and I have stacks of clothes and bins out putting away summer and bringing out winter. As always, there are things the kids have outgrown (and me too!), as well as things that are just too worn, stained or out-of-style to give away. This got me thinking. What fun to have a little piece of you or your child live on in a sock monkey! Since they are so small, just a piece of a garment will work. Sleeves have a nice shape to them to make a sock-monkey something (and saves some on the sewing!)
For Theda, I wanted black satin and lots of beads. What I used was a lacy, black half-slip I bought in my twenties, but still have in my lingerie drawer (dreaming of being that size again one day!) What was kind of fun about this is it had a cut-away section in the front that was all edged in black lace. I cut out a chunk which included the lace cut-away, and seamed it up in the back (at the top and bottom, leaving the middle open for the tail). I left the elastic in on top, and just pulled that up on Theda to right under her arms. Even though it was a half-slip, it was still way longer than Theda. To finish it, I just started making folds and gathers and stitching them in when I found a look I liked. I stitched on some beads (I have a LOT of these laying around -- when crafts go wrong!), and had a couple of hanging strands of beads over the front of the dress. I also made a little headband out of a piece of ribbon and attached a string of beads to hang down on one side. Soon, she was looking perfect, and I decided to stop and not mess it up. I finished her off with a red boa strand slung over one shoulder (Michael’s).
I am especially proud of the back of the gown. I think the red butts are so cute, and I am quite sure that these cleavage-free beings would have shown off their red butts in their evening-wear the way we show off cleavage. I used gold thread (Lord only knows what I bought that for 20 years ago!) to stitch together the back seam, stopping just below the red butt/tail area. I had also found a pair of black Victoria Secret underwear in my lingerie drawer with a tag still on it (that size dreaming thing again!) that had a black dragon fly pin on them. I saved the underwear for myself, but took the pin and pinned it on to Theda’s dress just above the tail. It was stunning! (See below)
The End.
