I'm very excited about all the crocuses popping up in our front garden. They are an early variety which blooms before the regular crocuses, and it's just so nice to see them after this long dead winter, so I had to go out and take some photos....
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I picked up some miniature cyclamen recently. They are the perfect scale for my dolls....          I finally finished Jude's sword last week. He had been borrowing MacBeth's aluminum sword, but real needed his own. I started it back when I was working on all the horse accessories. Jan had shaped a blade out of some hardwood, and I'd applied a layer of Aves Apoxie to give the centre more definition. There was also a wire inserted in the top to support a handle....  I wanted to make a handle similar to MacBeth's sword, which was made by a doll artist friend many years ago.....  MacBeth is a OOAK doll art figure by my sister and me, and was made back in May of 1997. His costume was also inspired by Braveheart, and served as inspiration for Jude...  But I didn't have the right filagree or beads, and the craft stores didn't have what I was looking for either, so it just spent the next few weeks laying in my workspace. Until I decided to just do the best I could with what I had. The blade was given several layers of varnish, and sanded in between, to make the wood as smooth as possible. Then it was sprayed with silver paint (chrome bumper lacquer from the automotive department). The hand guard was built up with Aves Apoxy, and painted bronze. I'm not a huge fan of actually working with the Apoxie, but it air cures, and sands and paints beautifully, so is worth the effort. I needed four of the fancy filagree pieces, which were originally part of a metal filagree fan shape. There were only three sections left, and the middle one was ruined in the cutting process, so just one side ended up with them. The handle wire was wrapped with florist tape, and four beads positioned, and the spaces in-between built up with Apoxie, and then wrapped with leather. After everything was finished, I 'antiqued' everything with brown paint, and gave it a coat of varnish for protection.  So Jude finally had his own sword...  It was too big and cumbersome a sword to be carrying in the hand while travelling, and it was too big to fit in a scabbard, so I did some research online to see how these huge swords were carried. Seems they would be strapped onto the back. So, inspired by one of the methods shown online, I made a leather, lace-up, support for the sword.....  ....held in place with a belt across his chest. So his sword is nicely out of the way on his back, but still easy enough to access should he need it....  So now this outfit is finally complete.
While working on two totally unrelated themes the past few weeks, I had to get creative with my background setting. The castle was set up on the dining room table, but I needed Muffy's seamstress shop as well. So I just set it up in one side of the castle room.....  ...leaving the other half for the chain mail series....  Two in one, for two totally unrelated sets of characters....  Ginger arrived to try on her new dress. She had asked for something simple and comfortable...  Muffy had knit her a shawl to compliment her dress. "This is perfect! I love it!"  Muffy also called her mouse friends back in....  She had made some tiny bonnets and embellished them to compliment their dresses...  ...as well as one for herself...   So all the ladies were finally dressed....  And because I hate waste, I tried Tiana's discarded fichu on Miss Kitty...  Tiana was so envious of Kitty's beautiful shawl... "I really want one too! One just like it."  Muffy had had a feeling this would happen, so was prepared.... "You're very lucky that there was enough fabric to make another shawl, just your size..."  "Yes! I'll take it!!"  "Now I'll look just like you!"  "We can be twins!'  "But...my hat doesn't have a feather! It needs a feather too!"  Kitty was starting to feel a little annoyed....  But Muffy was used to dealing with Tiana, and quickly added some feathers.  "Here you go...."  "That's perfect!!"  "Now we really are twins!"  Since Tiana wasn't too thrilled about looking like an old lady, Muffy took her dress apart and made some changes. She shortened the skirt and added a touch of lace peaking out the bottom. "So what do you think now?"  But then Miss Kitty arrived to try on her new dress....  "The dress is beautiful....  "...and I especially love what you've done with the hat and shawl..."  "I love the entire ensemble..."  Tiana had been quietly watching Kitty try on her new dress....  "This is the most gorgeous fabric that I've ever seen!!"   Another older outfit in need of chainmail was my KID boy's Fantasy costume. It was originally made with silver lame sleeves, but needed real chainmail. So Grace added some...  ....also to the bottom of Milo's leather tunic, to give the impression he was wearing a full chainmail shirt underneath....   Posing for a 'family' portrait....  Bonnie can become their daughter, as she was one of my 'orphan' BIDs and without a family. However I haven't decided on Milo. He technically belongs to another family already. But I didn't have any 'orphan' KID boys. So he's joining them for now.  Muffy continued to be busy with her sewing commissions. After the dress for herself and her two mouse friends, she started on a dress for Tiana, the Toad....    Tiana had also ordered a bonnet...  When Muffy was done, Tiana came over to try on her new dress...   "And here's your hat..." 
 *Note; This outfit was the most difficult so far. I don't know if it's because Tiana has always worn a purple sun dress, and it's hard to see her in something else. Plus the shape of a toad's body doesn't exactly make for the most elegant of dresses. I had always considered Tiana as young and vibrant, and now she looks like an old lady. But it is what it is. Maybe with her partner in a Victorian gentleman's suit, she'll look just fine.
With Grace having run off with Jude, and Rosie getting her original red wig back, she and Baron ended up back together again...     |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
March 2023
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