Grace was one of the people waiting for the new chainmail to arrive. She needed chainmail sleeves and some showing below her tunic, to suggest she was wearing a full chainmail shirt.... She was so proud of her shiny new chainmail, that she had to show it off... "very nice!!"
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So I was asked if I though KID Paige would work as a younger sister for Narae, and since I just happen to have several Narae's, and Paige, I thought I'd take some pictures. The height difference between my two Narae's is due to the thickness of their soles. KIDs have an ever so slightly bigger head circumference. Paige's head is 17.5 cm (6.89") while Narae's are 16.7 cm (6.57"), so not even 1/3" difference. Paige even has the same pointy chin. Then since Daisy was also up for consideration, I included David, who is a Daisy sculpt. All four have custom faceups done by a friend. I love all my Narae's, and think they work really well with the Iplehouse JIDs, KIDs and BIDs.
The very first thing to be made from the new chainmail, was a new collar for Baron. The one he had was made from two leftover strips from a chainmail glove, which were sewn together with silver crochet thread. I constantly had to be n the watch to make sure those unsightly seams never showed up in photos. So this new one is one piece, joined with jump rings at the back. I also cut the edge into points so it would flare out better...
Muffy was very busy with all the clothing commissions. After finishing her own dress, she tackled the next ones....
The new chain mail arrived last week.... "This is really nice stuff..." "Yes, now I can finally make my chain mail tunic...." And, since I know someone is going to ask, I ordered the chain mail from Zhong He Ring Mesh Safety Products in China on Alibaba. One foot square samples cost $16. US, which seemed like a bargain, but shipping was expensive due to the weight, so I ordered two samples - two square feet - which they sent as one piece. Shipping to Canada was way more expensive than shipping to the US, and then for even more added expense, it was shipped by DHL, who are really fast, but charge a lot on taxes and handling fees. So, ended up paying almost $100 Cdn altogether. But it would have been WAY more expensive from a US source, and now I have enough for anything I should ever want to make....
With all the sewing for everyone else ahead of her, Muffy decided to make herself a dress first. Usually she'd be so busy with commissions that by the time she was done she'd be too tired to make herself anything, and she didn't want that to happen again. She had chosen her favourite pale blue floral print for the dress, and was busy finishing the last bit of embroidery.... All done.... Now to start on the other dresses....
Now that my Forest Dwellers are getting clothes, they need a way to stand on display. Until now I've just kept the mice and toads seated in a small basket, and the foxes and raccoons seated on a wicker bench, but that won't work anymore once they have clothes. I looked online at all the major doll supply companies and couldn't find anything suitable. Yes, there were some really small stands, but I know from experience that one can never tell exactly what one is going to get until it arrives. My favourite place to get doll stands was always at doll shows where I could see them in person. So, that left making my own stands. Jan had a collection of small mdf circles which would do nicely as bases. He cut dowels to the right heights for the various characters, drilled holes down into the ends of the dowels to accommodate the bent wire supports, and filled the holes in the middle of the mdf circles with plastic wood..... I painted the bases dark brown and bent wires to shape for the supports. It was only 18 gauge wire, since anything thicker wasn't going to fit into the holes. But it's just to support the little guys when standing in my china cabinet....
When Muffy had finished all the pantaloons, everyone came over to try them on.... "These fit perfectly." Meanwhile Ginger and Melody were choosing the fabric for their dress.
"I really like this one." "Me too." So Muffy set to work. She wanted to make everyone's pantaloons first.... They were all basically the same design, just different sizes.... Trying on her own pair for size.... "These are perfect."
Muffy was going to be very busy sewing clothes for everyone, so decided to do the lady's outfits first. They all came to get measured.... Tiana was first to get measured... While Missy and Ginger watched... ...and Kitty admired herself in the mirror... Then it was Ginger's turn... 'Do you think clothes will make me look fat?" "I sure hope not." "Well, 'fat' or not, I think it's high time we all stopped running around naked,
and became more civilized..." |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
March 2024
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