All four of my Ruby Red kids in their Medieval outfits. Now they can all have adventures together, and no one will be left out anymore.
The three girls wearing their flower wreaths...
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For Alex, I chose blue brocades to go with black pants. He would get a light blue shirt with beaded sleeves, and gray brocade epaulets. And a darker blue tunic. It was the perfect opportunity to use some nice woven trim I'd been saving. The trim needed to go on before the armholes and front seams were sewn, but I had to be careful to make the designs a mirror image of each other.  The hardest part of any outfit is sewing in the sleeves, making the convex curve of the sleeve fit into a concave armhole. Inserting the collar is also a challenge to get just right, and often takes more than one try. Which is why I always baste everything before machine stitching it. The white neck ruffle of fine white batiste is made separately and hand stitched in afterwards.  Alex with his pants and shirt finished...  Then with his Princely tunic...  ..and with Sara, all set to join my other two girls in their Medieval Fantasy world.  I really like Medieval Fantasy costumes, but only two of my four Ruby Red dolls have one, which is rather limiting for photography, so I thought I'd make one for each of the other two. I started with Sarah, and chose a nice turquoise brocade for her dress...and got started.  I had a beautiful trim that was too big scale-wise for my bjds, but would be fine for the Ruby Red dolls, since they are a much larger scale doll. When making the ruffles for the sleeves, I always finish the ends of the ruffles, and attach them a seam allowance distance away from the edges of the sleeves. That way when I finally stitch the underarm seams, I only stitch to the end of the sleeve itself and not the ruffle, so there's no unsightly stitching visible at the wrist. It just makes for a much neater look.  The most work is always the intricate sleeves with their multiple layers of embellishment. I prefer to do as much as I can while the sleeves are still flat. *Note that the elbow ruffle fabric is also hemmed at both ends, and it attached a seam allowance away from the edges of the sleeve. That's so the 'puff' isn't ruined by getting caught in the main sleeve seam when it's sewn. Then the seam is sewn carefully avoiding the puff fabric, and after the sleeves are turned right side out, the two edges of the puff are hand stitched together, thereby retaining a nice 'puff' at the elbow.  Sara in her new gown...  In addition to a flower wreath, I also made her a hat...  Iris was a busy woman. With a big house to keep and four children to raise, it was often hard to find some time for herself. So every afternoon when baby Sena took her nap, Iris would just relax with a cup of tea and one of her favourite books...    The Princesses had invited Saphira and her little ones for afternoon tea.  The girls had met Saphira before, and had become friends.  ...and they hoped to become good friends with the little dragons as well.  Saphira had been only too happy to accept the invitation. She had grown up around elves and humans, but knew most people were terrified of dragons. So she hoped her children could become friends with the Princesses.  She had warned her children that they needed to behave and set a good example.  And most of them were...    All except for one of them.  Nuri and the cat had taken their treats ... and the sugar bowl ... down under the table... and were making a big mess....  But then, her mother hadn't clearly specified who exactly she was there to be making friends with.  Princess Zora and her sister Sara were getting ready to host afternoon tea for some special guests, so got out their best tea service..,  ...a solid gold one...  it was such a beautiful tea set...  "It was nice of Mom to let us use it today."  Catching up with a few behind the scenes photos before moving on to some brand new stories. Family GroupsFirst, the family group photos. All the Fantasy Medieval groups were photographed shortly after Christmas in Baron & Naomi's castle interior. I started with the Royal family...  Taking photos of the extended family...  and then each individual one... 
Then I'd move onto the next family...  Of all the many group photos I took, this portrait of Miho and Dominic's family was my favourite  High TeaI was planning on taking really close up photos of Holly, so it didn't matter what was in the background. So I just set her up in Matias and Agnes' home, which was still set up on the table after having photographed a short story there.  In winter it's usually not bright enough, so I have to use photography lights. But not too close as I want the lighting to look natural.  Then I'd take the photos in close, straight on, level with the doll's eyes...  Finally, I decided it's time to move on, and finish off the Doll Families albums with the last three sets of group photos. First, there's a group of Mini and Tiny Kaye Wiggs girls, who don't have individual families. Back row from left: Hope, Missy, Fair Layla, Layla Elf, and Lenny. Front row from left: Tillie, Raillie, Talyssa, and Cinnamon.  They have spent much of their time as fairies...  Then there's still the group of my biggest dolls, most of whom have been with me from the very beginning, back when I bought them primarily to be costume models. They haven't been out of the display case in years, mostly because they are so big and heavy, but they are still nice to look at. From the left; Asa, Carina, Tedros, Hazy, Ryung, Rosy  ...and last but not least, my tiniest dolls, the Forest Dwellers... Back row from left; Kitty and Rhett Fox, Ginger and Smuzhka Raccoon. Middle: Tiana and Mr. Ropuha Toads. Front row; Chip & Joanne Chipmunk, Missy (seated), Max, Melody (seated), Maisie, Mannie, and Muffy Mouse  They have had all kinds of adventures over the years, like camping trips...  ..and have starred in two books...
So, that's my entire BJD collection. You can see them all in three Favourite Photos albums, starting with the Medieval Family Portraits
*I do still have three of the larger Kaye Wiggs dolls, but they will be going up for sale soon - Miki, Hope, and Nelly - so have not included them. There's a group of dolls who will often appear in photos but don't have a family of their own. Standing at the back, from left: Peach and Narae. Middle row from left: Lizzy, Bordy, Chloe, Aki, and Cookie. Kneeling in front from left: Effie, Elin, and Erin  Narae was my second BJD, and as such she had quite a few adventures in the early days.  But once my collection grew, she was designated to taking on support roles, usually as a Medieval maid, or as Butterfly Narae's sister in the Artist Narae story
She was most recently a teacher taking her class on a field trip to the museum in the Draco story....  Peach originally tried out as a member of a 'foster family' who went on a road trip to the US Southwest...  But it didn't take, so she ended up an orphan.  Cookie joined my BIDs back in 2018, and went on a trip to Newfoundland and Labrador with four other children, who all ended up being adopted by Medieval Fantasy families, leaving Cookie by herself with her fellow orphan BIDs...
Elin was was my very first BID, but never found a family of her own. She did survive a near drowning on a camping trip when she got too close to a waterfall, fell in, and was swept down river. Thankfully Jan jumped in to rescue her.  I had wanted to take a photo for Polar Bear Day, and had the dolls dressed in their winter wear, and standing in the display case waiting for a nice snowfall. But it was clear that we weren't going to get any fresh snow, and with the temperatures set to skyrocket, I had no choice but to take the photos on a sunny day. Now, I prefer not to take doll photos in the sun, but it was early March and the sun was still low in the sky - which is preferable to high overhead like in summer. Plus I figured I could always ask Jan to hold the white umbrella to shade the dolls. So I went out to the backyard and tossed some snow around to help make it look a little fresher where I wanted to take the photos, and then I took the dolls outside and set them up. Then asked Jan to shade them with the umbrella...  I took several photos of the dolls in the shade...  But I also took some with them in the sun...  They were both nice, but I actually preferred the ones taken in the sun. They seemed more interesting and there was more definition, especially with the polar bears. So it was a good thing I did both. And it was also a good thing I took the photos when I did because the next day most of the snow in the upper garden had melted already.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
June 2025
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