And finally, to finish off the series of photos of Lawrence and Monica in their Royal robes, I have a few photos of just the Queen.
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With Lawrence's horse's armour finished it was time to try some poses for the painting for the eventual photo shoot. The plan is to photograph an artist actually working on the painting, so I need to have it underway for the photo shoot, because there's no way I can do it on the spot at the time. Which means coming up with a pose I like to do a painting of, and figuring out how I will need Lawrence and his horse to stand in the movie set. First I tried him wearing his robes draped over one shoulder, and wearing his circlet crown, while holding the royal orb, and his sword and coronation crown resting on the table behind them...    Then I tried him holding his sword while wearing his royal robe over both shoulders...    I decided the tapestry in the background was too distracting, since it wouldn't even be there at the final photo shoot, so I needed something more 'architectural' with them standing on a series of steps. I put the sword into the background again, and tried Lawrence holding his crown.  But the crown isn't rigid so proved almost impossible for him to hold properly.   Even so, it made for some nice photos.  But he probably wouldn't be holding his crown, so I went back to the original pose again...  So I think I have the inspiration for the painting now, and I even got a nice collection of photos in the process.
Several months ago I came across a wonderful painting, King of the Golden Hall, by Magdalena Katanska. She had done a painting of King Theodan from LOTR, standing with his horse as if they were posing to have their portrait painted....  I thought I'd love to do something like that with my Lawrence and his horse, then have it photographed at our son's movie studio. I imagined that it could be that he was having his portrait painted for the tenth anniversary of his coming to the throne. Which meant I'd need to make armour for his horse, and I'd need fur trimmed royal robes. I already had the purple robes I'd made two years ago for Lawrence's coronation, but it only had fur down the front edges and not all the way around the bottom.  So I started a new one, out of wine red velour this time. Real royal robes are completely lined with fur, but that would be way too thick on such a small scale, so I was only going to do it around the bottom. The further along I got with the new red robe, the more I wished I'd added fur around the bottom of the purple robe, because I really liked that one. Finally it bothered me enough that I picked apart the bottom hem of the purple robe and added a fur edge all the way around it as well. It took forever to hand-stitch the fur and bead both robes. But when I was done I had two royal robes, one for the King, and one for the Queen, and I took some photos...      I'm finally starting on a gown for Elf Agnes. I had picked up some lovely pale gray patterned velour, and a sequinned pink lace shawl, at Value Village a few months ago. I thought they'd go well together to make a Fantasy Medieval gown similar to Miho's purple gown. I went through my fabric and trims stash and pulled anything I thought I might need....  And while I was at it, I also pulled a second set of fabrics for a possible more Elven outfit...  But first the pink and gray gown. I always start with the bodice and sleeves, and this gown is going to get the long dagged over-sleeves. They are a lot of work, but I think they are worth all the effort. the first step is always to trace the pattern onto the wrong side of the pink satin lining, then pin it right sides together on the gray velour. The stretchy velour and slippery satin make for a challenging combination, so I have to hand baste around the entire stitching line. It takes over an hour per sleeve. Then I machine sew over the basting, remove the basting, cut and clip all the edges, and turn it right side out.Then I need to pull out all the points, and finally hand baste around the outer edge to make everything lay flat before pressing....  The basting around the edges takes over an hour, but then it's still not done. I plan to embroider and bead around the entire outer edge, and that will take several days for each sleeve. I chose the beads I'd like to use, but there's not enough, and I won't start and then risk running out and not being able to find the exact same beads again, so that means going to the store first. I've also cut out the bodice pieces. I love velour for a doll's skirt since it drapes so beautifully, but I never use velour for the bodice, since the scale is wrong on such a small doll. It would be like a real person wearing a gown with a bodice out of fake fur. So I always make the bodice out of a matching colour satin or brocade. I used some of the lace for the skirt on the centre panel, but thought the sequins and embroidery were too bright and colourful for the bodice, so used the back of the lace. Now the pieces need to be basted together...  I started the under sleeves, building them up in layers...  But I'm not happy with the floral pink satin. It's too bright a pink, and too close in colour to the lining of the dagged over sleeves. I know what I'd really like to use, but I ran out of that fabric with the last gown I made, so I need to come up with something else. I'm just not sure what yet. So, today I get to go through several boxes of fabrics AGAIN, to see if there's something else that inspires me. And I need to go bead shopping.
It's been quite the journey but I think I finally have Matias at the point where I'm ready to share some photos. He was introduced by SartoriaJ back in December 2022 for a short pre-order as the Emperor in their Tarot card series.  I was looking for a guy to be Dominic's son, and Elf Agnes' love interest, and thought he might work, so ordered him. He arrived in May, but looking nothing like his promo photos. His makeup was way too 'harsh' and he had bright red lips. I thought he looked awful.
So I contacted Jay at SartoriaJ, and they told me they wanted me to be happy, so to just send his head back and they'd redo him. Which I did. I was sent photos of his new makeup. Much better.  We were supposed to be leaving on a trip, so I asked them to wait to send him back until after we got back home. When he came back he needed a wig. I had envisioned something long in dark brown, like his promo photos, but then ended up trimming it way too much. I didn't like it.  I needed to make a new wig but didn't have any more dark brown mohair. His eyes weren't showing up in photos very well either, so I switched them to blue, and then just for fun I tried Jude's long blonde wig on him.  I thought he looked so much better. Definitely not what I'd originally planned, but then dolls often have a mind of their own. So I went through my stash of mohair and chose a light antique brown, and proceeded to make him another wig. After gluing on the mohair strips I only wet, conditioned, and combed it. I didn't dare do any trimming as I didn't want to ruin this wig as well.  He is currently wearing the Outlander outfit since it's the only spare costume his size. But I was curious to see how he'd look in other outfits so went the easy route and just did a head switch with some of my other guys....     My plan is to make him a knight outfit, something different then my three Iple knights, something with armour, but who knows what he'll actually end up with? So I'll wait to trim his wig until he has his costume. Or maybe I'll just leave it.  I currently have a lot going on doll-wise, but I still take time every morning to check out our backyard, water the plants, and dead-head spent flowers. So I took some photos...            
   Well....back to my sewing.....
The circus was in town last week, and I took two girls to go check it out.  in some ways it was a little disappointing. Circuses no longer have any animal acts, and there were no side-shows or concession stands either. Just the big top....  But I bought the girls some cotton candy....  ...and balloons...  The next day there were two boys who wanted to go...  I bought them the same treats....   I have plans for a couple of photo shoots at our son's movie studio some time this fall, and one of them requires armour for the King's horse. He needs a 'blanket' with chainmail, and some protective armour for his head. I made a test blanket out of some white cotton (an old bedsheet) to check for fit before cutting into the good fabric. And I wrapped his head and neck with plastic wrap...  With the blanket sewn, and chainmail sewn on, it was time to address the head armour. I would be making it out of Aves Apoxie, and in order to protect the horse's head from scratches, I first drew up a pattern for the armour, then cut it out of felt, which I positioned on the horse, and covered with another layer of plastic wrap. That way there would be space under the armour to glue the felt.  With the armour sculpted, and painted, I glued the felt underneath and tried it on the horse...  Taking a closer look. The armour still needed straps to secure it in place.  My sister and I have started work on a book featuring photos of my BJDs in most of the Fantasy costumes I've made over the years. One of the biggest challenges is that my first BJD costumes were not photographed all that well back then, and since I originally started out making them for sale, they are all long gone and I can't take new photos of any of them. Except for one. Elfdoll Ryung was my very first BJD, purchased from a friend in 2007. I was using her as a costume model those early years, and made her a gown out of a bright orange sari in 2011.  It never sold, so she has been wearing it ever since. My photography has improved a lot since those early days, and since I still had it, I could take some new photos of her in it for the book. 
  Anyways, this book is going to be a work in progress for quite a while as I have several costumes that I'd like to have featured in it, but I've not even started on them yet, and each one will likely take almost a month, maybe more, considering my lack of inspiration lately. I'd really like to include outfits for Elf Agnes, my new guy Matias, and some more from the Phantom. And there's a few other existing outfits which I would like to have photographed at our son's movie studio some time this fall, once they've settled into their new location.
So, the book is definitely going to be a lengthy work in progress. But as they say, it's good to have goals to work towards. My newest book has arrived from the printer, and it's wonderful! It features Mr. Ropuha, from Whispering Grass, and his adventures.  At first his only friends are some mice, and some children,   Then he finds Tiana online....  He falls in love, and marries her.  Then they continue having adventures together, along with all their other Forest Dweller friends.   At the very end is the 'credits' page with all his friends that appear in the book.  It's another wonderful book, and it makes me smile. For such a small character, he is certainly photogenic, and there are 81 full colour pages with 154 great photos (not including the ones on the credits page) To keep the book prices down we only order the books when the publisher has a sale, and we never know how long it will be before they have one. So I'm opening a 'pre-order' period, which will last until their next sale. So if you'd like to get a copy, just send me an email at - [email protected] - and I'll add your name to the list, and order you one. Mr. Ropuha, a Toad's Life will cost $109. US plus shipping
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
May 2025
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