There was an article in Thursday's Travel section of the paper entitled "Hidden Gems Nearby", and the main photo was of a gorgeous ruin at "the Guild" park in Scarborough. The article said there were more than 60 ruins scattered through the gardens overlooking the bluffs. So we went to check it out today - after all it might be a good spot for doll photography in the future. I didn't bring any dolls, but just went to have a look. How totally cool! Just fifteen minutes away, and I never even knew this place existed!
Jan said it would be nice if I showed an "after" photo of Blanchette's slippers, because he felt I just left everyone hanging with only a "before" shot. So, here they are.... ...and yes, she has weird ankles. They almost look "broken", but that's how they are. Iplehouse spends so much effort making their doll bodies look like beautiful real human bodies, but they tend to lose sight of the fact that as a doll it still needs to be able to be pose-able in a good-looking way. Isar's ankles, which are the new body are even worse than Asa's older style body.
I'm supposed to be working on a lavender/pink/blue fairy costume, but am having nothing but troubles. Too much pain all week to do anything creative. I had in mind a specific fabric I "knew" I had, but after looking through every box twice I couldn't find it. Must have used it all up. There were no other light purple fabrics at all other than a lavender satin and a magenta sari. I figured the best thing to do was to make two costumes and let the customer choose. But then just to make sure there really was nothing better available I though better go check out the fabric store. They had nothing in lavender that was suitable. Brocades and silks in every colour but no light purple.I did find a sheer knit with purple threads that I though might "jazz up" the lavender satin I had at home, so got a little. They didn't have any lavender beads either - except for some lavender "pearls", so I got some of those as well. Then today I cut out two bodices and sewed them. The lavender satin with the metallic knit over top was a pain to work with as it was very stretchy and any roughness on my hands caused the threads to catch and pull. When I did finally get both bodices sewn they were too small. I guess I cut too much off the back of my pattern prototypes, because the two back sides were too far apart. I figured I could use the bodices for sexy lace-up evening gowns, but I'd have to start over with the fairy bodices. I decided the metallic mesh over the lavender satin was too risky to use - even though it did look very nice - but I can't have an expensive outfit have the threads pull so easily, so I looked through my dyed quilt fabrics for a lavender blend. Found one. Then when ironing on the interfacing I accidentally fused one of them to my ironing cloth instead of the bodice fabric!! So I have to start over again. Or maybe I just better quit for today.
FedEx delivered the first of my puzzles this morning. It looks so weird to see one of my own photos on the cover of a Springbok puzzle box. They decided to make my competition entry into one of their "family" puzzles with the three different sized pieces. I had to open it and check it out. I figured I could quickly put some of it together, but it's a lot harder than it looks. What's really weird to me is how big everything is - the sprinkles are gigantic! Weirdest of all the crochet doily in the background looks like macramé rope, the threads are so huge on the pieces.
Iplehouse has finally released the first two dolls in their brand new KID line. The new KIDs are 35 cm tall and represent children halfway between their JIDs (young teens) and BIDs (very young children). It's a size not often seen in the BJD world. Iplehouse had earlier said there was going to be four different sculpts, but they've released just two for now - Lonnie and Joy. Both are very nice, and as usual it's certain skintones that speak to me. I like Lonnie in peach-gold and Joy in Real skin. The two new KIDs have been released as Limited Edition available for pre-order until the beginning of September, but I'd rather wait to see the other two before deciding. Hopefully they will be released before the ordering deadline.
Well, I'm doped up on pain pills, and aiming to start my next two - or three - commissions. I have an MSD-size version of an early fairy outfit to make - to fit Narae. And then there's two Tedros outfits. I figure I might as well make both at the same time, since two at once takes less time than two done separately. Depending on how I feel, neither should be too big a challenge, although they will most likely go slower than normal. The fairy outfit only needs a new bodice design, and I've already made the first draft of the pattern. Next step is to sew the test bodice and make any adjustments. Tedros outfit won't need any new patterns - I can use existing ones - which is a definite bonus. I just have to go through my boxes of fabrics and put some colour combinations together.
I still need to take studio shots of both Blanchette and Adrian, and then I can make their Gallery pages. In the meantime, here's another nice shot of Isar in her new dress, with her feline friends in the background..... Couldn't resist taking a photo of Isar as "Blanchette" with my cat characters from the "White Cat" photo-story. I realize she was never a human when her friends were still cats, except maybe in that moment after the spell was broken and Blanchette became her human self again, and the other cats had not yet been transformed. Anyways, it makes for an interesting photo. What great photo-stories we could make today, with costumed BJDs and digital photography.
When I was working on the bodice I thought the gown looked very nice without the big puffy sleeves, so when I was ready to sew the sleeves onto the bodice it occurred to me that the sleeve top edges and the bodice armpit openings were so neatly finished that I didn't have to actually sew the sleeves permanently into the bodice. The sleeves were stiff enough, and tight enough around the lower arms, to stay in place on their own. But just for security I did sew a hook onto the top of the sleeve so it could hook into an eye in the upper armhole. With the petal over-skirt being separate as well, the whole outfit now has several different possibilities..... The problem is trying to figure out a wig that looks best with the dress. I tried several, and liked these three the best. The long brown works nicely with the bare arms, without the big sleeves. When wearing the entire ensemble I think a shorter hairstyle might work better. I liked the colour of the blonde, but the curls were way too big. And a white mohair wig, although lovely, made her look like a "Snow Queen" - definitely a "fantasy" look. Add a pair of big, fancy, white wings and she could be a Fairy Queen. I'm not sure what look I want yet, but I think for now she's going to wear the long brown wig.
Took Adrian for his first photo-shoot down at the lake. The sand beach from last year is mostly gone this year and in it's place are lots of chunks of exposed concrete with rebar sticking out every here and there. As a result it was more challenging to find good camera angles. Adrian is difficult to pose - or maybe I just need to still figure out his "strengths" and weaknesses. Here's one of the best shots from the evening.
I have all three layers of skirts reworked and on Isar, so today I tackle the bodice and sleeves. The bodice was one-piece around the neckline with the underarm seams open so it could be sewn directly onto the doll over her skirt. Well, that's no way to put on a BJD dress, so I have to open the back. I squirted Fray Check up the center back, inside and out, and after it was dry I cut the center back of the bodice. It's great I'm such a "fabric hoarder" because I still had scraps of the original bodice fabric stored away for the last 25 years. So I cut two strips of the bodice fabric and am "binding" them around the cut edges. It's amazing just how neatly the bodice was made - the only raw edges are the side seams where it was sewn onto the doll. The beading threads do show quite a bit on the inside though, but it was done thinking the insides would never see light of day again. I've had to "couch" down some of the longer beading threads inside the sleeves, so the doll's fingers won't get caught.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
May 2024
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