Back at his apartment, Baron and Naomi were packing the last of the things they wanted to take with them back to his time.... Baron was contemplating his camera and laptop. "I do have extra batteries, but there obviously won't be any Internet connection, and once the batteries die they will become useless...." "But if I take them, I won't have to buy them again if we come back here in the future...." Naomi was taking her grandmother's old hand crank sewing machine, and all the sewing thread she could gather....for when she started her new dressmaker's shop.... They were both taking their favourite contemporary clothes, so they'd have them for whenever they came back, and Naomi also wanted to pack some recipe books..... "Is there a recipe for pizza?" 'Of course..." Then they were finally ready.....and Baron took out Miho's magic stone.... "Are you ready??" "Yes....." ...and they were gone....
Before they finally headed back to Baron's time, Naomi asked to visit the Ruins of Lawrence's castle Baron took her on a tour around the ruins.... Although Naomi had not actually seen the castle in all it's glory yet, she was surprised to see what little was left of it... "It still looks beautiful, even like this..." There was a birthday and a wedding being photographed... ...and it made the two of them dream about their own wedding.... ...which would take place in this very same spot, but way in the past, in all its former glory.... They sat and watched the photographer take the wedding photos.... Naomi had seen enough.... "Lets go home...."
There's another free pattern up today. It's Naomi's contemporary Boho outfit that she wore in the recent stories. It was designed specially for her SartoriaJ 45APH body. They have much wider hips than other Fashion sized ladies, so if making the outfit for a slimmer doll, the leggings will need to be made narrower, especially at the top.
*To download the pattern pdf, click on the photo below. It will take you to the Gallery page for the outfit, which also includes the pattern pdf and basic written instructions.... I have so much on the go right now that it's hard to concentrate. There's still two more episodes in Baron and Naomi's story coming, but I've not processed all the photos. Just a few from when he takes her to the Ruins of Lawrence's castle.... I'm also working on releasing the next group of Tutorials, and each evening I'm working on knitting warm sweater sets for all the new small dolls that arrived this year. I'm currently on the scarf for the third set, with Holly modelling them as I go.... With the nicer weather right now we are taking advantage to wash all the empty flower pots outside, so they can get stored nice and clean for next year. Of course one thing leads to another, and now we are cleaning out our garage too. So there's not the same amount of time for doll stuff right now, so everything is progressing rather slowly. Lawrence is still playing cards with the devils in the Storyteller's 'Soldier and Death' on my dining room table. But like usual one thing led to another, and I thought I'd try post the photos in a bit of a short story sequence, as a small part of the full length folk tale, and I should make use of my old Storyteller figure, and have him telling the story, so I removed him off his base, and have him posed on my kitchen table waiting for whenever I make his set.... I made him way back in the 90's, inspired by Jim Henson's Storyteller series. The old Storyteller was played by John Hurt with heavy prosthetics, and his dog was a puppet performed by Brian Henson. The Storyteller's coat is one of my most elaborate costume pieces. His old, worn and dirty quilted coat is made up of hundreds of tiny pieced fabric scraps, with many sections duplicating the patterns in the actual one worn by the Storyteller in the series.
Anyways, my Storyteller has never been nicely photographed, so I thought I'd remove him from his rigid stand, so he can sit and tell the story of 'the Soldier and Death' to his dog in a proper interior setting. I'm looking forwards to the challenge of recreating the right look and atmosphere of the real setting. But first I need to finish photographing Lawrence as the Soldier, as he defeats all the devils at cards. I'm loving how the photos are turning out.... Do you need a dummy in order to display a beautiful outfit your fashion sized doll isn't wearing right now? Well, today I'm sharing my 'pattern', with basic written instructions. The dummy was designed from one of my Slim FID bodice patterns, and is not intended to be used as a stand-in for an actual doll to make clothes for before it arrives. It is meant for display purposes only. Like here in Naomi's Costume Shop.... Just click on the image below to go to the Tutorial.....
The first of the new pattern tutorials is up today. It's for the MSD size Safety Vest. I made my first one for my JID Owen for when he was going to be a garbage collector, but then Benny wore it as well when she was a school crossing guard.... Then I made a second one for when Owen and Steve were helping with the repaving of our road.... I designed it to be roomy, so that a sweater or coat could be worn underneath it. It will also fit an FID It's very easy to make, and includes simple written instructions.
The link with pattern pdf - https://www.antiquelilac.com/safety-vest---tutorials-2021.html Time to share how some of the photos on Baron and Naomi's trip up north were taken. Due to all the scenes being out in the real world, I needed to use forced perspective to make the dolls look like they actually belonged there. With forced perspective the photos have to be taken straight at the doll's eye level, which means either raising the dolls up so their eye level is at the same level as an adult human's, or getting down on the ground to shoot straight at the doll's eye level. But due to all the rain and my major back pain, most of the photos ended up being taken either hand held, or with them posing on a picnic table.....like at Serpent River.... Hand held at the Agawa Bay Lookout.... Jan shading the dolls, waiting for me to get down - one of the few times I actually did - at Old Woman Bay..... Standing on a picnic table.... Chaperoning as the dolls watch the sun set..... ...and a little photo bombing.....which I had to remove..... My two guys at Magpie High Falls.... Enjoying the scenery at Katharine Cove.... Enjoying pizza in the RV..
..supported by stands to make them the right height for the table.... We woke to yet another rainy day.... But rain or no rain, we were going to enjoy the scenery.... The sun did venture out occasionally between rain storms.... At Batchewana Bay we stopped for a break.... Then to the nearby Trading Post at Pancake Bay..... Where Naomi fell in love with two cute stuffed animals..... ...so Baron bought them for her.... Then to Gros Cap again for one final sunset....
Today is National 'Men making Dinner Day', so Owen thought he'd treat Leona to a nice home cooked meal. But he wasn't all that experienced, so had to look up her favourite recipes... He knew she loved cream puffs, and that they would take the longest, so started on those first... All ready to go into the oven.... Owen wanted to really impress Leona and make his own pasta from scratch.... Then it was time to start on the sauce.... "Perfect!!" The pasta was perfectly 'al dente'..... He suddenly remembered that he still needed to ice the cream puffs! So he whipped up some frosting.... "All done! Leona is going to be so surprised!
Bon appetite!" The rocky shore of Lake Superior is spectacular... ...especially when the sun comes out..... We arrived back in Sault Ste Marie..... ... and Baron wanted to treat everyone to dinner.... Then at Gros Cap with more storm clouds on the horizon....
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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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