Two latest sewing projects completed

17th century style gentleman's suit for 60cm BJD. Lace-trimmed white chiffon shirt, metallic cobalt blue crepe breeches, white cotton jersey stockings, blue silk brocade waistcoat lined in periwinkle blue crepe-backed satin and blue silk brocade frock coat lined in cream silk with black velvet trim.

Entirely handsewn in about 40 hours. Modelled here on Satin, my Elf Chiwoo.



Inspired by the gowns of Marie Antoinette, this gown is made of blue silk brocade. The bodice is lined in pale blue cotton and adorned with three crystal organza bows. The sleeves are white cotton lace. The underskirt is beaded bridal lace.

The gown was handsewn from my own pattern and took about 20 hours to complete.

Modelled here on Gabrielle, my 45cm tall Fairyland Minifee Shiwoo girl.

Dollmeet - London, April 2009

Last Sunday I attended a regular monthly dollmeet held at the Royal Festival Hall with my eldest and youngest daughters, plus Marius (Dollshe Hound), Kai (CP El) and Gabrielle (MNF Shiwoo girl). My eldest daughter had brought her doll, Nimue (modded Obitsu Gretel elf on Volks Dollfie Dream 1 body).

Photos from the meet can be seen here.

Blonde Bombshell

Following the Lilac Faery photoshoot, I'd left Gabrielle in the Louisiana Blue Eyeco silicone eyes rather than change her back to her "default" green eyes; and yesterday on a whim I decided to try out a blonde wavy CanCan J-series wig on her.

And it actually works pretty well! In fact, she looks pretty stunning as a blonde; the colour suits and complements the colours of her face-up perfectly, and the style of the wig seems to "open up" her face more - it also serves to make her look a little more mature and sassy. This look seems to suit her even better than the redhead look; I think I may well have found her new "default".


Gabrielle in blonde wig, showing off her new red boots. :-)

Dressmaking

Gabrielle has been playing clotheshorse for me; first there was her Christmas dress:



And now my latest creation I've been working on - "Lilac Faery":








Gabrielle's normal default eyes and hair didn't really suit the colours of this outfit, so I swapped out her green glass eyes for a pair of blue Eyeco silicone eyes, and her wine-coloured wig for this white one.

Handsewn over 2 days, the dress is inspired by the Lilac Fairy character in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The dress consists of a long tulle skirt overlaid with three layers of lilac crystal organza lace spangled with rhinestones; the front panel of the bodice is lavender satin and purple velvet, trimmed with white and gold cotton lace. The front ruffles are white chiffon trimmed with lilac silk ribbon, and the sleeve ruffles are lilac crystal organza.

The outfit will be completed with a pair of shimmery gold stockings, matching undies, a ribbon lace headdress, and a purple organza choker - and, if I can pull it off, purple velvet ballet pumps. I'm hopeful it will be finished in time to go on sale this weekend.

Gabrielle at Christmas

Gabrielle wishes you all a very Merry Christmas on behalf of all here at Arkadian Dreams. :-)

Gabrielle's new face-up

It's like having a whole new doll. :-)

Goodbye Xavier, hello Gabrielle!

The fun thing about the one-touch system used by Luts and Fairyland is that you can swap heads.

Like this:


In the process I found that Luspira makes a very effective little werewolf boy (pay no heed to the gold lame trousers; they're for a commission) - and Xavier makes a very cute little girl! So Luspira has now become Lupin (still tempted by the thought of calling him Lucien, though that's the "real" name of 's Hound, Corpselight...), and Xavier has become Gabrielle - and much happier they both seem to be as a result!

Anyway, having a pretty little girl to sew for (and three hours with no internet last night!) inspired me to complete this little outfit up for her - corset is dusky pink raw Thai silk, lined with pink satin and topstitched in silver. Skirt is actually a tutu, with underpants of burgundy cotton jersey and ruffles of burgundy organza, with a top layer of organza trimmed with dark rose satin ribbon.

Her over-the-knee socks were also handstitched by me, and I made the necklace too. Shoes are from Luts. :-)













When the weather isn't quite so humid, I'll be redoing her face-up to give her a softer, more feminine look. :-)

Dressmaking

Gabrielle has been playing clotheshorse for me; first there was her Christmas dress:



And now my latest creation I've been working on - "Lilac Faery":







Gabrielle's normal default eyes and hair didn't really suit the colours of this outfit, so I swapped out her green glass eyes for a pair of blue Eyeco silicone eyes, and her wine-coloured wig for this white one.

Handsewn over 2 days, the dress is inspired by the Lilac Fairy character in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The dress consists of a long tulle skirt overlaid with three layers of lilac crystal organza lace spangled with rhinestones; the front panel of the bodice is lavender satin and purple velvet, trimmed with white and gold cotton lace. The front ruffles are white chiffon trimmed with lilac silk ribbon, and the sleeve ruffles are lilac crystal organza.

The outfit will be completed with a pair of shimmery gold stockings, matching undies, a ribbon lace headdress, and a purple organza choker - and, if I can pull it off, purple velvet ballet pumps. I'm hopeful it will be finished in time to go on sale this weekend.

Dressmaking

Gabrielle has been playing clotheshorse for me; first there was her Christmas dress:



And now my latest creation I've been working on - "Lilac Faery":







Gabrielle's normal default eyes and hair didn't really suit the colours of this outfit, so I swapped out her green glass eyes for a pair of blue Eyeco silicone eyes, and her wine-coloured wig for this white one.

Handsewn over 2 days, the dress is inspired by the Lilac Fairy character in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The dress consists of a long tulle skirt overlaid with three layers of lilac crystal organza lace spangled with rhinestones; the front panel of the bodice is lavender satin and purple velvet, trimmed with white and gold cotton lace. The front ruffles are white chiffon trimmed with lilac silk ribbon, and the sleeve ruffles are lilac crystal organza.

The outfit will be completed with a pair of shimmery gold stockings, matching undies, a ribbon lace headdress, and a purple organza choker - and, if I can pull it off, purple velvet ballet pumps. I'm hopeful it will be finished in time to go on sale this weekend.