Princess Coiffe finished....

So, one head dress done out of three! Yay! I had gotten all the gold trim sewn on before Christmas, and let it sit until today to figure out exactly how to go about finishing it. It's like that for me when I have never sewn something before. I have to let it sit until a clear direction of going about it crystallizes in my head. The perks of being self taught, I guess. I have to figure things out, and whether or not I am doing it the "right way" as long as it turns out looking good and finished neatly, I just go with it.

I had initially planned to gather the bottom edge like human sized coiffes are finished, but for this size, that did not work. I pleated it with tiny pleats instead, and the hang was much better. I ended up finishing the inside with a facing, which did 2 things: hid the raw edges, and also gave it a better form for fitting the head. The top part of the coiffe I finished with a cream silk. I really am pleased with it. I had planned to add bead detailing, but I think I had better omit that on the white part of it before I make it too busy. I might add it to the cream though as I think it could use a little something more. After I got it finished, I held it up to all three of the dresses it is meant to go with to see how they all look together. They look great!. Its enthralling to see it all come together. :D Later on when the lighting is better I will do a nice photo session with the coiffe with each dress.

Confessions of a Crafter......

You know you really have a crafting addiction when the dreaded time rolls around for you to re-organize your crafting space and supplies. This is my weekend project, whether I want it to be or not.

I have too much craft supplies! It's not so much that I have an overabundance of one particular thing (the likely candidate for this is my fabric stash which has already been once again cut waaaaay down. I have to do this every year.) I just have so many kinds of things to store.

There's my polymer clay, which is stored conveniently in one of those flat square containers you get for scrap booking paper. (I have one of those full of mostly Halloween paper - god knows what I will actually do with it.) And now I have a nice little container of all the supplies I will need to go along with it. My tools, TLS, clay thinner, a couple of molds I can't live without (tiny ghosts and bats) and then my sealers. I'm thrilled to have it all together in one convenient place.

There's my catch all container where I have my MSC and other sealers, my punches and molds for making 1/6 and 1/12 paper plates, the scrap booking markers in metallics for edging said plates, the triple thick sealers for them, glitter fabric paint, mediums for various things and my stash of glitter.

Oh, that glitter. I love it. I have a good selection of holiday colors. You know the sample packs, the ones that come taped to card board backs in neat little plastic bags? Well, recently they were used for some Christmas decorating, and in the swirl of throwing out old storage things that simply did not work, that fine little glitter made it way out of those little plastic bags and onto literally everything. It is EVERYWHERE. All over the floor, all over my desk, all over everything.

Several hours later, and it is mostly under control. I have my embroidery floss neatly in its own container. Beads have been sorted and organized with my jewelry making tools and supplies. My buttons have been sorted and organized. :) The majority of the glitter as been cleaned, but its evasive, and I know I will be finding it for months to come in surprising places.

My brushes have a new home away from their stained up bag in the container my clay extruder came in. I swear I love that tool, but have really no good use for it. Its tucked away neatly in my clay tools waiting for that moment to shine. I really need to replace my fine tipped paint brushes. They are the same ones I have been using for years, and the fine tips have started to curl.

My liquidex paint I bought many, many moons ago has been mostly thrown out. Its so dried, and the white, blacks and medium brown are all used up. I saved the ones I will need for the princess crown I sculpted. I'd love to order another big set of them like I did before, but for now, I'll just get single tubes in the colors I need for face ups and what not. I've really been needing to do this for a long time now. I'll need another container for those when I get them.

I still have a ways to go. I need a container for my millinery supplies, as well as a few other things such as my knitting needles, tiny crochet hooks and closures. But, its taking form. And you know it has to get worse before it gets better. That's the only thing that helps one cope with the piles. Soon it'll become a visage of order instead of a constant state of mayhem where you cannot find a thing that you need.

(I'm not even going to go into my pattern disaster that has to be addressed as well. A blog post can only handle so much chaos.)

As I worked through everything I got to thinking how much more free of clutter my life would be if I had managed to hold myself to one or maybe two crafting hobbies, or really none at all. But, how boring! I can't help myself, I love to try many different things, and my creative ADD really doesn't help me out any at all. In reality, the majority of my crafting is because of my dolls. If I didn't have them, then I'm not sure what I would do nor not do. So many things I started just because I want to make everything I can for them. But, it's all worth it - the space it takes up and the arduous process of sorting, throwing out, and re-organizing. Once its done, one can sigh with relief, and get back to the fun process of creation. And hopefully do a better job of keeping things organized.....

Making Medieval Head Dresses for the Princess Project

This has been one LONG and complicated project. 9 dresses, and 3 head dresses. Head dresses should technically be easier than elegant dresses, but this is me we are talking about, and as I am not really used to doing  much head wear, I am struggling just a bit. I just dyed the final 2 pieces of silk for the final ball gown, and while the fabric is soaking (it takes a really long time to wash out the loose pigment when the dye is really dark. I find soaking saves the hands.) I am working on the pattern for the coiffe.

This is the intended look:

http://www.echoppemedievale.com/upload/photos/femmes/coiffes/coiffe_medievale_moyen_age_i.jpg

I love it. I plan to do the end in cream silk, the rest of the fabric will be white cotton (way easier to work with for tiny things than silk.) I have bought some thin gold trim to give it a lattice effect, and some tiny brown seed beads to go where the gold trim crosses. Since the doll has magnetized removable ears, I will need to leave off the beads where the ears stick on.

The pattern should be simple enough. I did my first draft a little earlier today, and we're not quite there yet. I've been looking for some coiffe tutorials, and while I found one, it wasn't very helpful as it was a different style of coiffe than the example above.

Here is my first attempt. The gathering needs to extend further, and the basic shape is off, but it's a start.