Gareth Pugh in BJD form

I thought I'd already blogged this. I guess it fell into the "meant to do long enough it became already done in my mind" category. So, here goes!

I found a WTC post on DoA for a Gareth Pugh outfit. I had seen this outfit before - in fact, it is the same one someone is planning to have made for their recently ordered Ringdoll. She offered me the project for when her doll came in. Sadly, I do not have the right doll size for it at this very moment, and so I feel that it would require too much adjusting to achieve the right fit. (I have plans to right this horrible wrong, though, as I have found a doll I want....) I always get very disappointed when I am unable to sew an outfit that is really inspiring for me, so, when I saw a WTC for that same outfit I was already so in love with, I had to message the person.  Then I proceeded to go through the (self inflicted) agony thinking it must have already been snatched up when I didn't hear back from her within a few hours. (Sheesh, self, patience!) In the end, I got the project. (No, no one else got there first. My devastation was overblown as per usual.) The doll this project is intended for is an IoS 70cm with measurements pretty similar to my Dollshe Hound.

I am sewing the tunic part in pleather, with the skirt in gauze. The outfit also includes some black knit tights. Or maybe leggings would be the more appropriate term. I love the affect of the crisp pleather with the soft flowing gauze.

This outfit is just gorgeous. I love the detailed piecing of the bodice, and sleeves. Here is the inspiration pic:

I really enjoyed figuring out the pattern for this. It was sort of like building a puzzle. Here's the outfit on my Hound. (Please forgive the less than perfect pics.)

 Ambrose looks just.....amazing in this. I have dreamed for so long about having a Dollshe, and here is my very own Hound. In something I made for him that I love THIS much!!! It just makes me so happy. I'm so proud of this guy. (Yep, he still needs a face up. I just need to decide first on what I want to do with him!)

Work has since commenced on my actual commission piece. The above you see on Ambrose is pretty much my test run, so the outfit my buyer will get will be much more perfect. (I did a quick partial bodice in cotton, and just went onto the pleather. Its one of those outfits that I felt I needed the actual fabric to see how the pattern was coming together. Sometimes this is for fabric weight, sometimes it is just to get the right aesthetic idea, and since cotton is so different than pleather, it didn't work as comfortably for me.) The gauze skirt on her's is much fuller and a little longer, which is definitely an improvement. I'm going to get some more gauze and re-make one for my doll.

The  IoS doll I am sewing for has bigger shoulder and chest measurements, which is actually - normally - a very quick adjustment. Somehow I fumbled that one, and made a dumb mistake that I kind of knew at the time was a mistake, but I did it any way. I would have already had it done by now. *face palm* As it stands, I have fixed my mistake, which was simple since I knew darn well what I had done. I should have it completed *hopefully* at the end of the week. So excited to get this to her gorgeous boy! :D

Now that I have seen one outfit designed by Gareth Pugh on my Hound, I think I will pursue recreating some more for my boy on down the road! He has some seriously amazing outfits. I love the post apocolpytic, cyber, vampire, goth sort of look.

The Joker Project Begins

I really enjoy having more than one project to bounce back and forth between. It satisfies my project ADD (or is it ADHD now?) and allows my brain to process projects while I am not immediately working on them.

This week I have started working on drafting the patterns for the Joker project. I got this one via Den of Angels. It is for a 70cm Dollzone body. Since I just recently acquired my first Dollshe Hound (<3 <3 <3) I have a doll to work off of that is similar in size. The only real difference between the DZ and the Hound is in hip size. There is also minimal adjustments to leg and arm length - in other words, simple stuff that I can easily adjust. My buyer needs this for a con in September, and as this is a project very dear to her and a long time coming, I am thrilled to be able to help her out!

She at first wanted the Joker outfit to resemble the Asylum game. (Not familiar with it, but I saw the images.) My attempts at finding stripes in the right color was dismal (I tried - really, I looked everywhere!) so we went with a solid. She had to think about it a little bit, and settled on the more vintage Joker. Here is what we are basing it off of:

And that is a super small picture...But it provides the visual. She picked out the color twill she wanted for the suit, and also for the vest. The mustard for the shirt has been really hard. Apparently "mustard" doesn't actually exist in fabrics, and is a very misused title. I found nothing actually mustard on Fabric.com. I did find what I was lead to believe was a true mustard on Etsy. The helpful friendly seller said it was truly a mustard and even sent me pictures. After a long wait for her to mail it (9 days) it got here today, and it is NOT mustard! Its kind of funny to hear how people describe colors. I said it looked like peanut butter. A family member described it as toffee. Another said it was closer to dijon. I would say a deep, deep dijon if a mustard reference must be used. I am undecided as to what to do with the fabric. I like it, but it is not workable for this project. I don't know if I want to pursue a possible refund, or cut my losses, toss it in a fabric container, and use it for something else. (I usually find uses for whatever I buy.) So, I will just get some marigold cotton from Joann's, and be done with it. (This was something my buyer and I previously discussed should the mustard not work.)

And as luck would have it, by the time we got all the details worked out and I got the down payment, fabric.com was all out of the purple twill she wanted for the suit, and would be until July. I have plenty of time, but when something is time sensitive like going to a Con, there is no real length of time to rest on, and not having the fabric until then isn't what I wanted. Of course, I'd have to if I couldn't find it elsewhere. They had nothing at Joann's. I looked online at Hancocks (we have one here) to see if they offered it, which they did. So I went to the Hancocks we have here, and landed on a gold mine of twill colors. I found both the purple and the green she wanted, which is nice as I don't have to order either one online.

So far I have the slacks pattern drafted but have not sewn a test run. I am working on the test run of the blouse. Its so exciting to finally have the dream come true of sewing a suit on a Hound. I hadn't envisioned sewing a Joker suit, but this is awesome! Progress pics will follow as I get more done.