Aesthetics Early Victorian crew - custom faceups, wigs, and wardrobe

It feels like I've been working non-stop on my dolls, and I thought it might be fun to share the process with you! I am fully customizing and outfitting my 66-72 cm boys, who are all part of a story together set (loosely) in the early Victorian period, and I would love to have some company on this undertaking. Maybe I will share some hints of their story along the way, if there is any interest? It is still a work in progress, but you might enjoy getting to know the characters!

I haven't done the most thorough job of documenting my projects thus far, but I'll try to do better moving forward. I just got a new camera, so at least the photo quality is improving!!

Meet the crew:

• Sebastien (DZ Licht) - ordered May 2020, received October 2020. Specs: 72 cm, white skin.
  
• Leon (Aimerai Neo/Akagidoll hybrid) - ordered July 2020, received November 2020. Specs: 66 cm, white skin.
  
• August (Little Rebel Andre, floating head) - ordered September 2020, received within the same month. Body ordered September 2020, and should be on its way to me in the next 1-2 months. Specs: 68 cm, normal pink skin.
  
• More crew members to be added in 2021, TBA!

Individual project list:

• Faceup for Leon **completed November 2020; permanent modifications completed and faceup re-done March 2021
• Wipe company faceup for Sebastien and create a new faceup **completed December 2020
  
• Faceup for August **completed January 2021
  
• Process raw alpaca fiber for wigs **in progress
• Strawberry blond wig for Sebastien **completed November 2020
• Raven black wig for Leon **completed December 2020
• Ginger brown wig for August **completed January 2021
  
• Custom small-iris resin eyes for all three dolls **commissioned from artist Ashuradark in Deccember 2020; received January 2021
  
• Pattern and sew shirt, trousers, and waistcoat for Sebastien
  
• Pattern and sew shirt, trousers, and waistcoat for Leon
  
• Pattern and sew shirt, trousers, and waistcoat for August **completed March 2021
• Jointed hands for all three dolls **hands ordered for Sebastien and August in December 2020, received April 2020; hands ordered for Leon in January 2021, not yet received
  
• Manicures and possibly body blushing for all three dolls
  
• Create and/or purchase art-related props for Leon: easel, brushes, palette, and scale-appropriate sketches, paintings, etc.
• Create and/or purchase instrument props for Sebastien: violin and violin case **ordered November 2020; received December 2020
• Create and/or purchase Siamese cat familiar for Sebastien **ordered from artist D.Luonto in November 2020; received January 2021
• More projects to be added along the way...
• ADDED Jan 2021: Order new body for Sebastien **ordered January 2021
• ADDED Feb 2021: Order new crew member, Maskcatdoll Yael **ordered February 2021
• ADDED Mar 2021: Order new crew member, Impldoll Candice/DF-H hybrid **ordered March 2021
• ADDED Mar 2021: Order new crew member, Iplehouse BID Ellia **ordered March 2021

Okay, now let's get up to speed on what I've completed so far!

Wig for Sebastien:

This was my first time working with alpaca fiber. I ordered raw suri alpaca fiber from a seller on Etsy, choosing various colors based on my mental image of each doll's character. Sebastien was the lucky recipient of the beautiful strawberry blond fiber.

I carefully separated out small locks of fiber, brushed each lock out, and secured the base of each lock by tying it snugly with thread. I gently washed the locks in cold water and Woolite detergent, and then left them to soak in the soapy water for a few hours. I discarded the dirty water, rinsed the locks, and repeated the washing process one or two more times until the water remained clear. I then applied regular human hair conditioner to the locks, let the fiber soak, rinsed it, and air-dried the locks.

Once the fiber was clean and shiny, I created glued wefts by laying it out carefully on wax paper and applying felt glue at the base of the weft. I organized the fiber by color so that I could achieve a subtle gradient, with slightly darker hair to be used on the bottom layers of the wig and the lightest hair on the top layers (to mimic the subtle effect of sunlight gently bleaching hair).

I had previously created a wig cap using pantyhose and layers of glue (process modeled by August below instead of Sebastien). Once the glue was dry on the wefts, they could easily be peeled up and applied to the wig cap. The placement of the wefts depends on the desired hairstyle and thickness for the finished wig.



I left the uppermost crown of the wig cap bare to try an experiment. I wanted to create a natural look for the crown, more similar to a scalp. I used "easy threading" or "magic" needles to root tiny groups of fibers into the wig cap. It worked so well!! See photo below of how it looked partway through the process. I secured the fibers on the inside of the wig cap with a layer of glue.



Finally, I cut the wig into a softly layered style and completed the look with a bit of heatstyling. I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think it looks very natural. Sebastien is so handsome!

Final results:



Faceup and wig for Leon:

I forgot to take blank photos of him before I launched into creating his faceup! For reference, please see his official company photos here, blank head photos are at the bottom of the page.

As a character, Leon is a sweet and melancholy artist. I wanted his naive charm to come through in the faceup. He is pale and tired, but also a little sunburned from sitting outoors working on landscape paintings. I was so engrossed in the faceup process that I didn't take any photos along the way, I'll make sure to take more photos for my other projects. I'm planning to talk a bit about my faceup materials, techniques, and tools in a future post, but if you have any questions, please let me know and I'll be glad to tell you more!

I didn't like the way that the inside of the mouth was sculpted, it was a solid featureless block. I sculpted teeth separately using Sculpey Premo translucent clay, baked them, and added them to the head once the rest of the faceup was completed and sealed. They are a fully reversible modification. I absolutely love the way they turned out, I think they add so much character to his face!

Here is his finished faceup, shown with a temporary ready-made wig and temporary self-made eyes:

[EDIT 4/4/2021: As of March 2021 I have modified Leon's head sculpt and repainted him, you can find his new look here]






Next, Leon needed his custom wig. The black alpaca fiber was so gorgeously long and silky that I decided to run with it and give him a longer hairstyle than I had originally envisioned. I mostly followed the same wigmaking process that I described above, with some changes to weft placement based on the final hairstyle that I wanted to achieve. Some progress photos below:




After rooting fiber into the wig cap to finish the crown and part areas:


Here is his final look:



I think Leon is heartbreakingly adorable, he puts a smile on my face every time I look at him! I haven't decided whether I will do any cutting and/or styling of his hair, it's so pretty exactly the way it is, but I may change my mind in the future... I'll keep you posted.

Next project coming up: wiping Sebastien's company faceup and creating a new one.

Hope you have enjoyed this so far! I am working on my projects regularly, so I plan to hopefully share updates here every 1-2 weeks, if I can. I always respond to comments and questions, so please don't be shy, I would love to interact!

 

Thank you!! I created his sunburn with a combination of pastels and gouache. Pastels: shades of pink, red, and light brown, applied with a small brush. Gouache: shades of red and brown, thinned with Flow-Aid (diluted with water in the ratio recommended on its packaging). Applied in with a fine synthetic brush in tiny spots and small blotches to create organic shapes, then dabbed with a damp Q-tip to remove excess pigment. This is then repeated to build multiple layers of semi-translucent freckles and uneven rosiness, to mimic natural skin.

For the wefts, I arranged the fiber on sheets of wax paper in neat rows, trying to achieve a consistent fiber density. Then I ran a line of felt glue over the base of the fibers, one small section at a time. I held the loose fiber firmly in place with my non-dominant hand, and used an old paintbrush to neatly spread the glue into the base of the fibers, creating a single strip of weft. Then repeat! Once the glue is dry, the wefts peel easily off the wax paper. (I have some photos coming up with the next wig project that will show some of these steps, hopefully the visuals will be more helpful than this written explanation...!!!)

Thank you so much! I wanted to figure out an alternative to ventilation, which is too intimidating for me (for now)

Thank you, I'm so glad that you like them!

Thank you!! I'm really pleased with myself that it actually worked out, haha!

 

You're so welcome, I hope my descriptions made sense! If you're looking to expand your toolkit, an inexpensive set of synthetic makeup brushes (used only for faceups!) are a great way to apply pastels, that's what I currently use. For fine linework (brow hairs, lashes, veins) I use artist-grade 20/0 and 18/0 size synthetic liner brushes. Gouache paints are very forgiving and versatile, and are an excellent alternative to acrylics. Dick Blick is my favorite art supply store to order from, they have very fair prices and offer high quality tools and materials.

Partway through working on the teeth I started questioning my own sanity a little, so I'm really glad to hear that you like them!! I love how they turned out, but they were extremely tricky to "install." I broke the first set of teeth while trying to maneuver them into place, and had to make new ones

 

These wigs are SO deliciously soft, I wish I knew how to adequately convey the feeling!! Definitely give wigmaking a try, it's 100% worth the effort. I'll be posting another wigmaking project within the next few weeks with more photo documentation, which might be helpful, but please let me know if you have any questions or need any tips getting started!

 

Sebastien's faceup is nearly done! I had some weather-related setbacks that slowed down the process (I use MSC), and I'm also still waiting for his eyelashes to arrive, so I'm going to wait to post him until everything is complete. Hopefully that will be within the next few days, I'm really excited to show you how he's turned out! I actually remembered to take some progress photos, so maybe that will be interesting for those who enjoy the process.

In the meantime, I've acquired some props (some planned, some unplanned) and thought I would share them here!

One of my neighbors had a yard sale recently, with a surprising number of doll-sized props available (as well as some antique dolls in poor condition). I was able to pick up some little dishes and other ceramic items. The items vary in quality and condition, and some pieces are vintage, circa 1940s-50s. Not all of the items are perfectly scaled for my dolls, but overall I think they are very charming and will be effective in photographs and displays.










With regard to planned props, Sebastien's violin has arrived! He can't "play" it yet, as it will probably be a few months before his jointed hands arrive, but it looks great. This item was not specifically listed as a BJD prop, it was listed as a miniature, and was available in many different sizes designated in cm. This meant that I had to do some research and calculations to figure out which size would be appropriately scaled for Sebastien. It was actually pretty fun to do, but a little nerve-wracking while waiting for it to arrive and wondering if I had made any missteps. Thankfully, it seems that my selection was accurate!! It is not a top-quality item, but for the price that I paid I'm completely satisfied.





That's it for now, I'll be back very soon!

 

Thank you!! Fingers crossed that the jointed hands I selected are a good fit, so that I can make that happen!

 

Merry Christmas Eve!! Sebastien's faceup is complete, just in time for the holidays! I tried to document multiple stages of the process with photos, and I hope I managed to do a decent job of it. In case it might be helpful or interesting for someone, I will be breaking down each step of my process in detail, but I will not plan to do this for future faceups as I think it would be somewhat dull reading!

As a character, Sebastien is a dangerous and narcissistic witch. I wanted the faceup to be glamorous, sinister, and a little otherworldly. The company faceup was too monochromatic for my taste, and I felt that it didn't show off the sculpt very well. I also want all my dolls to match each other stylistically, and there is a major difference between my faceup work and Dollzone's aesthetic.

First, I had to wipe everything off. I used Winsor & Newton brush cleaner for this step, along with cotton pads, a toothbrush, and a Magic Eraser. It took quite a bit of scrubbing! There were thick layers of gloss and paint on the eyes and lips. Once the head was fresh and clean, I was delighted to find that it had some lovely details that had not been visible before. Here he is blank:





After sealing with 3 layers of MSC, I did approximately 4-5 rounds of skin texturing with Winsor & Newton gouache in alizarin crimson and raw umber, diluted and spattered on with a toothbrush. I mostly alternated layers of each color. I used a wet Q-tip to soften the layers as I went, and also placed some spots and freckles by hand.

I started building up pastel shading using Cretacolor hard pastels in shades of blue, purple, brown, black, and multiple shades of pink and red. Rough description of my color placement: blue at inner corners of eyes and outer corners of mouth. Purple around the eyes and under the lower lip. Brown for eyebrows, outer corner of lower lid of eyes, nostrils, and crease of mouth. Black at upper and lower lashline of eyes. Pink around nostrils, on tip of nose, and on lips. Here he is at this stage of the process:





One of my favorite steps is applying veins and beauty marks. I used gouache in indigo (thinned with Liquitex Flow-Aid and water in the ratio recommended on the packaging) and drew on veins near his mouth/chin and temples, referencing anatomy diagrams. For the beauty marks, I used gouache in the shade raw umber. I enjoy referencing photos of real people for this to help keep the placement feeling organic.





At this point, I'd probably sealed a couple more times. I continued deepening and refining the pastel shading. I wanted the area around his eyes to be dark so that his pale eyelashes would stand out against that background. Well, and I also thought it would look sort of moody and appealing! Lastly I drew some creases under his eyes with a 20/0 synthetic liner brush.

I used crimson gouache (thinned) to create broken blood vessels on his cheeks. Again, I tried to reference photos of real skin for this. I drew his lower lashes with white gouache and a 20/0 brush. I created his eyebrows with layers of brown pastel, light blond brush strokes on top, and more pastel shading on top of that. He looks a bit gaudy in the photo below, but please don't be alarmed, we'll push past this stage!



After sealing again, I did a final refinement layer of pastels, making sure to check the faceup in multiple light sources to make sure the overall balance looked good and flattered his features. I deepened the shades in the lip crease, corners of the mouth, inside of the nostrils, and under the bottom lip. I added some pink to the bridge of his nose and more pink shading around his nostrils and philtrum. I should have taken photos of this stage, but I got too impatient to see him finished! After sealing twice more, I applied Tamiya X-22 gloss to his lips, applied some lovely pale eyelashes, and he was finished!





I'm really happy with how he turned out, he's rather handsome and mysterious! He looks like he knows some very juicy secrets and is not going to share them with us. Here's him and Leon sitting together; you can't tell from this photo but when standing Leon only comes up to Sebastien's chin. It's so satisfying to see them both with completed faces and wigs!



I hope you enjoyed this! My next project will probably be working on their early Victorian period clothing, but I have not completely decided yet. I'd also like to get started on body blushing them, or at least giving them manicures. I think I'm putting August's wig and faceup on the back burner for the moment, as it will probably be another 1-2 months (or more, if there are shipping delays) before I receive his body.

Please let me know what you think about how Sebastien turned out! I'd also love to hear your thoughts on my next projects, if you have any ideas or advice. Any questions, please feel free to ask, as always!

 

You're so welcome!! I honestly felt a little silly writing it all out, but as long as it's helpful for someone, that makes it worthwhile!

 

@maxxxamillion Thank you for your kind words!! I have a lot to learn, but I'm hoping to enjoy this journey alongside other folks who are doing the same thing, so I'm very glad that you're here! Agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts about how the act of sharing can give purpose to art. I get super insecure and embarrassed sometimes when posting, so I like to imagine that I am brave for showing my earnest efforts to others, hahaha

 

NOTE: Many photos in this thread are now broken. I'm not sure what has caused this, but I will try to fix them as soon as possible. In the meantime, many of them can still be viewed by clicking on the broken photo icon, as it links to the image. Thank you for your patience!​

Time for an update! I'm not sure how to organize my thoughts, so I'll try to do this in chronological order.

First: August's body has shipped! I woke up to the shipping notification on Christmas morning, which was a happy surprise. It was shipped internationally via EMS and appears to have made very little progress on its journey during the last two weeks, so I might be waiting for quite a while. Now that August's body is on its way, I'm eager to work on his faceup and finish his wig.

Second: I gave my dolls a new sofa for Christmas! I purchased this gorgeous Victorian sofa on the Marketplace back in October, and it arrived incredibly quickly despite being an ENORMOUS package traveling internationally. My partner kindly opened the package for me, inspected the sofa for damage, and compared it with the seller's photos. This allowed me to save it as a surprise of myself, and see it for the first time on Christmas morning, which was so much fun! It is full SD+ size and my large dolls look perfect on it proportionally. I don't have any good photos of that yet, but will try to take some soon and share in a future update.



Third: my little Siamese cat from D.Luonto arrived, and it is absolutely adorable and very nicely made. Sadly, it is the wrong size to be in proper scale with my large dolls. This is 100% my fault, not the artist's; I miscalculated and gave the artist the wrong measurements with my request. Happily, the cat is perfectly in scale with Fritz, my single 1/4 doll (Little Monica Little Kliff), so at least he has some company now! I haven't decided yet whether I will commission another cat in the correct size, or if I will simply drop the idea.



Fourth: I ordered a new body for Sebastien to replace his current one. Ever since I received him, he just hasn't felt quite right to me, and I think his body is a big part of the problem. I tried to convince myself that I could make it work, but I finally had to admit that it just didn't suit my mental image of the character. After a lot of research, I finally found a body that I hope will meet my criteria. Unfortunately, this means that I won't be working on any wardrobe items for him until the new body arrives, as I want everything to be tailored to fit as nicely as possible.

Fifth: I ordered jointed hands for Leon. I figured that since I was ordering a new body for Sebastien, I might as well add a pair of hands! The other two already have jointed hands on order, as of December.

Sixth: the eyes that I commissioned from AshuraDark are finished, and they have been shipped! She was so lovely to work with, and the final photos that she provided look great. You can see them on her Instagram if you're interested: Login • Instagram The light blue-grey eyes belong to Sebastien, the brown ones are for August, and the jade green ones are for Leon. Based on other packages I've received lately, it might be a few weeks or even more than a month before the eyes arrive.

The next projects that I'll be working on and posting will probably be August's faceup and wig. I've been sidetracked and have not begun work on Leon's wardrobe, but I hope to begin that process this month. See you with more updates soon!

 

Isn't it funny, I feel so much less guilty now that Fritz has a feline companion! Previously I had been planning to get another 1/4 doll (at some vague point in the future) to keep him company, but now that my conscience has been eased, I don't feel that it's necessary Sorry Fritz!!

 

@cthulhu I'm so thrilled to hear your thoughts on my projects!! I actually share your preference for Sebastien's faceup at an earlier stage of the process, I think he looked more ethereal before the last few layers of blushing and details. I got a little carried away I've improved my skills while working on August's faceup, so I think I could execute both Sebastien and Leon's faceups better now that I've figured out some new tricks and gotten more practice! Once I find the heart to wipe their current faces, I'll try again.

As far as the outfits go, I haven't begun my pattern drafting yet, I've been putting it off!! Thanks so much for the tip about Adams-Harris, I went and checked them out and their patterns look great. If it turns out that I'm in over my head with my current plan (drafting from scratch with inadequate historical knowledge... what could go wrong??) that will be a lifesaver!

@Mamm I'm so glad that you've enjoyed the posts! Let me know if you have any questions about the wigmaking process, I'm glad to help out if I can!

 

Ooooh, that is a very appealing thought.... I might take the plunge and pick up those patterns, especially if fishtail trousers are available. I adore that style of pants!!

 

Your pieces turned out wonderfully!! I was thinking late 1830s - early 1840s, but I've had a harder time than I expected finding resources to confirm correct cuts and styles for men's fashions during that period. At this point, I'm relying on images of extant garments in museum collections and an 1838 sewing guide. My process is a bit of a mess All suggestions and resources are welcome and appreciated!!

 

August's body has arrived!! It was in transit for almost a month, so I was able to finish his wig and faceup before it arrived. Time for an update!

First thoughts on the body:

August's body is the 2D Doll 68 cm v2 boy body, in normal pink resin. My initial reaction was that the resin was very pale, much lighter than I had expected. I'm not particularly bothered by the mismatch, but long-term, I would like to improve it, either by body blushing (not for full resin matching, just as shading) or by dyeing (which I'm intimidated by, but willing to consider as an option). I'll try to take photos showing the comparison of the body and versus the headcap (Little Rebel normal resin, 2020), I didn't think of it until I was writing this up.

The texture and feel of 2D's resin is really pleasant, it is very pretty and matte. The sculpting is lovely, I particularly like the hands and feet. The joints have smooth motion and the body holds poses well, including standing and balancing easily. Finally, the proportions look great with the Little Rebel Andre head. The height and shoulder width are perfect, and the neck fits well and has excellent mobility. Overall, I'm so happy with how this hybrid turned out!

Wig:

I used the same process and techniques that I described for Sebastien and Leon's wigs, so I won't describe the steps in too much detail. However, I did remember to take photos of parts of the process that I didn't document very well for the previous wigs.

Washing and conditioning the fiber (this is only a portion of the fiber that was ultimately used; the amount shown is not enough for an entire SD+ size wig):



Clean, dry fiber after washing and conditioning; it's a gorgeous auburn color:



Creating glued wefts:



The wig after applying the wefts, and partway through the process of rooting fiber into the crown of the wig:



The wig after finishing the process of rooting fiber into the crown, part, and hairline:





Here's Leon being a good sport and modeling the wig while I cut and styled it, since August's body hadn't arrived yet at that point (this was too cute and goofy, I just had include it):





Since I was going for a fairly short hairstyle, I started the haircut at the nape of the neck. I worked in small horizontal sections, working my way upward along the back of the head. I like to use the technique of point-cutting to achieve a softer, more blended effect. After working in horizontal sections, I went back through in vertical sections to blend the cut further. I don't know if this description makes any sense, and I wish I had taken photos to illustrate what I'm trying to convey

After shaping the back of the hairstyle, I began cutting the crown. Again, I worked in small sections, starting by cutting the layers that frame the face. Once the bang area was a nice length, I worked from front to back, blending the layers at the front of the style into the layers at the back of the style. Once I was happy with the cut, I heat-styled it to refine the shape. I don't have any good photos of the finished cut yet, I will take (and share) some very soon!

Faceup:

So, I decided not to document the various stages of my faceup process with photographs this time around. I'm glad that I did it for Sebastien's faceup, but I did notice that it was a little disruptive for me, so I'm skipping straight to the final results!

As a character, August is kindhearted, adventurous, and loves the outdoors. He is the heir to a large estate, and is perhaps a little spoiled from his life of wealth and privilege. I wanted his faceup to look sunkissed and fresh, with freckles and rosy cheeks. The sculpt is Little Rebel Andre in normal resin. Here's how he turned out (he's wearing eyes from AshuraDark, they just arrived):







August is so handsome!! I hope I managed to do justice to the beautiful sculpt, let me know what you think. I need to take some nice photos of him fully "assembled" but I wanted to get this post up in a timely manner. I'll be back soon with more photos and updates!

 

@cthulhu Thank you so much!! These wigs are truly a labor of love, each one takes me approx 9-11 hours of work... I tell myself that my guys deserve to look their best

[If anyone is curious, the breakdown looks like this: 1 hr organizing, sectioning, brushing, and re-sectioning the raw fiber; 0.5 hr (hands-on time) washing and conditioning; 1 hr wefting the fiber; 0.5 hr (hands-on time) making wig cap; 1 hr applying wefts to wig cap; 3-5 hrs rooting fiber into wig cap; and up to 2 hrs cutting, styling, and fussing until satisfied.]

 

Here's August!





August and Leon. They look very cute together



Here's some closeups/alternate views of his wig:





I can't find the words to adequately express how charming I find him! In person, he is... radiant?? I've had his blank head since last September, so it's very gratifying to see him finally come to life. From these photos, you can definitely see the mismatch between his head and body (I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with dyeing; I've done research, but I'm reluctant about the learning curve involved). Please let me know what you think about how he turned out, and as usual, I'll be back soon!

 

Oops, I'm overdue for an update! I'll do this in a list format for easier reading.

1) Custom eyes commissioned from AshuraDark have arrived! They are all very beautiful. Here are a few poorly-lit, hastily taken photos; I don't currently have a macro lens so I can't really do justice to the details.

August is wearing his custom medium brown eyes in the photos that I previously posted. They fit perfectly in his eye sockets with no gapping, and the proportion of the irises looks nice and realistic. His eyes definitely worked out the best of the three pairs.



Leon's custom jade green eyes are probably my favorite of the three, the color is gorgeous. Unfortunately, Leon's eyewells are somewhat thick, so the eyes don't fit as well or look as good as I hoped. I ordered eye beveling tools in 12 mm, 14 mm, and 16 mm from Volks USA and will be trying to improve the fit and look. I'll also be wiping Leon's faceup so that I can see what I'm doing as clearly as possible when I bevel his eye sockets.



Sebastien's eyes were a complete disaster!! The eyes themselves are lovely, but I somehow managed to make the wrong judgement call on overall diameter, iris size, and iris color. The eyes and the irises are too small, and the color is too light. It looks truly bizarre and unflattering. Bummer!! I only have myself to blame. He'll keep wearing his current glass eyes until I get a new custom pair or make a pair for him myself.



2) Next project is planned and underway! I'll be making a gentleman's suit, circa 1840, for August. This will include a shirt, trousers, waistcoat, and frock coat. Eventually, I'll be making suits for Sebastien and Leon as well, so I went ahead and ordered silk in coordinating jewel tones for all three of them, with plans to use the silks for their waistcoats. I chose dupioni silk from Silk Baron in the shades aquamarine (blue, for August), dragonfly (green, for Sebastien), and melodrama (berry/merlot, for Leon).

I also ordered an array of lightweight suiting fabrics in coordinating shades and patterns. Once everything arrives, I'll decide which fabrics are going to be paired together for each outfit, as I think that there are multiple possible combinations that could work. I'll photograph all the fabrics, including the silks, once they arrive.

To design the suits, I'm working off of historical garments in museum collections and fashion illustrations from the period. I'll be drafting all the patterns myself. The first piece I'm working on is August's shirt, which is fairly straightforward rectangular construction. I'll share more of that process soon once I've taken some photos.

Here are a few examples and inspiration that I'm working from:



3) I'm adding a new member to my crew!!! After several months of thought, I have ordered Maskcatdoll Yael, who will be my first girl. You can find her official photos here on the Maskcatdoll website. As soon as I laid eyes on her, I knew that she was Leon's little sister. I think they'll make adorable siblings!! I haven't really begun brainstorming names for her yet, so I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions. I probably won't decide on a name for certain until she actually arrives, which is probably many months away, but it's fun to start thinking about it now!

 

@cthulhu Haha, yes I'm very excited to re-do Leon's faceup!! I feel confident that I can do a better job this time so there's no stress, just happy anticipation

Thank you for the word of caution about using the beveling tools! I am a little nervous but hopefully if I work slowly and carefully, all will go well. My fear is accidentally creating weak spots in the eyelids, resulting in breakage...

 

August's shirt is finished! Here's a little bit about the process of patterning and making it.

First of all, I have to admit that the shirt I created is a little outdated for 1840s fashion. What I made is essentially a simplified version of an 18th century shirt. Fashion illustrations from the 1840s depict shirts with elaborate pintucked or ruffled bib areas, which I didn't replicate. Hopefully the completed outfit will still look correct, as the stock (analogous to a necktie) will helpfully cover that portion of the shirt. If it doesn't work out well, I will either make a new shirt or I will create the bib as a separate piece to be worn over the shirt and tucked into the waistcoat.

Here's a quick collage of references to show what I'm talking about. The top images show examples of what fashionable shirts should look like in the 1840s, the bottom images are of 18th century shirts.



Here is my messy diagram of the "pattern," which is just a bunch of rectangular pieces (with the exception of the collar). I drafted it all out based on August's measurements. This is not diagrammed to scale, I just like to draw it out so that I can reference it while I measure and mark the pattern pieces directly onto the fabric.



I hand-sewed the shirt, sewing all seams with a backstitch and finishing the inner edge of the collar and cuffs with a felling stitch. I also felled the bottom hem into place. I need to add buttons at the collar and cuffs, but am putting it off because I dislike sewing buttons and buttonholes!

Here's the finished shirt:



I haven't taken any photos of August wearing the finished shirt, but I tried it on him throughout the sewing process and it looked great. I'll be sure to include photos of him wearing the shirt in future updates!

I have received my silk order and my wool suiting fabrics and am well underway with the process of making August's trousers (I'll save that for a future update once the trousers are complete). Here are the final fabric combinations for each of my three gents; all fabrics are laid out from left to right for waistcoat - trousers - frock coat.

August's outfit fabrics:



Sebastien's outfit fabrics:



Leon's outfit fabrics:



Here is a shot of all the lovely silks together, this depicts the colors more accurately than the other photos. The sheen and depth of color of these silks is ridiculously stunning in person. I think the colors coordinate nicely! The gorgeous multicolor tartan silk on the far left will be for my Maskcatdoll Yael's dress. She is still unnamed and of course will not arrive for many months, but I figured there was no harm in planning ahead!



That's it for now, I'll be back soon with the trouser update!

 

Time to talk about trousers!

First of all, I needed to research what fashionable trousers would have looked like in the 1840s. Below is a small sample of the images that I found to work with. I looked through dozens of fashion illustrations, surviving garments, and a couple of trouser patterns from the period in order to figure out the correct silhouette and details. Museum collections are my favorite resource!



Fashion illustrations appear to show rather closely fitted trousers with a slim or straight cut. On average, extant garments seem to have a much roomier cut. I'm guessing this may be due to a combination of greater comfort and range of motion, as well as the fact that a variety of body types exist. From what I can tell, the flap-fronts of Regency era trousers had largely been replaced by the button fly by the 1840s.

For the fabric, I wanted to work with the trend I saw in many illustrations, which was patterned trousers (especially plaid or tartan). I went with lightweight wool suiting for good drape, body, and sheen. I selected fabrics with patterns including a simple tartan (which is what I'm using for August's trousers), a micro houndstooth, and a micro tone-on-tone pinstripe. To the best of my knowledge, the houndstooth and the stripe might not be very historically accurate, but I thought they would still be a nice nod to the trends of that time.

To create the trouser pattern, I started by tracing a pair of jeans that fit August well. Then, I looked at one of the historical patterns that I found and figured out what alterations were needed on the pattern pieces to create a more accurate silhouette. I created a mock-up with scrap fabric in a similar weight to the final fabric. I tried the mock-up on August, then made alterations until everything looked good. Here's what the mock-up looked like when I was finished, what a mess (I tried different things on each pant leg:



I created a new pattern based on the altered mock-up, then marked and cut the actual fabric. I made sure to position the pieces carefully so that the horizontal elements of the tartan would match on the seams, and so that the vertical elements would be mirrored across right and left on front and back. The layout is shown in the photo below. I basted all the seams by hand and tried the trousers on August again to check the fit and make sure the tartan was lined up accurately. I made a couple of small fit adjustments and marked them on my paper pattern so that I won't need to make the same adjustments all over again when I use this pattern again in the future.



I originally planned to machine sew the long seams, but I changed my mind and backstitched all the seams by hand instead. I felled down the seam allowances for a clean finish on the interior of the trousers. I finished the waistline with facings in a sturdy lightweight twill of a similar color to the wool fabric. The last detail was creating the adjustable straps at the back of the waist. For the hardware, a small rounded metal slide (such as those found on bra straps!) worked perfectly. I also added buttons for suspenders, which I should really create at this step of the outfit but will probably put off because suspenders won't be visible once August has a waistcoat.

After a good steam press, the trousers were done! I'm so happy with how they turned out. Here's the result:













I can see some things I'd like to improve next time (slightly longer length, fit of the seat, etc.) but overall he looks very dashing. Now that I've (more-or-less) successfully completed one pair of 1840s trousers, it should be a much smoother and less stressful process when I work on Leon and Sebastien's trousers in the future. For now, I'm excited to move on to making August's waistcoat and stock. I'll be back with more updates soon!

 

@kitty_koromi I'm so glad that you like how they turned out!! This wool suiting was a treat to work with, it's beautifully soft to the touch and has a subtle sheen that looks great in natural light.

 

NOTE: Yep, lots of photos are broken throughout this thread... again. I'm not certain what the exact problem is, but I'll try to fix them as soon as possible. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience!!​

After some delays, the waistcoat post is ready

I started with some research, referencing the same resources that I have used for other pieces of the ensemble: surviving garments from the period - usually museum collection photos and auction listings - and fashion illustrations. The ideal waistcoat silhouette in the 1840s appears to be very fitted, with shaping achieved via the side seams and back seam, with no darts (as far as I can tell). The most common lapel shape seems to be a simple shawl collar. The front of the waistcoat is made of an fashionable fabric, such as silk, and the back of the waistcoat is made of a practical, less expensive material.

To draft my pattern, I used my favorite method for fitted garments, which is wrapping the doll in paper towels and then layering masking tape over the paper towels to conform to the doll's shape. I marked center front and back, as well as side seams, then cut the form off of the doll.





I cut apart the pattern pieces, flattened each one, and traced it onto paper. I chose one front piece and one back piece (as the pattern is mirrored left to right) and neatened up the pattern. I then drafted a shawl collar extension onto the front piece of the pattern.



At this point, I sewed a mock-up out of scrap fabric. I didn't bother making a facing for the collar at this stage, so it looks a little bit nuts, but hopefully you get the idea. I tried it on August and made a couple of fit adjustments, then transferred these adjustments to the pattern pieces to create the final version of the pattern.





The garment is made of dupioni silk for the front pieces and collar facings and lightweight cotton for the back pieces. I lined it with the same lightweight cotton in the back and a lightweight twill in the front for a little bit of structure. It's all hand sewn because I'm more comfortable with it and can get the best control and precision that way. It is bag-lined along the bottom seams and button placket edges, then turned right-side out and the armholes and neckline are felled down by hand. The red thread in the photos below is basting that is removed once the felling is complete.




Here's the finished result!







I've been taking a break from sewing to work on other projects, but I'll get back to this soon to complete the outfit with its final piece - the frock coat. The frock coat will definitely be the most challenging garment so far, so it may take me some time to complete it, but I'll do my best to keep making progress

 

@honeyedbiscuit Ah, I'm so glad you're enjoying catching up on my projects! For each outfit, I really wanted the fabrics and colors to coordinate harmoniously without being too predictable, so I'm very pleased that you find the combination appealing

I shared your nervousness about working with silk, but I was relieved to find that this dupioni was a breeze to sew. The only minor issue that I encountered was fraying (even after using pinking shears), but it was manageable. Other types of silk may present different challenges, but I strongly support diving in and giving it a try! It's super rewarding, the beauty of silk in person is incomparable

@GammaVector Thank you so much for your kind words I'm especially delighted to hear that you're looking forward to Sebastien's outfit, he is the nearest and dearest to my heart. I'm hoping to share more of him and a tiny bit of story/backstory soon, I have some updates to make regarding some new additions to this group

 

After working on August's outfit, I wanted to take a break before tackling his frock coat, so I decided it was time for Leon to get a makeover. Initially, I had only planned to re-do his faceup, but I started feeling a little brave and ended up modifying the sculpt as well. I documented the process, so here we go, let's get into it!

As a quick re-cap, Leon is an Aimerai Neo head on an Akagidoll v1 body, both in white skin resin. After wiping his faceup and removing the teeth that I had added, I took photos of the blank sculpt. Here it is:





I wasn't happy with the eye shape of the sculpt. My goal was to do additive modifications to the lower edges and outer corners of the eye openings to make the eyes smaller and adjust their shape. I also wasn't happy with the temple area; the temples were convex and rounded, as opposed to more anatomically realistic concave hollows (or at least flat planes) at the temples. My goal was to do subtractive modifications to create these hollows. Finally, I wasn't happy with the cheek area, it was a little more full and youthful than I wanted for Leon's character. My goal was to do subtractive modifications to reduce the fullness of the cheeks slightly and create the appearance of more prominent cheekbones.

For the subtractive modifications, I started with 3M wet-or-dry sandpaper in 220 grit, then did final refinements and smoothing with Sculpey brand wet-or-dry sandpaper in 400 grit. I did all of the sanding wet. The process was easy and fun, it was surprisingly relaxing! For the additive modifications, I used Milliput superfine white epoxy putty. I mixed the Milliput with a tiny amount of acrylic paint to attempt a rough color match to the resin. I tried to do the initial sculpting as efficiently as possible, as Milliput does not seem to have a very long working time. I wrapped some eyes in cling wrap so that I could periodically check the fit in the eye sockets as I worked. After waiting 24 hours to make sure the Milliput was fully cured, I refined the additions I had made with an X-acto knife and the same wet sanding process that I used for the subtractive modifications. I then used eye beveling tools to refine the interior of the eye sockets. Here's the sculpt after all modifications were finished:





At this point in the process, I felt a little bit unsure of myself, but I decided to stay positive and move forward with giving him a new face-up before making any final judgments. For the faceup, I didn't want to do something completely unrecognizable from his first faceup, I just wanted to execute my original concept better than I did the first time around. I used a warm color palette, with lots of apricot and peach tones. I replicated the beauty mark placement from the first faceup, with the exception of one or two that I decided to omit this time around. I used Sculpey Premo oven-bake clay for the teeth, which I sculpted and baked and then added into the mouth after the faceup was finished and sealed. The teeth are a single solid piece and the process of adding them into the mouth was super easy and quick this time (unlike last time, which was a messy struggle).

Here's the old faceup (completed November 2020); it looks rough to me now but I know it was the best I could do at that time:

Spoiler: Old faceup photos

Here's the new faceup, he's wearing his custom eyes from AshuraDark:






And here he is, all assembled! I heat-styled some romantic waves into his wig by wrapping tiny sections around a wooden chopstick and clamping it with a flatiron.





Leon is rather underdressed next to August, but I think they look great! Leon is wearing boots and August is barefoot, so Leon looks a bit taller in this shot than he actually is.

The final verdict? I absolutely adore him now, I'm over the moon He perfectly embodies the character that I envisioned. I'm so glad that I found the courage to modify his face, I don't think that a new faceup alone could have addressed the problems that I had with the head sculpt. Thoughts? Questions? Let me know! That's it for now, I'll be back soon

 

@cthulhu Thank you!!

@GammaVector Yeah the original sculpting at the temple area was strange, right?? As soon as I realized what the problem was, I couldn't "un-see" it and knew that I had to go ahead and address it myself. I'm very glad that you feel there is some continuity between the old faceup and the new one, that was a really important goal for me when working on it

The wig was brushed through after heat-styling, but the alpaca fiber likes to separate itself back out into individual spirals. I was hoping that it looked nice and natural, because it's almost exactly like my own hair texture, so it's really helpful to get another perspective! I'll keep playing around with it and see if I can improve the end result. Thank you so much!

 

@GammaVector Ah, that's it!! You're 100% right, it's the straight ends that are throwing things off, curled ends will look softer and more natural. I'll be whipping out the styling tools ASAP and putting your advice to good use!!

 

@tinyseams What a fantastic experiment, those trousers fit your David beautifully!! The cut and silhouette looks so authentic, I love it I have been curious about trying that approach too, but I feel like my current dolls are such lanky stringbeans that the proportions might work out poorly... maybe I will give it a try at some point! Thank you so much for sharing