Sewing Fantasy Threads: Patterns and Progress on Medieval/Renaissance Fantasy Designs

Hi guys, I've been lurking here forever, about time I had something to post. This thread is so inspiring! I love looking at everyone's creations

This is Fawn, who just got a new faceup to reflect his new black wig I've been dressing him in dark colors lately, maybe because of winter, but this combination is my favorite so far. Made everything but the boots.



Inspired by The Hobbit, which I finally got to see a few days ago

 

Ooh this looks great! Come a long way from his beginnings, and how I remember him looking when he first showed up around here! Much more detail. It's neat to watch people develop a doll's look. That is a great wig for him too- more solemn, but elegant.

 

{nods} Yes - What Rosslyn said!!

Teddy

 

Fantasyclothes almost every time make doll look so special. I just can say only that these are amayzing

 

Great job Moontouched! I love the clasp and the texture on the tunic
So, shameless self-promotion here, but I have a project journal going for a fantasy outfit for my Elf Lusion and I would love some thoughtful critiques! I appreciate it

 

That looks awesome Moontouched! Nice belt, and I love that vibrant green of the shirt.

 

Thank you everyone! I really do love him with black hair. Fawn is a character I've been writing/drawing/playing since the beginning of my RPG days. I was dead set on him being a redhead for some reason, it's weird how alluvasudden he's taking a stand and rebelling LOL

Teradeka: Oooo I was looking at your thread the other day! She's coming along great! (How big are the Lusions anyway? She looks ginormous lol)

I'll post some more outfits (on other dolls) when I get to taking pictures. New camera and tiny tripod are working wonders

 

So.... she'll probably kill me for this but...this is my Bard, Jasper.



Leeza~Kat (I see you lurking!) made everything on him save for his boots, lute, necklace and wig. I wanted to show it off for her! Even though she'll probably say "but it was just a prototype/first go," I love his clothes and felt they needed to be shared.

 

Kitkaze i love that outfit! I wish i had that kind of vision/talent.

 

You're right, they're great and we DID need to see them.

Teddy

 

I'm blushing over here. Thanks so much for the sweet comments.

 

What a fabulous bard! Well made, Leeza~Kat!
Thanks for sharing them here Kitkaze!

 

so excited to see some new work!
It's so inspirational and makes me wanna make something for one of mine.

 

Sort of double-posting this as I put it in the "What are you making" thread, but I think it belongs here too. This is XII (yes, that would be twelve), who is the doll version of my very first D&D character that I created when I was 15 years old. She's supposed to be an elf, but I haven't modded her ears yet. I made the top and skirt to match the boots (which I got off ebay). Hand sewn, red vinyl. There are still arm guards and a sword belt left to complete the set Made the collar too. oddly enough it was made for another VMF 50cm, but their necks must be different because it's much looser on XII than on the other girl.

 

I love your bard kitkaze! Looks so awesome

Yasha- That's pretty sexy wear for an elf!

I just realized I never posted Rhiannon's outfit! She is ALSO a DnD Bard. (Love me some DnD)
She's not holding her Lute, harp, or viol here, plus she is missing her belt. But here she is!

The best time of the year by designbasia, on Flickr

 

Tetradeka - LOL, well, she is a rather tarty elf. At least she's got underwear on!

that's a lovely bard outfit - I like all the detailing!

 

Here's an outfit I made for a swap. More photos and a full write up can be found here.

 

you make it sound so easy It takes a great deal of talent to create such beautiful clothes.

 

Oh, it is full length (I saw your other post about it and wondered). Very nice.

Practice, mainly, in my case. Plus, of course, nobody gets to see the ones that don't work....{grin!}

Teddy

 

There's been some really nice costumes shown here lately.

I'm currently working on a fantasy-medieval-Celtic inspired Spring Goddess costume for my Iplehouse EID Carina. She's the biggest doll I have, so clothes take a considerable amount of fabric.

Here's an "under construction" shot of the bodice and upper sleeves and all the dagged strips.



The dagged strips are multi-coloured and brown velour which I over-dyed with a deep green. To make the strips, I trace my pattern onto the back of the fabric with a Sharpie, then go over all the lines with Fray Check. When that's dry I carefully cut them all out. Then I paint gold fabric paint over the edges, back and front, and finally embellish with gold glitter fabric paint.

 

Beautiful colours, it will be stunning when it's finished

Teddy

 

Took the opportunity this morning to take some photos in a woodsy area overgrown with evergreen periwinkle, before it starts to snow.

 

You are the queen of fantasy costumes! I love the fabrics, details and textures. So nice to see some greenery- where I live all is ice and snow right now.

 

Thanks! I wish we'd keep our snow - we had some yesterday. Next week it will be minus 20 Celsius. But even though everything is dead here from mid October to mid May, I do know a few spots for photography when there's no snow - like the spot with the periwinkle that stays green all year.

 

Yes, you really are the queen of fantasy! Just beautiful and inspiring.

 

What Rosslyn said!

It's a stunning gown and the setting and photo are beautiful.

Teddy

 

Thanks! Her pose makes it look like she's in a Waterhouse painting.

 

MBlilac: I'm so envious of your outdoor scenary! I live in an apartment complex full of kids - even if I could find a nice area to photograph outside, I have to worry about children seeing the "toys" and wanting to touch

 

It's a bit of a cheat, there isn't a stitch sewn, but I dyed the fabric myself (with coffee) and "designed" her outfit. Verity is a dalish hunter, a bit of a woodland guardian.



I did sew her wig. Thanks for sharing the pattern, MB Lilac!

 

I definitely thought "J.W. Waterhouse" when I saw this! Swoon. So perfect.

 

It's still perfectly legit, as far as I'm concerned - one of my elf girls has a gown that involves no sewing whtsever:


It's a hand-painted silk scarf that's just draped, tied and belted each time she wears it.

Teddy

 

Girrl: I love it. It looks like a fantasy outfit.

 

Teddy: I must definitely try this. Its a good idea.

 

This outfit was mostly inspired by Disney's Merida. However, my version of her is grown up, and is still unbound:
Every piece of her outfit, except the cloak chain, was made by me. This was my very first try in making pleats. She also has a bow, but cannot use it with her original hands. Therefore, I am waiting for her jointed ones.

 

Ooh I'll have to post pictures of my two ren-style dolls! Have to try and get pictures later today.

 

Nice - and she looks liek she's been playing in the snow too - did she make a snow angel?...{grin!}

Teddy

 

Yes, she was playing like a child in the snow. Her jointed hands are supposed to arrive about now. I really hope she can hold her Merida bow now (toy from the Disney store). Her original Iple hands are really nice and elegant, but you can't do much with them...she cannot even wear gloves.

 

I'm currently working on a new Italian Renaissance-inspired costume for my Iplehouse EID Carina. As much as I like the look of "historical accuracy" I'm just going to fake all the layers in order to reduce the bulk. I've chosen a beautiful magenta velour with heat-pressed designs for the skirt, and a light, multi-coloured metallic brocade for the under-dress and over-sleeves. The bodice will be a wine satin. Both main fabrics would be too heavy or stiff for a smaller doll, but on an EID they work just fine. The sleeves are just one piece instead of the two separate over-sleeves which would have been tied over the chemise sleeves. The bottom section will probably get eyelets and lace up.

 

Sounds great. I will start working on an Italian Renaissance dress for my Soom Calais soon, but I will try to make it with all layers .

 

These are stunning! Tons of inspiration and amazing detail in these outfits!

 

Your costumes take my breath away. They are fantastic!

 

Oooooh! Another one to look froward to seeing.

Teddy

 

Finished Carina's gown today, although I think it may just end up on Asa.

The gown is in two parts - a sleeveless underdress of pastel metallic brocade, with lace and beading at the neckline, and an over-dress of wine satin and magenta velour. The fancy sleeves are sewn into the overdress and lace up from the elbows down.



I decided to give this outfit a hat with feathers. Not exactly period correct, but I wanted something different than my other two outfits - and this is a fantasy thread after all.

 

MB Lilac, I was interested to see how you pinned these sleeves. I guess I thought they were originally tied or laced on to the bodice and each other over a shift or long underdress and then the fabric puffed out.
That Bard outfit is great, but his instrument looks oriental and the size of a ukalala. Ok, I can't spell. That early, shouldn't he be carrying an Irish style harp or cithra/lyre, or another plucked or bowed instrument, Viola da Gamba. Ok, I know it's fantasy. I just couldn't help harping on it. How about a minature crumhorn or serpent? Get that femo out and start modeling?
That bow and arrow set is really great.

 

Stunning.

Teddy

 

Yes, that's how they would have created that look historically. However, Iplehouse dolls are chunky enough, so I don't bother with all those layers. I'm just after "the overall look" in as simple a way as possible. Plus I don't feel like making all those sleeve pieces separately - they'd be a pain to line, and would get really bulky. After all, even though I'm sewing for a doll, I'm still using human scale fabrics.

Thanks Teddy!

 

Good point about the bulk of fabrics when creating BJD costumes. The smaller scale patterns help make the costume more realistic, although some of the fabric that Hans Hoblein used in his portraits of the Tudor court are WALL PAPER scale. I have a hand dyed pink and tourquis scarf, I visulize making in to a fantasy costume. Iam glad I read this thread and got the tip about fray check on those fabulous leaf sleeves.

 

Thankyou so much for explaining how you made those impressive hangings I wanted to ask you before but didn't dare. I would love to make something like these but don't think I could even draw them they would be so irregular if I even tried. All of your garments are fabulous

 

Some of the late 15th Century paintings show even bigger patterns on the houpellandes adn oher big garments too. FOr those it's relatvely easy to get dll-scale fabrics the right size, for humans, not so much.

Teddy

 

You can ask me anything - I don't mind sharing my techniques.

By "doll scale" I'm not referring to the size of the patterns in the fabric - that's easy enough to find and deal with. It's the fabric thickness that's the issue. With SDs being approx 1/3 human size, the fabrics should theoretically be 1/3 the thickness too. Sometimes that's possible, but mostly it isn't. I shouldn't even be using velour, because it's the same thickness as fur pile would be on a human, but I find velour preferable to velvet, since it drapes much better, and "draping in scale" is something I watch as well.

 

{nods in agreement} Absolutely - I try to stick to fine lawn and similar for doll scale cottons and linens and reduce byulk by leaving out layers wherever possible.

I have a stash of ultra-low-pile velveteens which work for SD-size velvets, and I tend to buy very fine and narrow cotton lace whenever I see it (as well as "lowering my standards" and buying synthetic ones when they don't "read" as synthetics as they're often the only way to get hold of lace that's fine enough).

Lining weight silks are often nice as doll-scale garment weight silks (and are available in lovely "changeable" colour combinations) and silk brocades and damasks made for ties work as doll-scale fabrics both in terms of weight/drape and scale of pattern (I have several of the same silk tie bought in a final-reductions sale which should give me enough panels to make a nice period or fantasy garment for one of my dolls).

Teddy

 

Ties ... ! That's a great idea, thanks, Teddy!
I want to go fabric shopping now

MB Lilac, that gown looks stunning, as always!

 

I am in awe of the garments in this (and the Noble Threads) thread! I make 15-16th century garb for my daughter, husband, and myself but cannot imagine making them in MSD scale.

 

I personally prefer working in MSD scale, but haven't made any of my Renaissance-inspired gowns in that size - yet.

Here's a full length shot of Carina in her new gown. I'm so glad I decided to make two of them, that way I could keep one myself. I had originally planned it to be for Asa, but I love how it looks on Carina, so Asa will just stay in Carina's default gown for now.

 

I did one for Jane, my 43cm Narae, when I dressed my girls as the Twelve Dancing Princesses for a fairytale themed meet. Much simpler than yours, of course, but I think it looks rather sweet on her:

I do so love your doll outfits and this one is no exception.

Teddy

 

MB Lilac, Your gowns are amazing! I can't decide which I like most

Teddy, that dress does look really sweet on her I like the little puff at the shoulders.

I just got a pattern that I need to resize to try a rennaisance inspired gown for my girl.

 

Wow! Our dresses are the exact same style. Your dress looks very sweet on Jane. I seriously need to try making some like this for my Naraes. However, first in line for my new Narae and Narin is a matching set of Rococo costumes - which doesn't qualify for this thread. They'll be "Costume Ball" Rococo in blues and purples.

 

{melts that the very thought of them} I'll look forward to seeing them.

I had plans to make my slim mini boy (Limho) some fantasy-renaissance garb, but he's solidly refusing to wear anything that isn't modern.... still my SD size boys are more co-operative, especially my Luts Chiwoo boy, Alphie, who loves playing dress-up and is complaining I've finished neither his hose and doublet OR his 18th Century waistcoat an frock coat....

Teddy

 

Teddy: She looks really cute in that dress.

 

Thanks. I tink she got fed-up of it, however - I liekd it so much she staed in it for months. OK, it was made in a hurry (I had 12 dolls to make medieval/fairytale dresses for in less than a week) so se was sewn into it as I ran out of time for fastenings... which may have had something to do with not takign her out of it.

Sera, One of the SD sized "princesses" (whose gown is based on a mix of medieval and preraphaelite style) suffered the same fate for even longer:

(and poor Edith (in the red) had to make-do with borrowing the hupellande I made for one of my boys as I ran out of time before even starting her dress.

But they were all suitably princess-like on the day.

Teddy