Aesthetics Putting together my Du Xiaoju

I recently got my first resin bjd, and I thought I'd make a project journal for him I plan to make most things myself because I like crafts and want to learn more about making things for dolls, but I also often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things to do. That's why having a concrete plan with outlined steps should be helpful for me!

The inspiration and the current progress:


His character is supposed to be princely and kind, but also cunning and a little melancholic. He does have a whole story of his own, but it's still a WIP>_<

Things to do:
• face up:
-fix eyebrow

• hair:
-sew 2 more layers

• base clothes:
- make tights/socks
-make mockup breeches
-buy the right material, sew

• extra clothes:
(these will be needed more next winter, so they're on the backburner for now)
-make mockup, buy material, make vest
-make mockup, buy material, make coat

• accessories:
-get the middle gem for collar
-make proper jabot

 

As for what I have done so far- I finished the duct tape dress form (getting it off was the hardest part!), done two coats of sealant for the head, letting it dry for a day in between, and started on the underwear. The base shape is done, now I just need to figure out how to position the ribbons and lace and install them

 

@wakakusa Yes!!! I absolutely adore him I first intended for the doll to just be Gackpo from "a doll's voice", but ended up making a separate character while waiting for him to arrive I think this body+face were the BEST fit for Gackpo from all the 1/4 dolls that were at the market when I got him.

Anyway, I kept the purples and the long hair for him, but he's now a slavic warrior prince that has been captured and kept in the enemy's court in exchange for the safety of his people. I've also given him a new, setting-appropriate name. The capturing works for the melancholic personality, and is also a good excuse to give him the frilly clothes that I like^_^ I also want to make him some actual slavic clothes and Gackpo cosplays sometime in the future!

 

Small update! I wasn't really happy with how the bodysuit was coming out, so I took a small break from sewing and did some work on his faceup instead. I gotta say, it's coming out great for my first time doing one!

The colors can be pretty subtle in the pictures, but look great irl, and that's most important to me. I sealed the pastels (one layer, should be okay I think), and since I want to do it right, I'll wait a bit more to make sure they're properly set before I continue- probably a day or so. I'm also worried about drawing eyebrows, so a little procastination is all right with me!

I'll probably have to start making the wig hardcap next..

 

Big update time! I've been away for a while, and I've spent a bunch of that time working on him. My main priority right now is to have him "good enough", so I can take him out and take more pictures. As such, there are still some mistakes and imperfections that I'll be fixing later.

First of all, the faceup is finished! I love how it came out, he's so pretty now33 it really does make a big difference! I plan to touch up the eyebrows sometime in the future, but it's been super rainy and they're not a priority, so it will have to wait.


The next part was making the wig- my first attempt at a glued wig was an absolute disaster, so I quickly switched to the old reliable, the sewn wig. I plan on adding a couple more layers of hair, but it's okay for now. I'm actually pretty proud of the middle part- it looks much better than the one other wig I've made before. I sewed it on a separate piece of mesh that I then sewed onto the wig cap.


After that, it was time for clothes. While I had the ideas of the clothes I wanted to make, I had no clue on how to put them together in a cohesive way. I was mulling over it and making sketches, but I just couldn't do it in a way that would look good to me. That's where artmadval came to my rescue. I commissioned her to draw my boy, she worked with the references I have made and made it all actually work together. Here's the art she drew!

Using that as my reference, I went on to make the shirt. I used this tutorial (modified a little) for my pattern and went to work.

Since it's an actual shirt, putting it on is a little hard!

 

(continuing because of picture limit)

The shirt fit well, and I was good to go on with the embroidery.

I also started making his belt, which took ages, because I was weaving it by hand and doing that for the first time, but I managed! It started out pretty scuffed, but after a while the pattern actually became recognisable and I'm very happy with how it came out.



SO! Here he is in his current state! I'm absolutely in love, he is so pretty and beautiful and I did it all by myself




I'm waiting on the shoes I ordered, and browsing for a good pattern for his breeches, but I'm overall pretty proud of him^_^

 

Ahh thanks!! He's my first bjd besides blind box ones and it's been a lot of fun making everything^_^