Wearables What Khafra Demands, Khafra Gets

I got a little story, and it goes like this....

I got a boy.


Say hi to the boy! His name is Khafra, and he's a Dream Valley Rah in light tan. I love him. Even if he refuses to stand without some major begging and pleading.

Khafra is part of the world I've developed for my other 3 dolls. This wasn't initially planned, but he decided to self-insert and who am I to turn away a good story? As such, he is apparently an enigmatic (to others, not to me. He's very demanding with me) little sh*t who loves not giving straight answers to simple questions. He may or may not be in some way related to Ra, whether that's as an Avatar of some sort or a piece of the god. No one knows. The one thing that's certain is he is ancient, in some way shape or form. As such, his clothing choices are not entirely modern but more along the way of "kinda sorta ancient but with a modernish twist" if that makes any sense.

This started as just "well, he desperately needs pants, so he's not just leaving his junk out for everyone to see. I can't find any pants that work, so I'll just....make some that work with those feetsies so I don't have to take them off every time I want to dress him. Yeah. Can't be too hard."

But in the process of making his pants I got ideas for other things and now I have an outfit charted out in my head and I'm just gonna put all this in one place so I have A Plan and somewhere to chronicle this cause...

Honestly? I'm really proud of these pants.

I don't do sewing, except as a very sporadic hobby. My sewing machine was literally in my car trunk for 15 years because I just...did not touch it (I did quite a lot of hand sewing in the interim, when the mood struck). I've done one other project on it (before this) since it's been unearthed from retirement. I was initially planning my first foray into doll clothing making to be "let's take in a couple shirts that look like sails" but...as I've said. Khafra is very demanding. This is not going to be professional level tailoring, but I'm hoping it's not "basic projects" either. I do plan on doing embellishments. The boy demands embellishments.

I'm not using any patterns (at present. This may change in the future. We'll see how far brain power can take me, and how complicated these end up). This is all things from my head, that I'm just...experimenting as it goes. I don't know how this will turn out. I'm gonna be just as surprised as you are!!! 8D Isn't this EXCITING!!!!

There are also some resin wings that are on order, which will be added to the list because they'll need to be attached...somehow (they have a waist clamp thing built in, as they're DV Sherra's wings, but Khafra may not like a waist attachment or it might not even fit we shall see). And he wants a tail...which could be resin, or 3D printed, or made out of feathers, WHO KNOWS! But a tail. And that will need to be attached as well.

He also needs eyes that are more than basic, and....eventually a faceup and body blushing. So I'll need to find an artist, and I'd prefer waiting for those wings to come in so painting will all be done at once. He's an African Fish Eagle, so at least the color scheme will be somewhat simple. And no barring. I might even decide to buckle on my big-person belt and tackle this myself. WHO KNOWS.

Obligatory "this is what an African Fish Eagle looks like for reference" image.


Things to do:

• Make the wrap pants - DONE (at least one pair. He's already asking for more so he can have ~variety~)
  • More.....pants.....
• Make the cloak...thing DONE
• Make the waist wrap...thingy
• Make a tunic/shirt... DONE
  • Or two.
  • Maybe three.
• Make a sash DONNNEEEE
  • Maybe a longer one sometime in the future
• Embellishmennnnnttttsss
  • Bracers
    • Base
    • Embellishhhhhhhh
  • Shin guards
  • Fringe???
  • Tassels DONE
  • Little stars DONE
    • Print stars
    • Paint stars
  • Make cloak Dangly Thing DONE
  • Sash dangles DONE
  • Do something with the book xD
  • Add red ribbon to cloak thing...somehow?
• Pick out eyeballs!
  • Buy eyeballs - THEY ARE SHIP
  • Pick the pair he's gonna be in most....lol yeah right
• Decide what to do about tail
  • I have found a 3D print that could potentially work! - DONE
    • Cut it from the birb body
    • Print out that bad boy
  • Make support system for tail
• Hunt for faceup/body blush artist

• Get wings in
  • Modify wings for attachimenenenenents

• Send off, or decide to paint myself

• Get a saddle stand to make life easier - DID

That's everything I have planned for now (almost guaranteed to get added to in the future) so if you're still here for the ride....BUCKLE IN 8D

OH PS. Yes. I am making this almost entirely while sitting on my bed (except the actual sewing itself, as the machine wouldn't be too uncomfortable/awkward on the bed of course). So expect that in the progress pictures. There may be feet, or TV screen, or at minimum a pile of supplies spread out on the bed. I am a goblin who works best in chaos.

PSS. I have two kitties. There is a 99.999% chance that they will appear in at least some pictures. They like "helping" me by laying all over said supplies. They are the best helpers and I love them.

 

Well here we go!! First section of project is technically completed, and sadly I didn't get any progress shots but HERE WE HAVE IT.

I went to Michael's for fabric. Only to find, to my horror, my local Michael's. Does. Not. Have. A fabric section. They have a tiny section of notions and things but....no fabric. In a craft store. Freaking Walmart has fabric.

But anyway. I made do. I was only looking for basic black, after all. And they DID have a section of blank T-shirts and whatnot I dug through. Ending up finding a blank doggy T-shirt in (I think their medium size??) that had a very very light/thin jerseyish fabric. It showed promise. I purchased it and a white cotton bandana (also thin, had a wonderfully promising weave to it. I'm thinking this will be his first - HA! - tunic) and skittered home like the goblin I am, giggling to myself.

Spent an inordinate amount of time staring at said doggy!T-shirt trying to make it dissolve itself and reform as pants. Since it was being uncooperative, I flopped it around on Khafra until I got...Ideas. Those little doggy sleeves were the right length if I did some seam ripping along their lengths, and they already had flappy bits for me to form the wraps.

Oh I guess I should explain what I wanted to make with these things. Remember, Giant Exquisite Talons of Pokiness? I wanted to make a pair of pants that wrapped around his legs and tied, and had a tie at the waist. So, you know, GETP could stay on and I could change the pantsu. ANYWAY....

After an existential crisis where I attempted to convince myself that ripping apart a 2 dollar blank doggy T-shirt to see if my idea would work would NOT be the end of the world. I commenced with ripping said seams and creating a crotch that attached my two doggy sleeve pant legs together. Some hemming was then done.

Another existential crisis commenced when I realized I Had Not Bought Cord and how on EARTH was I going to tie the pants on without CORDDDDDDD. And then I remembered that I had some lovely wool yarn from my short stint into crocheting. And crisis was averted once again.

Six hours after I started and....Khafra is no longer showing his junk to the world \o/



If anyone could tell me how to do spoilers to hide extra pictures, that'd be great.

They can be worn two ways!!! Either with the flat front like above, or with the overlap in front, like *makes jazz hands*

Spoiler: Alternate wearing style + side view

(say hi to the blobs in the bg that are named Turkey and Leggy!! Turkey will hide from you, but Leggy might say hi back) Oh wow this picture was not in focus oh well you get the idea xD

And....*dun dun DUN*
SIDE VIEW

Like I said before, I am incredibly pleased with these. Are they perfect? HECK NO. There's a lot of little nitpicky things like wonky seams but it's not like they're obvious when you're not zooming in close to dissect them (do I know they're there because I made them? OF COURSE!). BUT - and most importantly - do they look good??? I THINK SO. Khafra certainly approves. They look like they did in my head, which is all I can ask for!!! I thought of a thing!! I scraped together some materials and I made the thing.

While flopping the doggy!T-shirt around I also realized that hey. Hey. This hem. It's a good hem. It's got a great swoopy bit here that would make an EXCELLENT asymmetrical cloak. So he is now also getting an asymmetrical cloak.

Woe is me.

 

Thank you!! I know I'm one of those people who are always worried about it not being good enough because it's not perfect or up to someone else's standards. That's one of the reasons I decided to make this journal, to show myself that my imaginings are still good enough to be shown to others. Making his outfit is one of the first truly creative sparks I've had in a long time, and I'm excited to see where I end up!

FABULOUS I knew it was going to be something simple but not entirely obvious, thank you!

 

He is my child and everyone must treat him accordingly xDD

Ahh, thank you! This project just keeps expanding, so you'll definitely have lots to see hehe!

 

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. Normally I avoid them at all costs (which is why I went to Michael's first. But alas). But. The boy demanded more color options. And some embellishments. So. The boy had to get. Even if it made my wallet cry as I spent way more than I was expecting, even if everything was on sale xD


The children decided to be very. Very helpful and lay all over everything. As I suspected they would. Under Turkey there are two fabrics, a lovely golden silky thing and a very soft faux suede. I got extra suede, as I got the idea to slice it really thin and fray check it. And use it as leather strips for bracers and such. And, you know, another set of pants and whatever else this demanding birb....demands. Under Leggy is just...the plastic bag. He really loves plastic bags, okay??? Especially if they have Things in them.

For the silky golden thing, I'm gonna make him a sash and I'm trying to decide on a type of shirt to make out of it. I want something with billowy loose sleeves and really now he's just starting to sound like a pirate and I'm not really going for that style but I really love billowy loose sleeves and ties all over the place, okay???

ALSO while I was mostly disappointed with the jewelry options that Hobby Lobby had (not anything Egyptian feeling, and only one set of star dangly things that I didn't think would work because they were Too Big) I did find a few things to make my little goblin heart happy:

The shell wasn't going to work, so my partner helped me get it off and put the little jar in it's place:

And now I love it!! 8DDDD I'm gonna use one of those strippy things to attach it to his sash when he has it (removable of course) so it'll dangle from his belt 8D No idea what to do with the book yet. Suggestions would be appreciated!

You can also see some of the velvety ribbon I grabbed! I was initially gonna use this to make the sash (when I saw it in the store). But I couldn't tell how thick it was in the packaging, and when I got it home it's just way too thick and won't drape the way I want it to. So right now I'm thinking to use it to make some bracers and shin guards for the boy. Still plotting them out in my head. I can also cut off the fringy bits and use it for more embellishment on the cloaky thing and other stuff to tie the outfit together. I am still pleased xD

 

@kaschan502 Thank you!! And it is frustrating! Like I discovered with the ribbon, it's so hard to tell what the weight or the drape is gonna be until you have it in your hands. Even then, it's not guaranteed. The white bandana I got for his tunic is really ungodly thin, but it's very stiff so I don't know how that's gonna work out yet xD

@moonlightnocturne @Mysticice26 @Isabeau Thank you so much!! It's loads more fun than I can remember having with a project in a long time! Even with some of the frustrations I've been experiencing, I'm still raring to go lol.

Kitties do make the best supervisors! Who else would test my fabric for snuggle-factor before Khafra's stuck with it??

 

After I got the pants settled and new materials and (SO MANY) plots....it was time to move onto Le Cloak. Thing.

This was so much just "let's see what works...hmmmmmm....okay that fixed that problem but I got a new one and now I gotta fix that". Essentially what I did was keep the neck of the doggy t-shirt as the neck, and the belly with the shorter seam is in front. The back of the doggy t-shirt was down his back (so the asymetrical hem is visible from the front...you'll see in a minute, there will be pictures of the finished thing I promise....).

I started with bringing the two remnants of the neck pieces together and snipping off the old hem there. Then I hemmed the neckline.

Putting it back on Khafra for a test fit, I realized that the actually cloaky bit was just way too long. I pinned one shoulder approximately where I actually wanted it to sit (so the shoulders are higher up on the cloak...if that....makes any sense. Good lawd why did I forget to take progress shots for this too xDD), and then folded the thing in half to pin the other corner. Then back to the sewing machine to take the neck part down further.

That did help seat the shoulders correctly, yay!! But then....the whole thing was still just falling down on his poor body. The back part of the cloak had too much billow in it, so it fell down too far! A lot of flopping back and forth in my head trying to think of some way to take it in without taking it in too much and messing everything up. I wanted something adjustable too. This is what I ended up with:



I took a piece of scrap tulle I had lying around and stitched two seams on that back piece. I then ran a piece of that same yarn through the channel. It does not come through the front of the cloak, to keep that looking clean! The yarn just ties underneath the cloak for stealth adjustmeneneneneets 8D

Whip it back on the boy, and....bam!!! I did it!!!!!!!




There are still the kinda-weird puckered bits where the shoulder seams don't quite sit where I intended them to. But at present I don't have any ideas on how to fix that sooooooo. I think they add some visual interest, so right now I ain't mad at em lol.

The neck....sleeve??.... is long enough to be pulled up to make a hood, which I was hoping for so I am very happy that worked!! Next on the plan is the tunic with that really thin lovely!weave white fabric, so we'll see how that goes 8D

 

Thank you! I think it's working out pretty well for me this time, and that way I'm not agonizing over whether or not something is working the way it says it's supposed to in the instructions lol.

Hehehe! Well, the good thing about what I'm making is he won't be wearing all the pieces all the time, and I do plan on making interchangeable pieces. I don't wanna cover up all that lovely sculpting all the time either!

 

WELLLLLLLL as with everything else in this project, the tunic did not go exactly as planned! So let's get right down to it and see what happened here!!

White bandana with the nice weave, I'm lookin at you. You didn't make yourself fit into my Expectations and how dare you. I'm deeply ashamed on your behalf (shhhhhhhhhhhh it's not really your fault but I can't go about blaming Khafra, now can I???).

In the spirit of "patterns??? I don't need no stinkin patterns!!" I held said fabric up to Khafra and eyeballed what size I wanted. I do want somewhat fitted, cause he's got that gorgeous body and I don't wanna just cover it with big floppy clothes! My idea was just two rectangles of fabric, sewn at the sides and top. This one wasn't gonna have sleeves, later ones can have sleeves lol. I wanted it a little longer in the back than the front, to give a little more visual interest to the bottom hem. I cut out my chunks and sewed the sides.

And then I cursed my pretty boy as I struggled to get this simple tube of fabric over his giant head and arms. There's no stretch to bandanas. This is not something I anticipated, though I probably should have. So new challenges abound, and I hadn't even done anything but sew two seams that were a couple inches long each.

It was also looking pretty ridiculous already, so some modifications....desperately needed to be made.

Testing out what I could do with shoulder seams:


Issue One: gotta find some way to get it on him without crying! Head won't work! I can get the tube over his GETP (Giant Exquisite Talons of Pokiness) so that could work.....but then, either way, I gotta somehow get his arms through arm holes and I certainly don't have enough give to do that (Issue Two).

Issue Three: despite my hopes, the tunic is looking like a potato sack and its definitely not complementing/showing off that Hot Bod. Hmmmmmm.

Tried out some of the velvety ribbon to see if a sash would help with Issue Three:


It did not. Though Khafra is excited to be getting closer to a fully realized outfit lol.

I was gonna have to make a slice in the back so I could get it on without cursing the day I thought this was a Good Idea. Getting out my trusty scissors (and again reminding myself that this bandana cost like 2$ and i have plenty of extra fabric. If I end up not liking this I have plenty to experiment with still), I cut the back in half.

Slipped it back on the boy, with the slice in the back. It still looked like a potato sack, despite pulling the sides a little tighter. Made the decision to put the slice in the front, I bemoaned the fact that my shorter bottom seam would now be in the back and hemmed up the slice. Also did...maybe 1/4 of an inch??? of a seam on each shoulder so he now has arm holes without making it impossible to get said giant head through the neck hole.

Oh also decided to pin the neck down a little bit so it'd show off more of Le Floof.

Spoiler: Seam pinning if you really wanna see lol

And....we have a tunic!!!!!



SO FAR: we have a pair of pants that look like they did in my head. A cloak!thing that I had no real plan going in, but am pleased with how it turned out. And a tunic that looks....nothing like what I initially wanted, but still looks good, at least to me lol.



Basic pieces are a SUCCESS!!! 8DDDD Now it's time to start.....EMBELLISHMENTS... (aka the really fun part)

 

BONUS IMAGE:

While I was working on the tunic, I propped Khafra up on my other doll (to keep him away from inquisitive little kitty teeth that like to chew on pointy things, of course). The expression he gave me was priceless:



"WTF is this???"

 

Now we're getting to the real meat and potatoes of this adventure....

Wait, no. The meat and potatoes would be the basics. We're on, like, the cilantro and onions and the tasty stuff everyone's really looking for. I think. Sometimes you just crave the tater in and of itself, ya know?

Anywho. Yeah. Embellishments. Basics are done, now I gotta prettify!!! First step was gonna be that sash. Which gave me lots of trouble, and I ended up making it twice because of course.

First try, I just kinda eyeballed what would be a good length on his waist (wrap it around, guess how long I want the dangly bit to be, trim!). It ended up being more triangle-y in shape after I cut it out but it would do. I folded the sides over and hemmed it and....It worked, but oh boy.

This was about the time my sewing machine exploded. WHO KNEW you were supposed to have them maintenanced once a year, not once every...two....decades....(all of you lovely people did. I'm so sorry machine, I love you, forgive me). It was giving me wonky tension all over the place and it made a mess of the sash. I screamed a little in frustration, I promise you.



He doesn't look too bad with it on in pictures, it was much more glaringly problematic in person. Especially cause, you know, I'm the one that made it so I knew what was Wrong.

Since my sewing machine exploded, I bought a little cheap thing on Amazon that has one speed and one direction and one stitch type but hey I'm just doing straight seams so it'll work until I can get the big good boy tuned up.

With the original sash, I didn't like how the ends kindof flopped over into nothing and there wasn't quite as much volume as I'd wanted in my head.

First I had to convince Turkey that the fabric really did not make that good of a bed, and I promise I'll give him pets if he'll just let me get started on the thing....



And then I cut out a rectangle of fabric and tried this again!!!

Spoiler: Without the cloak on, for details

Oh, I also hemmed this one with gold thread instead of the oopsies I'd done before xD Overall SO MUCH HAPPIER with the second version. I still wanna add some fringe to the shorter sides of the fabric, to give it a bit more detail. I'm also debating making a third and longer one so the sides dangle a bit more but......that is on the back burner for now. Still got plenty of things to work on.

 

I've been busy making...tiny little things.

My boyfriend 3D printed some small stars for embellishments, I have 10 each of 3 different sizes. Painted them all gold 8D


Then we made some little gold tassels. Four hands were needed for this, and it ended up being quite a bit more time consuming than I'd initially thought. Even with help! But they are DUN



The plan for these guys. Cause yeah. Gotta have a plan suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. I wanted to make a dangly bit to hang off the cloak-thingy and add some to the bracers later. And I'd probably have plenty left over, and can always print more if necessary. And make more tassels.

I glued a piece of thread to one star, and then glued another on top, so they'd be more 3D. Did this a few more times to make a cluster. I was originally going to just do 5 stars total (1 biggest, 2 middle, and 2 tiny stars). But it was looking a little smol against the cloak so I added one more middle star and that balanced it out nicely! Once the threads were knotted together at the lengths I wanted them, I just super glued em to a fold in the cloak-thingy. OH and the big star also has one of the tassels attached. Can't forget that xD



I also wanted to take the dangly thing I bought at hobby lobby and get it attached to the sash. I wanted it removable, so I tied a loop of leather through it and that was done lol. Nice and simple xD



The thing that bothers me is that the dangly thing on the sash doesn't really match the stars/tassel but hmmmmm. I want both. Don't know what to do about that, must brain storm xD

Next up is the bracers, and then some sort of lower leg covering I'm still trying to sort out lol

 

ALSO the stand came in!!! It's the perfect size, and holds him well. He is no longer relegated to hiding in a box when not being worked on LOL.

Enjoy some bonus Majestic Leggy

 

Ahhh, thank you!! 8D I'm very proud of what I've got going so far! I've been out of spoons lately, but really want to keep working on him so he can have at least one complete outfit to call his own. He's just got some detail pieces left 8D Ohhhh, yeah, I definitely recommend a stand for making clothes xD It makes it so much easier! Khafra also, with those leggies, loves taking nose dives. I can't tell you how much I had to fiddle to get him to stand for those pictures, his balance is so finicky! And this little stand was less than ten bucks on amazon, I'd definitely recommend xD

His faceup is going to be somewhat simple, which is a blessing and a curse lol. Big raptor with white head just always gets seen as Bald Eagle, but I do plan on adding the bit of yellow on his face and the slightly different colored beak so...maybe discerning birb fans will notice that he's not a Bald Eagle? I'd also want some sparkal because sparkal is one of the joys of this life and he's maybe kindof a god so he can sparkal xD