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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Re: Work In Progress--Deryni Action Figure Project (was Duncan Action Figure)

Started by Evie, March 11, 2012, 08:52:30 PM

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Elkhound

Well, if I were to take up something like that I would mess it up royally, and when I tried to fix it I'd make it even worse, and get so frustrated and angry that the whole project would create more stress than it relieved.  I admire people like you who can do that sort of thing, but cannot emulate you!

Evie

Quote from: Elkhound on October 16, 2013, 10:04:41 PM
Well, if I were to take up something like that I would mess it up royally, and when I tried to fix it I'd make it even worse, and get so frustrated and angry that the whole project would create more stress than it relieved. 

Hm...you mean like when I accidentally ruined my first attempt at creating a Mini-Duncan by first dyeing his hair with human hair dye (causing staining of the vinyl from the inside) and then coloring his hair with brown Sharpie markers instead of doing proper research on what's safe to use on doll hair, ending up with orange stains all over his forehead, trying to reverse the damage with Clearasil (with great success on his face, but more damage to his hair), and then topping it all off by putting him in a bag lined with dyed black plastic, causing irreversible staining to his nose and making him look like a cross between a scarecrow and a Cocker Spaniel?  That sort of "trying to fix it and making it even worse?"  Been there, done that!   ;D

The thing is, yes, it's frustrating, and yes, it will make you upset and even angry when that sort of stuff happens.  But you've just got to decide if something (whatever it is in life that you've failed at the first time, whether it's making customized action figures or something much more important) is worth the bother of trying again or not.  For me, the mini-Deryni do give me some high-stress moments, but they give me far more enjoyment than angst overall, so there really was no question that I would try again.  Especially since, well, y'know, it was Duncan!   :)

Also keep in mind that, no matter what the craft or hobby, beginner efforts generally look like crap.  Even if others like the results, they will look like crap to you, because they won't meet up with the ideal vision in yourself.  But you can't get good at anything unless you keep doing it, and eventually you'll get to where you're making fewer mistakes and producing more non-crap.  Learning a new skill is sort of like learning how to walk.  I was lousy at it at first, and cried a lot, but now I rarely bump my bottom on the ground anymore, and I only gripe a bit when I fall.   ;)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was a Cartography student and there were no computers, our first assignment was to draw a series of circles, squares and lines on white charting paper using black ink. They were to be nice and crisp and clean.  The class was sometime in the afternoon, and by 11:00 that night, we were still there, smearing and swearing.

Amazingly, we all were quite competent by the end of the course, but I think I still have that piece of paper somewhere, kept as a lesson in humility.   ;D
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Evie

Wait...you were a Cartography student?  Maybe we can get you to do a coherent map of the Eleven Kingdoms someday!   ;D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Aerlys

Quote from: Elkhound on October 16, 2013, 10:04:41 PM
I admire people like you who can do that sort of thing, but cannot emulate you

Same here! I was never much for sewing...or dolls, come to think of it (I was a teddy bear person when I was younger). I always thought quilting would be neat, but I know my limits, and never wanted to do it that badly. Besides, sewing machines -- most machines, period -- hate me. They always fowl up or break down in ways no one has ever seen before.

So, instead, I write stories no one will probably ever see, help my children with their projects (I was one of those weird kids who loved school, so it's fun to get to do things with the kids again), read (everything from brain candy to theology) and generally go to bed too tired to do anything else. Still, it's fun to follow your progress, Evie, and live vicariously through your postings!
"Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun."

Hilaire Belloc

Evie

Quote from: Aerlys on October 17, 2013, 03:10:32 PM
Besides, sewing machines -- most machines, period -- hate me. They always fowl up or break down in ways no one has ever seen before.

Can I ever relate to that!  I loathe sewing machines!  The only time I use one is if I have to sew extremely long seams (such as when we created the walls for our SCA pavilion) or if I'm under a time crunch, and even then, I keep finding unique ways to foul up my project when I'm using one.  Ours finally broke for good at DragonCon--my hubby was trying to do some last minute work on a con costume and it jammed up in mid-seam and quit working on him--but since I've hardly even touched it in the past two years, I haven't missed it.  I think I did the two underarm seams on my gray Saint Camber robe on it just because I was down to the last week before the con and needed it done quickly, but I did the entire rest of the costume by hand just so I wouldn't have to fool with the %$#@! machine.  I know the advent of the sewing machine revolutionized sewing for a great many women and became a wonderful time saver for them, but alas, I am not one of those women.  It's like I'm under a sewing machine curse or something.   Nice to know I'm not the only one.  ;D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Elkhound

Quote from: Evie on October 17, 2013, 05:10:08 PM
Quote from: Aerlys on October 17, 2013, 03:10:32 PM
Besides, sewing machines -- most machines, period -- hate me. They always fowl up or break down in ways no one has ever seen before.

Can I ever relate to that!  I loathe sewing machines!  The only time I use one is if I have to sew extremely long seams (such as when we created the walls for our SCA pavilion) or if I'm under a time crunch, and even then, I keep finding unique ways to foul up my project when I'm using one.  Ours finally broke for good at DragonCon--my hubby was trying to do some last minute work on a con costume and it jammed up in mid-seam and quit working on him--but since I've hardly even touched it in the past two years, I haven't missed it.  I think I did the two underarm seams on my gray Saint Camber robe on it just because I was down to the last week before the con and needed it done quickly, but I did the entire rest of the costume by hand just so I wouldn't have to fool with the %$#@! machine.  I know the advent of the sewing machine revolutionized sewing for a great many women and became a wonderful time saver for them, but alas, I am not one of those women.  It's like I'm under a sewing machine curse or something.   Nice to know I'm not the only one.  ;D

My mother and grandmother both loved their sewing machines. 

Jerusha

Quote from: Evie on October 17, 2013, 01:57:31 PM
Wait...you were a Cartography student?  Maybe we can get you to do a coherent map of the Eleven Kingdoms someday!   ;D

Alas!  If only I still had the skills!

Or better yet, an Atlas of the Eleven Kingdoms, with topographic maps, land use maps, population distribution, inserts for major towns....

Oops, 'scuse me! *Wipes up drool from keyboard*  ;D
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Elkhound

Don't let Karin Wynn Fonstadt (sp.?) near such a project, seeing how she messed up both Pern and Middle Earth!

Evie

I haven't seen Fonstad's map of Middle Earth, but I didn't think her Pern map was too bad, aside from the land mass being overly small if looked at on a global scale.  The miracle wasn't so much that the huge dragons could fly as that the humans couldn't, given how small the planet would be if the atlas was meant to show the entire planetary surface of Pern and all the maps were to scale.  But they were at least better than anything else available to show where the various places were in relation to each other, and they helped to get the creative juices flowing for fanfic writers like myself.  So I figure they were at least as "accurate" as some of the medieval and earlier period efforts at global cartography in our own world, based on what was fairly sound knowledge and theory for their time, yet skewed by incorrect assumptions as to the size of the world, and of course not taking into proper account the lands as yet undiscovered in it, not to mention the inherent difficulties of accurately depicting a spherical planet on a flat surface.

OK, so for tonight's update on the action figure project, to get the thread back on topic....


Completed braies by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

At lunch I added the drawstring to the braies.  There would normally be two short slots in the drawstring casing, one over each leg, through which the points (lacings) that hold up the tops of the chausses would be tied to the drawstring.  But this is very lightweight linen, and quite prone to fraying, so I am planning on cheating slightly and just sewing a small loop to the top of the braies that the points at the top of the chausses can be tied to.  Or I could do it the other way around, with the points dangling down from the waistband and loops sewn to the tops of the chausses instead.


Fabric choices by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Since the fabric I had originally bought to make the chausses with ended up being the main fabric for the tunic instead, I went and bought a few other fabric remnants to use for the chausses.  I couldn't decide which color would look better, but since they were on clearance, I got a quarter yard of each.  One is a sort of sage green that echoes the green in the tunic's trim.  The other fabric looked more rust-colored in the store's lighting, but more burgundy in my home lighting.  I can't decide which one I like better with the tunic and mantle.  Thoughts, anyone?

I also picked up some hair color at Sally's Beauty Supply on Tuesday night, only to discover that I couldn't use it as-is because it was meant to be mixed with another product in order for the dye to work.  So I went back tonight and bought the other product, and hopefully will have some redder mohair to show off soon.  Once the mohair is dyed and fully dry, I will hopefully be done with the chausses and can start working on Rhys' wig.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

While I think most will prefer the sage green, I like the rust/burgundy.  It seems to suit the colour of the tunic better to me.
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Aerlys

At first I liked the sage fabric better, since the burgundy/rust stands out, and almost seems to be competing for attention with the dark green, rather than blending in with the whole ensemble. But upon further consideration, I like the darker, earthier look with the rust. Of course, on my computer the sage looks grey, so maybe the other material isn't so dark. I guess it depends on what look you want, strong colors, or muted ones with the cloak for contrast.

(OK, so that was no help at all...)
"Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun."

Hilaire Belloc

Evie

Maybe I should dye the mohair first, then, and then see which fabric looks better with his hair color added into the ensemble?  And remember, he'll also have amber eyes by the time I'm done with him.

For that matter, this being the Middle Ages, he could wear parti-colored hose--that is, have one leg clothed in the sage green and the other in the rusty burgundy.  But I think that came into vogue a few centuries after the time period look I'm going for.  I could make two sets of chausses, though, and then just keep the spare pair for one of my own littles.  Duncan likes to dress in "civvies" now and then, after all, and he's got the same body type as Rhys, so whatever I make to fit Rhys would fit Duncan as well.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DesertRose

I like the burgundy/rust one, but sage green has never been my favorite color.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie


Creating the chausses by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I don't have a pattern for 1:6 scale chausses, but I know they are designed to fit over each leg fairly snugly (not skin tight, at least not in early period), and that they are cut on the bias (diagonally to the fabric's weave) so that the fabric will have more stretch.  So I draped a square of fabric diagonally over one of Rhys' legs, with one of the square corners at the top where the pointed top of the chausse will be, and then just pulled the fabric taut over the front of his leg and basted in a temporary backseam from the outside of the fabric.  When I got to the foot area, I used a sewing marker to mark where the top of the foot should be, drawing that line to each side of the backseam, eased the resulting tube of fabric off his leg, then cut away the excess fabric, leaving a little extra fabric behind the seam for the seam allowance, and smoothing that seam outline just a bit.  When I took the temporary basting stitches out of the seam, this is the shape I ended up with.  I cut a matching piece out of the leftover fabric for the other chausse.  Since this shape would also fit Duncan's leg, I also traced the outline onto some paper so that I'll already have a pattern the next time I decide to make chausses for him (or any future figures in my collection who might have the same Evo body).  Then I Fray-Checked the edges and let them dry a bit before I started tacking down the top and bottom hems.


Hemming the top and bottom by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I didn't want a double thickness at the top and bottom hem due to not wanting a lot of bulk in those areas, so rather than trying to hide my hemming stitches, I decided to use embroidery thread and backstitch the hem down, creating a decorative stitching effect on the outside edges.  All that remains to be done is the back seam and some way to secure the top point of the chausses to the waistband of the braies.  Oh, and the other leg, of course!
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!