My bridal bouquet. The second attempt after the first went rusty. I’m quite pleased as it’s even more beautiful this time around.
I think that’s a pretty good idea!
You can usually find entire rolls of it on AliExpress for like, $16 bucks. For example, here are 100 yards for $16, which works out to about 16 cents per yard. At a fabric store, you’re probably going to be paying a couple bucks per yard. Just run a search for “horsehair braid” and you’ll likely find something you’d like.
– Jenn
This will be the lengthiest response to an ask yet… I think? There is a lot of numbers here, just remember, its all rectangles, always just rectangles. Also I will add in tips for gathering at the end.
Tutorial-Putting in Horse Hair Braid/CLAMP Ruffles by ~AnimeAngelCosplay
I dunno about you fluffy people, but this big lady will be using this somehow. I love this tutorial!
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- Painting the skirt
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- Painting the skirt
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- Due to space restrictions, I could only do one half at a time.
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- Adding the horsehair braid to finish the hem.
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- Finished costume.
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- Finished costume.
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- Close-up of wig and contact lenses.
When was the last time I posted any real content? Been awhile. So here we go, some of the backlog. This is an outfit I put together for Halloween this year, sort of an abstract ‘siren’ luring the hapless to a watery demise. Circle lenses from Pinky Paradise, wig (sadly discontinued) from Arda.
Fabric Dying with Dye-na-Flow
Dye-na-Flow is a paint from Jacquard that is designed to act like a dye on both natural and synthetic fabrics. I chose it to do the dying on a circle skirt I made for Halloween at Teslacon this year. The skirt itself is white crepe-backed satin. The pattern is one I copied from a book, but they’re pretty easy to come by.
The color is actually a mix, half-and-half turquoise and chartreuse, diluted out to the consistency I wanted. The paints are very pigmented, so you can thin them out about 2-1 without any trouble. To dye the skirt, I laid the whole thing out on my dinning room table with freezer paper underneath. If you have the room, though, I’d suggest doing it on the floor. The one drawback to doing it the way I did was that I had to let one half dry before I could do the other, and this left distinct ‘edges.’ In my case it didn’t matter, because I wanted it to look like the color had crept up from the hem of the skirt unevenly. Before I added the paint, I sprayed the section I wanted to work on down with a squirt bottle full of plain water. Then I painted on the color with a large watercolor brush. The thinned paint and wet fabric meant the color wicked and spread in a very organic way. You can see the variation in the final product.
Once the skirt was dry, I ironed the whole thing to heat-set the color. Then I added horsehair braid to the hem. There’s also a silk organza underskirt to give it more body.
{23 December 2013}
is there a list somewhere of good place to buy BJD? maybe also.. what people consider to really be a BJD vs what appears to be but doesnt fit their definition….
a-lost-king-deactivated20161210:
Good questions! I’ll answer as well as I can ❤
Where to buy BJDs: It really depends on what you’re looking for, more than anything. I’ll start with places not to buy them, then a list of affordable dolls, then dealers and the like and hopefully that will help!
Do NOT buy dolls from Aliexpress.com. All of the dolls on there are 100% recast, and even if you’re totes fine with recast, they’re also incredibly overpriced. If you’re after a recast specifically I can’t help you (I’m fine with recasts but I don’t want to perpetuate them personally), but you will want to speak to the manufacturer directly rather than through a site, so you can get it for the best price. Also avoid buying ‘practice heads’ on eBay, especially if they’re for a price that seems too good to be true: also recasts.
If you do want a recast, try the recast groups on facebook- they can help you out the most.
For a list of legitimate dolls that are affordable, check out this link: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?313459-BJDs-under-300-(aka-more-affordable-dolls)
It’s a little out of date, but it’s definitely a helpful starting point if you’re not looking to spend a lot, if you’re buying your first doll, or if you’re buying a doll for a friend.
Your best friend when buying BJDs is going to be, wherever possible, a doll dealer. Just like a drug dealer, they’ll hook you up with the best prices, discounts for bulk buys, and payment plans. Most doll dealers have layaway options even for doll companies that don’t usually allow them, and have a wide range of other, non-resin stock such as clothes, accessories and wigs available that you can order all together to save big on shipping.
Some of the dealers I’ve personally worked with who have been incredible are:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/jeeryama/m.html
And some of the other well known ones are:
Think Pink and Mint On Card are both extremely anti-recast, and I’ve personally had a lot of difficulty with Think Pink and do NOT recommend them (not recast related). So shop from those two with care.
Onwards onto your second question – What defines a BJD? This is one of those questions that piss a lot of people off because it makes some people look like assholes and some people feel like victims. These are my personal opinions on the matter and seem to be fairly universal, but there’s going to be a few people who disagree so please take this with a pinch of salt!
ABJD (asian ball joint dolls) are dolls specifically from Asia Major (China, Korea, Japan) that follow the traditional aesthetic of gentle, non-dramatic features that tend to look a little anime (though in recent years companies such as Doll Chatau have been challenging this aesthetic, which I approve of very much) and are made of resin. Their joints must be ball-and-socket style with points of articulation in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, hips, knees and ankles at least, and must be held together by tension via elastic stringing. Examples of these are Volks, Soom, Luts, Fairyland. They must have removable eyes and removable wigs, as a degree of customisation is required.
BJD (ball Joint Dolls) is a more universal term used for resin dolls as well as some vinyl and ABS dolls that don’t conform to those strict boundries. They do not have to be produced in Asia to qualify, so French, Russian and American dolls fit under this banner. They also do not have to follow a specific aesthetic and tend to be quite strange looking or quite realistic – like BishounenHouse, an American company. Ball joints are still expected as well as the many points of articulation, but there is some allowance here for Vinyl dolls that have an internal skeleton, like Volks Dolfie Dreams and Obitsu. Animal dolls that are made of resin or ABS tend to fit into this group, as well as hujoo and porcelain BJD.
Non-BJD (non-ball jointed dolls) are for dolls that look like BJDs but don’t fit either the aesthetic or the joint requirements, such as Blythe, Pullip and Monster High. They are exquisite dolls and deserve respect, but due to their materials, lack of removable hair/eyes or lacking the required joints, do not quite qualify as BJDs.
Phew! Sorry for the long reply- hope that helps!
{22 December 2013}
that was quick
Ha, thanks for the heads-up, all!
Link to the tutorials in question for others who’d like to expand their skin tone range.
Doing my second dress form, things I’m doing differently this time around so far is the stuffing. (thank you for the suggestion! I’ll be doing a mix I think.) I’m also making an improved stand.
Last time I did a four post leg of PVC that after the glue got a bit worn would swing back and forth. This time around I got a study wooden base and a metal … well I’ve already forgotten the name of the thing, but I think I took a fairly clear picture.
It’s in the isle next to the pvc pipe if you’re wondering. I did a nice stury ¾ pipe cut a bit taller then me on accidentally, however I decided to keep it that way so I didn’t have to bend down as much for hemming and draping!
The only other pieces you will need is the little socket to go at the end of your pipe to make it go into the metal bit. The only down fall to this type of stand is that you can twirl your dress form accidentally, but also on purpose? Either way not as flawed as my first.
Tomorrow I’ll be going out to get enough duct tape and willing husband-slaves to help me make the form.
{22 December 2013}
WING-MAKING RESOURCES
We sometimes get questions about making wings… something we don’t usually do. In fact, I think our only wings have been made out of craft foam, and have been very small. As such, I’ve created a list of links to resources for wing-making that will hopefully be of use to those of you making wings.
Bulk Turkey Quills/Feathers (most ideal feather for feathered wings)
Make Frames for Articulated Wings
Realistic Articulated Wings (absolutely recommended!)
If anyone else has any additional resources, please let me know. Much of these have been pulled from my resource file, which I haven’t looked at nor updated since 2008.
– Jenn
Yeah… so… I’m kind of lazy so I’m not really going to fix this up any further or write up fancy instructions. But basically this is the pattern I use for my potion bottles.
Print it out, cut it out, trace it on the fabric, the the fabric out. Leave about a seam allowance when you cut it out. You’ll need
1 long square in brown. Make it slightly longer than pictured here by about half an inch. I find it’s always short and it’s easy to cut more and trim it if it’s too much .
1 of the little circles in brown.
1 of the big circles in whatever color you want your bottle. This one is a bit too big, so I cut it directly on the line and leave no seam allowance
2 of the potion bottle itself in whatever color you want your bottle.You will need to make a football shaped dart where the neck of the bottle meets the rest of the bottle. An example of how this works can be found on this blog post like the blogger did with the elephants legs where they meet the body
Then you sew up the dart at the bottom of the two bottle
But the bottle pieces together and sew along the sides, leaving the top and bottom open.
Sew the big circle to the bottom of the bottle.Sew the strip all the way around the little circle.
Then stuff everything and use a hidden ladder stitch to attach your “cork” to your bottle.Sorry these are very simple instructions, but it’s a pretty easy pattern You can easily change things up making this smaller or tall, whatever you’d like.
All of these can be found in my Etsy store if you’d rather just buy one instead of trying your hand at making your own.
Struggling [to be] a[n] artist 