La Costumière 2020

 La Costumière 2020 

I have made many Costumes for Mademoiselle Marionette so I thought it was time I made somewhere to keep them.

Lid and Cloth

I started with an old Ice Cream Tub and some Black Cloth.

Getting Stuck

 

I cut to size and Stuck down. It was a complete shambles. I couldn’t get it stick properly under the lip. The Glue dried badly and the Cloth was so thin that the pattern showed through. I needed a complete rethink.

Bazaar Surprise

 

I decided since I was as always against the clock to try and find some kind of Box as a basis. I found what I wanted in a charity shop. It was a felted wooden Box originally from an Indian Bazaar.

Stripped and Scrubbed

 

I Stripped the Box of the Interior Felt and then Scrubbed Box with Antibacterial cleanser. I had to wait for it to dry properly for the next part.

Try for Size

 

I found some White Felt and tried for Size on the Interior of the Box.

Cut and Press

 

I Cut and Pressed the White Felt. The Original Red Felt for the Bottom of the Box was in good enough condition to reuse.

Glue and Line

 

I Glued the White and Red Felt in Place and waited for it to dry.

Blue Hole

 

I selected some Blue Felt for the Lid Interior. I had to Snip a piece out before I could Glue it on.

Stuck

 

After I had Glued the Blue Felt. I then painted the Edge of the White Felted part with White Paint. Unfortunately I closed the Lid before it was completely dry and ended up getting the Paint Stuck on the Blue Felt. I will have to sort that at a later point.

Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 2

 Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 2 

I have finished the items for the Body and the Face now I am moving on to the Hands and Feet. 

Boot Outline

I found an Oval to draw around to Cut out for the Boots.  These are not going to normal Boots but rather the Scrub Over-Boots.

Hemmed Boot

After Cutting out I did my usual Tacking Stitch Hem

Pin Over Cord

 

Next I put a Cord in a Horse Shoe shape and Pinned in Place. This was to make it easier to Sew a Hem over the Cord rather than to try and pull the Cord through afterwards.

I realised that I had made the right choice when pulling on the Cord a little too hard it snapped. I had to unpick a little so I could put another Cord in. This time I used a more robust type.

Scrub Boot

 

Once the Cord was near completely Hemmed in I pulled both ends and Knotted it together. I gives it a kind of Moccasin look. The black material in the above photograph represents the Marionette’s Foot.

Glove Outline

 

Fortunately I still had the templates for the Hand and Arms therefore I could just draw around the Hand part and Cut out a Front and Back for each.

Scrub Gloves

 

I Hemmed the Bottom of the Gloves but not the rest. I decided the best idea would be to Blanket Stitch them. This gave me more material to work with.

Mademoiselle Medic 2020

Mademoiselle Medic 2020

2020 has not been a good year for anybody. Queueing, Social Distancing and Face Masks have become the new norm.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and I have been coming up with a few nifty Face Masks. So I thought why just stop at friends and family?

Mini Mask Outline

I have decided to make a Mini Mask for our old friend Mademoiselle Marionette.  This isn’t as easy as you think as it is not just a case of scaling down.

Mademoiselles Face is different to a Human one both in shape and of course firmness. Neither does she have ears. I will have to sort problems as I come across them.

Hemmed Mini Mask

 

I have found a small lid to make a rough outline. It wasn’t rectangle but it doesn’t matter. First of all I make a Hem to prevent Fraying.

Elasticated Mini Mask

After the initial Hem I make a second one but only at the Vertical Sides. I leave a gap large enough to thread through some Elasticated Cord which I then Knot.  This will enable me to have something to put a small pin through so she can wear it.

Cut Out Apron

 

Once I had completed the Mini Mask I thought why stop there. I drew a template for an Apron, folded it in half and Pinned so both side would be equal when I Cut Out.

Apron Hemmed

 

Once again it is back to the Hemming. I seem to do more of that than anything else these days.

Completed Apron

When the Hemming was finished I found some White Ribbon and after Hemming the ends to prevent Fraying I attached them to the Apron.

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Crimson Christmas 2019 Part 2

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Crimson Christmas 2019 Part 2

I am now going to move on to the Bottom half of the Gown

Pin Markers

First of all I need to Mark out what I am going to do. I did this by placing Pins in the Material.

Pin and Cut

I am making the Gown Bottom Open in Sections. Therefore I need to Make 4 Slits.

Part Hemmed

In the photograph above you can see that I have Part Hemmed the Bottom.

Gown Press Studs

Once all the Bottom has been cut and Hemmed I can now add the Press Studs. I want 2 Press Studs. One at the Top and One at the Middle of the Gown.

Press Stud Doll

In this photograph you can see that the Gown has been Press Studded up the Front. The Ribbon is around the Rough Doll’s Neck. Obviously it will Fall better on the Marionette.

Gown On Doll

Here is a different view of the Rough Doll. In this photograph you can see the way the Bottom of the Gown Splits. I have made the Gown like this so the Marionette can move her Legs easily.

The Marionette’s Arms are not impeded as the Band will go around its Chest and there is no Shoulder Material.

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Crimson Christmas 2019

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Crimson Christmas 2019

Apologies - this should have been posted prior to the Hurley Burley Blog.

One thing that Mademoiselle Marionette does not have at present is some Evening Gowns. I am about to correct that.

Crimson Material

I wanted something Festive and found some Crimson Sequin Material with a Sparkly Band

Which Way Up

After much deliberation I decided that I would swap the Material around so I had the Band at the Top of the Gown.

Hemmed

I then Hemmed the Material on Three Sides. This is because I knew what I was going to do with the Top but not sure what I was going to do at the Bottom. I did trim the Bottom though.

Ribbon

I wanted Crimson Ribbon but couldn’t find any so I sent Boyfriend off to the Market to find some bless him. He came back with exactly what I wanted so I placed it on the Material and Measured the Length.

Ribbon Hemmed

The Length was important as I was going to use the Ribbon to make a Cross Over. Therefore it had to be long enough to Cross Over the Chest area. Then it had to go around the Neck and have enough to tie.

Once I was satisfied that I had enough Ribbon to do this I cut it and Hemmed both Ends. I then Folded the Material over the Ribbon and Hemmed it securely.

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Hurley Burley Christmas 2019

Mademoiselle Marionette’s Hurley Burley Christmas 2019

If you are of a certain age you might remember a dress that took the world of Fashion by storm. Now I am no Versace but here is my effort to create Mademoiselle Marionette a ‘Hurley Burley; Gown

Evening Gown Material

I was given some Black Velvet style pleated material. I thought this would be ideal for making an Evening Gown. I cut this in half for the Front and Back.

Hurley Hem

As always I start with a Hem. However in this case I am only Hemming one Side along the Length.

Shoulder Line Pinned

Using the Rough Template of the Marionette that I have I Pinned the material. I am making this an off the Shoulder Gown.

Therefore when I made the Diagonal Line I did not start in the Corner but about a centimetre across.

Shoulder Line Hemmed

Once I had the angle I wanted I then Hemmed all around the rest of the material. That done I repeated the process with the Back. I used the Front part as a guide.

The above photograph shows the Front piece on top of the other. If I used the Template for the Back the material would be sloping the wrong way.

Hurley Pin Gown

The final part of making the Gown was to add the Safety Pins. This I did at roughly equal intervals. More can be added if required but as I do not have the actual Marionette I decided on caution.

Cape Hemmed

With all the gaps in the Gown I decided the Marionette would need a Cape otherwise she might get Frozen solid and not be able to get to bed. I took some more of the same material and this time Hemmed all the way around.

Cape Corded

After Hemming the material I Folded over the Top. I then Hemmed this making sure that there was a gap. I found a piece of nice Cord and threaded it through.

Hurley Ensemble

I now have a lovely Evening Gown and Cape set for Mademoiselle that will cope with any kind of Hurley Burley Christmas Festivities.

If I am lucky my friend Cayt might take a photograph of the Marionette wearing the Outfit not just a Kitchen Roll with a face drawn on lol.