Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Helena has pants!


My room is a wreck and I'd like you to excuse that.

For those of you who don't know BJDs, its pretty common to sculpt them more anatomically correctly than, say, a Barbie.
This was a problem for Helena, because
  • Things Helena has: a crotch with defined labia
  • Things Helena did not have: pants.
And that was a bit difficult to explain to people, so here's her skirt.

The scale's off, which matches her oversize hat, so I like it. It kind of reminds me of arm knitting, that big craze we've got going.
The waistband's a sort of 4x4 rib. It's really 4x4x8x4, repeated twice. I wanted smoother hips.
The body's got a bit of expansion to get a bit more flare, and then there's a bubblestitch hem because why not.

I haven't woven in the ends yet, and I may never do that.

You might also notice that Helena poses very strangely. She was literally the cheapest doll that I could find that wasn't a recast. Her joints are more hinges than true ball joints. They don't even have a peanut joint. They look like they have a floating peanut, but the joint is attached to one part of the arm.


Her hands and feet don't have balls on them, either, so they move laterally but can't go up and down.

All in all, Maddie and Gooliope are a lot more fun to pose than her. I'm considering buying a resinsoul body and putting her face on it, because her face is quite pretty.

Maybe tomorrow I'll write about the Duffys I'm working on.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Finally working on Helena

I'm not dead!

So, Helena has a wig, finally. Sort of.
It's 100% athletic tape and yarn, but that's not the point.

I'm not sure I've introduced Helena before, but she's a Bobobie Lotus BJD, light tan, stock faceup. They're about $130, so they're as cheap as you get. 

Polly, 2010-2015: Really want a BJD to sew clothes for.
Polly, 2016: Have a BJD and never sew clothes for her.

I think my main problem with Helena is that she's just not very poseable. Her hinge elbows and knees just don't move as much as I want them to.
This, obviously, is because I bought the cheapest possible BJD that I could find.
I love her face, and I keep considering buying a 5stardoll body (about $200) and putting her head on it.
Of course, this is what I'm going to do with the massive amount of money that I just have hanging around.
Haha.

I actually bought a wig for her a couple days ago, because she really needs one.
<stock image>
I'm getting the feeling that she has blue hair. I got her to sew lolita dresses for, and I'm sure I will soon, but for now, blue hair.

Anyway, the girl needed some hair, and I needed a project that'd take a couple hours and that I could watch TV during.

I started making the wig a while ago. I bought some plied wool yarn and took it apart, to get some chunky curls. The wefts are made of two layers of tape, and the cap's tape.

I pretty quickly realized that I couldn't get enough fiber to make a full wig, so I'd originally stuck the heel of a sock onto the cap. A couple days ago, I finally decided to knit her a real hat. 
The hat's attached to the wig, and it really makes the wig fit better.
She's got a skirt in progress, too. It's on the needles and I work on it before bed.

I've been having trouble finding the motivation to actually sew anything except class work recently.
I've been having trouble finding the motivation to sew for classes, too.
I dropped out of school again.

That's not what this blog is for. This blog is for doll things. Here are more pictures of the doll wig.



Helena's dress that I made her in about 8 minutes doesn't actually cover her butt all the way. Being a BJD, she had a defined vulva. This is why she really needs a skirt or something.

Over on the other side of the cleaning supplies is Maddie, who looks fantastic and makes Helena look like a hack job.

Anyway, I'm back. Doll updates are going to be coming as they do. I think Helena is a bit into being a pirate cosplayer, so prep for some of that.
Poor girl really needs shoes.