Costume Dress Part II

Costume update:
Decided the satin material was a bit to shiny for what I'm aiming for, so I browsed some fabrics at the store the other day and picked out a nice white print. Added a bit of lace, and btw is it just the stores around me or does the selection of black lace at fabric ships kind of..... must have saw an entire lane of white lace and lace like stuff, but a tiny section of black. I dunno, but that's just my rant of the day I think :P

Costume Dress Part I

Lots of drafting on this new project, should be bigger and bolder then my last major sewing project.
Already on V3 of the coat part, with a massive headache to boot, I tossed it a side for the moment to work on the undershirt.... Happy to report that the undershirt went rather smooth. Seems like learning how to sew in sleeves... is going to be a real challenge for me.

"It wasn't a mess! It was... Organized chaos!" -Rarity

Here I have Hrist fashioning off the undershirt, with her dress skirt. Hopefully get a chance to work out these 'bugs' on the over coat part this weekend.

Hrist: Somo! You really need to get some studio lights for me!

Summer Swimsuit!

Phew what a crazy project this was. Trying to figure out how the heck to design a pattern for the top part was rather tedious... And the small straps to boot. Felt like my sewing machine was working against me on a few things. The first cheap cloth proto-type went smoothly with it's numerous flaws and makeshipf straps.

After redesigning a few things it was time to try out the new patterns I made. Everything was going well, I even added in a white liner to the upper parts, time to install the final strap, smooth sailing for the last part... then comes a diagonal stitch. Ahhhh! WTF?! rip rip, darn black thread and black cloth where are you thread???? rip rip.... round 2.... sew, another diagonal line.... no way.... rip rip rip.... ready to smash something. By round 3 attempt I should have left the two prior attempts it would have probably made a perfect X, the stuff was so thing the teeth were not catching the cloth well enough to move it down. several snags later and other issues.... the straps were installed! -_-

All that remains now is to look over this proto-type 2 and see if I can make alterations to the swimsuit for a better production of it.

Scabbard Completed

Well it's been a while since I've had a chance to work on any Dollfie stuff lately. Been busy with Arizona Bike Week, so many events, so many photos! Hopefully next year I'll have a biker outfit for Hrist so she can join in on the fun ;) at least the rides up to the high country.

So now that I have a bit of time once again, I managed to finish up her scabbard.

 Same process used in painting and finishing the parts as usual, I experimented a bit with... enamels... *gasp* no sign of bad things happening yet... the black metallic part on the crown is all enamel paint, while the rest is done using various cheapy acrylics.

Blade fits right in, just like it was 'made' for it ;)

Hopefully in the next few days I'll have some pics and info on some summer swim wear outfits I'm working on creating at the moment. Summers just around the corner!

Teacup and Saucer - Shapeways Painting Tutorial

Priming, and sanding of the Shapeways parts I ordered, that arrived a few weeks back, totally spaced on updating these into my blog.

Buffed down saucer and scabbard top with some paint added.

Teacup and saucer, primer drying.

Steps to painting Shapeways items without having to recast, Method I use at the moment, it's not perfect, but it works! The quick guide: ;)
You will need to sand down parts to a nice smooth finish even if you plan to recast.
1. Parts arrive
2. Sand with 600 grit sandpaper, I buy Polished WSF material. if defauly, 400grit till you knock down the strong burs, then swap to 600, parts should begin to feel smooth after a while. Then switch to 1000 grit to finish it off.
Important note about sanding. Take your time! Don't go ape, lightly sand and gradually let it do the work, going to rough will most likely ruin your part.
3. Prime, I usually use a sealer first. then prime. Do not use anything with enamel in it at this step, acrylic works wonders. Once it's sealed you can use enamels.
4. After priming, begin to layer up with the desired color paint, and normal painting process.
5. Optional but recommended, that you seal up your final painted piece. This gives it the nice ceramic look too.

Both Saucer and Teacup are now available at Shapeways as a part of my 6 piece Amesbury Tea Collection.

Somonul's Workshop

Amesbury Tea Collection - Tea Cup
Amesbury Tea Collection - Tea Cup Saucer

Hrist enjoying a lovely cup of tea.

April Doll Meet at Tempe Town Lake

Hrist made her big debut! At Tempe town lake, only after walking about a mile, for 'free' parking. Some touring event was taking place downtown Tempe... of all days X_X Somehow, wound up arriving early, so Hrist and I explored the lake/pond before meeting up with everyone.

Tempe Town Lake

Hrist meets up with the rest of the group.

Lots of great fun, and pictures, quite a big turn out vs the Matsuri Fest I attended in February.

Do think I've seen my battle maiden quite this happy!

 Hrist got the chance to test out Volk's sword holding hands for this shot! Thanks for letting her use them! :)

Half the gang here, the other half was getting invaded by ants, on a picnic table cloth in the grass somewhere... :P

Hrist: *sigh* What are those two fooling around with?

Trying to take photos of the girls, while 'trying' to evade Poofiemus's ninja skills for getting in front of 'every' pic to take her own pics......... ;)

Finally got to meet this doll that I missed at the Matsuri, she was wearing a Kimono, was surprisingly a little smaller then I had imagined, still cute though :)

Hrist enjoying a cup of tea, with her teacup  I made for her.

Nanoha, posing infront of the train truss.

All ready for some beach side fun!

Hrist posing in front of a plane that's landing.

Charlotte's straw hat.

Nanoha's straw hat.

Enjoying the nice Arizona weather.

I got the foods!

Sport'n some really cool stylish shades!

Best pic of the event! Can always count on nature... in the background.... to spice things up! Dollfie argument of some kind over food, while a dead fish floats on by in the background :P 

That maid from the Matsuri Fest! She's always a little tipsy look'n... wonder if she was sipp'n Shinki nitro before the meet... ;)

Really great time! Think Hrist is looking forward to the next meet. But not another mile back walk in the heat... Before a major Bike Week kick off event, where I wound for the rest of the day outdoors. ;) Hopefully Agatha will be there next time.

Oh, btw I can't remember names for the life of me, so if I botched any names up let me know! And any Dollfie wants to have name added, cause I can't even remotely remember a lot of them >_>;;;