Post by astudyinscarlet on Jul 16, 2017 14:51:59 GMT
A couple of weeks ago I was sorting through one of my boxes of bodies/random bits for potential projects to see if there was anything I could get rid of and I found a couple of things that somehow seemed like they belonged together. One was a dolls house butler figure and the other was the base (with the shafts and wheels) from a Sylvanian Families cart. I decided to make the doll a driver for a gig of some sort. Then after that things have sort of... escalated unexpectedly. LOL
Meet Evie and her cob mare Dorothy. The butler gained a new gender and identity and at some point during the process told me her name is Evie. Her white top and skirt I made myself, her bracelet is plaited thread (made in the same colours as Dorothy's lead rope), her jacket is an old HOTY rider one with the velcro removed and vintage silk ribbon cuffs added, her underskirt was a dolls house one, her scarf was a scrap of fabric which I deliberately frayed around the edges and her hat was a dolls house one bought for someone else but it turned out to be too big for them. That also has a band of the silk ribbon added. Annoyingly I had to glue the hat on as I tried repeatedly to stick more mohair onto her head and it just refused to stay put so I gave up and plonked the hat on permanently on top of it.
The cob I've had for quite a while and was a leftover show spare I originally bought to be a particular real horse but I since acquired a different Julip who I think is a much better fit for that horse so she was sort of surplus and also nameless but when I was trying to find a cobby type horse for Evie I realised she was ideal and suddenly she also had a name, Dorothy.
evie and the cart (2) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
Evie's eyes aren't great, they're the original eyes, but I can't repaint them, my hands are far too shaky. I had enough difficulty painting her lips and eyebrows (although her lips were atrociously painted originally and painted about twice the size they were meant to be so they're still an improvement on those).
evie and the cart (3) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
Apparently Evie is an artist so then she wanted some drawing supplies and something to carry these in. So I had to make her a sketchpad (made from a tiny notepad out of a cracker, cut down to a better size and with a cover added made from card covered in a scrap of very thin leather, and tied shut with a strip of the same leather), pencils (cut down cocktail sticks with the 'lead' painted on) and a felt pencil case, and a nice stripey bag made from a scrap of fabric and some stripey ribbon that matches quite well. The flap fastens with velcro.
evie and the cart (4) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
And then we have the gig. It kind of had to be red and blue because of the colour of the wheels but doing the red decoration was, um, not fun. LOL
It was so incredibly fiddly and difficult to paint on and I never want to paint anything that fine again. (The shafts are moveable by the way and do lift up)
Aside from the Sylvanian Families base piece it's pretty much entirely made from cardboard, lolly sticks/drinks stirrers and a bit of balsa wood to make the seat box. The seat cushion is made from a piece of thin foam, card and a scrap/sample of fabric. I'd have liked to have made the seat lift up with a storage compartment underneath but I think it would have been too flimsy if I had. (That's Dorothy's lead rope in the footwell).
evie and the cart (5) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
It has a back storage compartment though with a rear door that does actually open but I probably won't open it much cos the hinges are only glued on.
evie and the cart (1) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
I still have to make a harness and add something to the cart to attach it to the harness. Evie has turned out to be very demanding though and is asking for even more things now apart from the harness. I've ordered some Julip dogs for her but the things I'm in the process of making for her and Dorothy include:
- chickens and eggs
- a grooming kit and at least 2 but probably more horse rugs
- a horse-drawn caravan.
This is the beginnings of that
caravan start by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
Meet Evie and her cob mare Dorothy. The butler gained a new gender and identity and at some point during the process told me her name is Evie. Her white top and skirt I made myself, her bracelet is plaited thread (made in the same colours as Dorothy's lead rope), her jacket is an old HOTY rider one with the velcro removed and vintage silk ribbon cuffs added, her underskirt was a dolls house one, her scarf was a scrap of fabric which I deliberately frayed around the edges and her hat was a dolls house one bought for someone else but it turned out to be too big for them. That also has a band of the silk ribbon added. Annoyingly I had to glue the hat on as I tried repeatedly to stick more mohair onto her head and it just refused to stay put so I gave up and plonked the hat on permanently on top of it.
The cob I've had for quite a while and was a leftover show spare I originally bought to be a particular real horse but I since acquired a different Julip who I think is a much better fit for that horse so she was sort of surplus and also nameless but when I was trying to find a cobby type horse for Evie I realised she was ideal and suddenly she also had a name, Dorothy.
evie and the cart (2) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
Evie's eyes aren't great, they're the original eyes, but I can't repaint them, my hands are far too shaky. I had enough difficulty painting her lips and eyebrows (although her lips were atrociously painted originally and painted about twice the size they were meant to be so they're still an improvement on those).
evie and the cart (3) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
Apparently Evie is an artist so then she wanted some drawing supplies and something to carry these in. So I had to make her a sketchpad (made from a tiny notepad out of a cracker, cut down to a better size and with a cover added made from card covered in a scrap of very thin leather, and tied shut with a strip of the same leather), pencils (cut down cocktail sticks with the 'lead' painted on) and a felt pencil case, and a nice stripey bag made from a scrap of fabric and some stripey ribbon that matches quite well. The flap fastens with velcro.
evie and the cart (4) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
And then we have the gig. It kind of had to be red and blue because of the colour of the wheels but doing the red decoration was, um, not fun. LOL
It was so incredibly fiddly and difficult to paint on and I never want to paint anything that fine again. (The shafts are moveable by the way and do lift up)
Aside from the Sylvanian Families base piece it's pretty much entirely made from cardboard, lolly sticks/drinks stirrers and a bit of balsa wood to make the seat box. The seat cushion is made from a piece of thin foam, card and a scrap/sample of fabric. I'd have liked to have made the seat lift up with a storage compartment underneath but I think it would have been too flimsy if I had. (That's Dorothy's lead rope in the footwell).
evie and the cart (5) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
It has a back storage compartment though with a rear door that does actually open but I probably won't open it much cos the hinges are only glued on.
evie and the cart (1) by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr
I still have to make a harness and add something to the cart to attach it to the harness. Evie has turned out to be very demanding though and is asking for even more things now apart from the harness. I've ordered some Julip dogs for her but the things I'm in the process of making for her and Dorothy include:
- chickens and eggs
- a grooming kit and at least 2 but probably more horse rugs
- a horse-drawn caravan.
This is the beginnings of that
caravan start by A Study in Scarlet, on Flickr