I've been meaning to make a little write-up about this project so I'm going to add onto Lily's post :)
Finch was a really interesting challenge to work on! Generally speaking, I've only made clothes for monster high, nendoroid or sylvainian families; dolls with their own clothes that you can use as a guide, or with a lot of online fan-made patterns for making your own clothing.
Finch was completely handcrafted by Lily and also had a very clear design I'd need to follow - which for the most part was fine, but would later kick my ass, lol. But I definitely learned a few things doing this! Like how to make and set different styles of pleats. :)
Like the photos posted above, Finch came to me with a body that was primarily sanded epoxy sculpt. Not a bad thing at all, but because I would need to continuously take clothing on and off to make sure things fitted properly, I wanted to ensure that nothing would get caught on the rough surface.
Thus for the most part, I had her covered and tied up like some kind of twisted horror scene to protect her face and plush body (I'd taken her feet and hands off):
I chose cream, because I was thinking of something that would match her underskirt (white) the most - and I tend to think he legs as a visual extension of the skirt? In a way that if she happened to sit on a shelf, and you happened to see up her skirt, her legs would blend into everything and be visually cohesive.
Having RP'd with Finch in the past, I remembered that she was a devout nun of the light and a diplomat that frequently traveled. I like to use natural fibers when I can (I just think they look and feel wonderful) and for Finch I specifically chose organic linen.
It has a looser, more 'visible' weave than poplin cotton or the polyester fabrics usually popular for making doll clothes, and I felt it gave a more grounded quality to the character. Linen makes sense for someone who travels - it's hard wearing and breathes well - and nuns aren't particularly known for having a lavish lifestyle. A 'simpler' fabric felt better suited.
(Also this linen came in a ton of colours so I could match her colours wayyyy better)
(og image by @buttart here)
I'd initially made a lot of notes about construction but what ended up being the most helpful were these two youtube videos about nun costumes for theatre - just simplifying the look without having to rely on copious layers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3666P8zoOI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUkm1a3Ybtg&t=100s
The thing that took the longest was making the initial pattern that would then dictate everything after it. I made three or so attempts before I nailed it:
Because Finch's design doesn't include any belts or lacing around the middle, in order to make sure she didn't look like she was wearing a variety of over-sized tshirts, I needed to add more seams to give her more shape and definition. Kind of like those medieval dresses from the 1300's? that slim fitted look is from having multiple seams:
(In a lot of these photos Finch's head is completely covered to protect her head/face from knocks and bumps)
While I mostly show photos of her pleated skirt here, she does have a white underskirt underneath the pleats to add more 'floof' and definition to her bottom half.
Originally I'd made her skirt with accordian pleats, but upon looking at her skirt I noticed they were knife pleats! It's just a different method of folding the fabric, but due to the fact that as a skirt there ends up being quite a bit of bulk at the top, I created a kind of 'belt' to sit underneath and smooth everything over. In that last picture, you can see what I mean by creating more pleats for definition; with out them, her shirt would be a lot baggier.
Her tunic was pretty simple - just the same as the white undershirt, just sleeveless and longer - but for her wimple (head covering beneath the veil) I ended doing the good ol' fashioned trick of 'wrap it in glad wrap then washi tape and draw all over it'
Her headband is just the same fabric with a strip of very thick iron-on backing to give it definition
Originally, I wanted to give her a bigger collar ala Audrey Hepburn in a Nun's Story, but it ended up not fitting under her coat at all. The mantle over her coat ended up acting as a secondary collar anyway!
The veil was pretty straightforward - there's a small strip of backing on the inside so it lays neatly atop of her head - but the coat was one of the more challenging aspects - it needed to go out as it lengthened so it followed the 'bell' shape I was trying to create, but have a round curved bottom edge so it would follow the line of the layers beneath.
The place where I'd added extra darts in the past would have to be adjusted as they took up too much room in the front, and made the article too tight in the back. Having an extra layer of fabric underneath made putting sleeves off and on difficult too, so they had to be wider.
I made a mock-up in some spare material I had hanging around, and made a bunch of notes instead of re-making mock-up coats over and over again (This is probably not the way to do things, lol)
(You can see where I sewed a panel inside-out but whatever, it fit)
With the lining, I didn't want to sew the bottom edge into the coat - I felt like it gave everything a better shape by just hemming it and leaving it loose.
You can see where I start to deviate a little from Lily's design - I made a rolled sleeve to cinch in so that the ruffled sleeves look bigger in comparison, to bring in the looseness of the coat sleeves and to keep the hands in place when I would glue them back on in the end.
I'd basically made my own bias tape creating the concentric circle pattern of her mantle - each piece was 1.5cm long and then folded down into .5 cm segments. Everything was pinned into place and then sewn in.
(I basically went into a state where I did nothing but focus, but essentially the thickness and loose weave of the linen meant that it became too fiddly to re-create the fleur-de-lis pattern around her mantle so I opted for a more simplistic design, with the folds giving it a little more visual interest)
I also took the opportunity to do a little work to Finch's hands and feet - just adding layers and LAYERS of sealant to prevent any future knocks and bumps chipping at the paint.
dededos
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
baratheonpilled
areudirty
romaincrisis
snowghoul
