velvet

Masquerade Gown with Black Velvet Bodice, White Lace, Purple Skirt and Glittering Strands

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A masquerade gown with a black velvet bodice with a damask pattern. The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of light purple ribbon. There is a decoration of rhinestones at the bust. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more purple ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are purple and decorated with strands of glowing rhinestones. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a light purple bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. Each one is made of white lace. The skirt is purple, and falls to the floor. It is decorated with looped strands of delicate rhinestones.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Another masquerade gown! I must confess I’m getting a little bored of recoloring but I’m learning a great deal. I think, though, that I’ll start doing new things next week. I’ll try for a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. The lace and the sparklies are from Obsidian Dawn and the damask pattern is from sofi01.

The contest I had going has already been won… Sarah, tell me how you’d like me to color this one, please!

Masquerade Gown with Sparkly Pink Bodice, Red Velvet Trim and Blue Flowered Skirt with Cream Ribbon

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A masquerade gown with a sparkly, light pink bodice The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of light blue ribbon ribbon. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more blue ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are dark red and decorated with large, lighter red swirls. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a cream-colored bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. Each one is dark red and decorated with large, lighter red swirls. The skirt is light blue with an apple blossom pattern. The flowers are cream, pink and dark red, and are interspersed with white butterflies. The skirt is long, and falls to the floor.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Sparkle Week continues! I must admit that everything I know about making fabric sparkle in Photoshop I learned from the Disney princesses. Yesterday was sparkles over dark color, today is sparkles over light color. I made this brush myself, too, with help from this tutorial. The pattern on the red fabric is from Pixels & Ice Cream, and the pattern on the skirt is from flashtuchka’s Vintage Floral Patterns.

I’m very annoyed by how Photoshop handles brushes and patterns. I always find myself saving and losing brushes, and if I download a pattern set I have to remember how to credit it. It’s all very kludgy, it seems to me. Am I doing things wrong? Is it improved in future versions? (After all, I’m using CS2, which was released in 2005…)

Black Velvet and Chartreuse Gown with Spiderweb Lace

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A black ballgown with a flared, full skirt and long sleeves. The skirt is made of black velvet, with triangular cutouts that start near the waist which reveal a underskirt made of swirled green and chartreuse fabric and covered with lace that looks like spiderwebs. There are two flies trapped in the webs. There's a wide V-shaped copper belt at the waist, set with orange, green and yellow jewels. The bodice is made of black velvet and has a feathery pattern near the top. There are more copper accents near the shoulders, and the green sleeves are straight, fall to the wrist, and are overlaid with more spiderweb lace.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

It’s almost Halloween, the paperdoll-friendly holiday, and I’ve been thinking about what would make a dress scary. The things that scare me don’t generally translate well to dresses, though, since they are too intangible. But there’s a couple of fears that aren’t…

My pride causes me to say I’m not scared of spiders, I just don’t like looking at them. If I put it that way, it’s perfectly reasonable to do things like cover up a picture of a spider when I’m reading a book, or avoid the tarantula exhibit at the zoo.

But it’s never reasonable, really, to wake up my husband at 4 AM when there’s a spider in the bathroom. It’s not reasonable that I have to use paper or my phone to cover up a spider picture in a book, and not my hand. And it’s not really reasonable to move as quickly as I do when there’s one close to me. Before I know it I’m halfway across the room, denying that anything’s wrong at all, I’m just fine, it’s not like I’m scared of such a little spider, because that would be ridiculous. (It’s gone now, right?)

When I was a little kid, I was scared of black holes, and I feel like I’ve gone down in the world since I stopped fearing the random indifference of the universe and picked up such a pathetically obvious, stupid, gendered weakness. I know perfectly well they’re more afraid of me than I am of them. I know they eat lots of annoying bugs and that they’ve only got two more legs than ants (which I don’t mind at all). I know I can kill them perfectly well myself, and I do, if there’s no other option. I put on my heaviest shoes and make a lot of noise, cursing each stupid spider leg and shouting warnings to all the other spiders that they’d better stay well out of my sight, or they’re gonna get it too. I calm myself down by calling up my husband and telling him “I killed a spider!” just like a normal person might say “I got a promotion!” or “I won a new car!” Kind man that he is, he indulges me.

If you were to stalk me over my various online activities, you’d notice I almost never mention this fear, because I’m just paranoid enough to consider how people could use it against me. There’s no real reason to share with the world how to yank this particular chain. But oh well — it’s Halloween, and while I amuse myself with ghosts, vampires and sorceresses, I don’t believe in the supernatural. I’m mostly just frightened of the quirks and instability of the human mind… and spiders.

What do spiders have to do with this gown, do you wonder? Well, there’s the spiderweb lace, and a couple of twitchy, fat flies caught in it. There must be a spider around somewhere, don’t you think? Ah, yes. A gigantic one, four feet long, with spindly long legs and a full set of eyes.

It’s on the petticoat.

Does that make the whole dress different for you? It does for me. I’ve drawn nothing, but all the same it’s still there, just like those spiders that disappear behind furniture while I’m still dithering about looking for my shoes. Now, is it merely embroidered or painted on? Or does it cling to the thin lace on the petticoat, waiting for its host to lure some prey away from the party and into the shadows? Dance with the lady in black and green at the Halloween ball this year, if you like, but I hope you will have the sense to leave that particular mystery well alone.

I’m never going to talk about spiders on this blog again, so let’s have a poll…

poll by twiigs.com

Green Velvet Party Dress with Gold Ribbons

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Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

When my mom told me how impressed she was with the burgundy velvet on the Good Queen’s gown, I felt like such a fraud. It’s basically two colors applied thickly and not overlapping, with just a touch of black and a bit of the colorless blender – pretty easy, honestly. In any case, it was the first time I’d tried that effect, and it was such fun that I thought I’d give it another shot, so I ended up with this party dress. There is not much to it other than an excuse for me to play with this technique!

Prismacolors used: Goldenrod, Bronze, Cream, Dark Umber, Dark Green, Apple Green and Black – however, apple green felt too bright compared to the dark green, and the colors of dress you see were changed in Photoshop.