I have a confession ...

My recent post about Pendle got me not only obsessing over Makies again but also flitting backwards and forwards between my photographs, Makies account where I have 26 Makies that I designed and the Makie Shop...

I guess it was inevitable that I would end up parting with some money if I didn't hurry up and finish my post, well I wasn't quick enough and I did end up spending and oh my gawd, my Makie family is about to expand!

This is how it happened ... I noticed there were two Limited Edition Makie Dolls for sale, quite a bit cheaper than the "Designed by You" ones I have saved, one of them really caught my eye - she's called June (short for Juniper, apparently) - well for now anyway...

She comes in Cocoa Bean skin tone and looks like this:

Now I can't say I'm too impressed with her puckered looking mouth, but I loved that hair of hers and hue of her skin, and that in turn got me thinking...

I went back to My Account and started comparing her with a Makie I designed last year who I called "Rainy Daze" she looks like this, I only have a computerized image of her as she hasn't been made real yet:  

Now I have to admit, I really do love this little girl, she has eleven ears like Pendle and a similar grumpy expression, for some reason I like to make mostly "Grumble Guts" Makies, which may possibly be another reason why a certain idea popped into my head while I was comparing both these girls

 And that idea was; how different an experience is it between designing and receiving a "Designed by You" Makie and receiving an off the shelf designed by someone else Makie so I decided to experiment

How's that for justification?! Lol

I'll be posting my feelings on this once both girls arrive and I have a chance to compare, photograph & play with them both!

Keep Ya Posted...

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*•*¨*•｡✿ The long awaited Pendle Makie arrives!! ✿｡•*¨*•｡

Or rather she doesn't ...

She's been here for months and sadly I got so caught up in playing with her, making little outfits and buying her cute stuff that I totally forgot that I'd started this post in readiness for arrival then over the months it got buried in my draft folder, only to be found today while I was going through the sixty-seven posts I have there waiting to be finished and posted.

 I have resolved to do this even if it's just two drafts a week  and I just can't believe my beautiful Makie girl hasn't been given her online brag time, so here goes, but first look at this:

I found this on MakieLabs an hour or so ago and omg - She was "Made Real" on 31st Jan. 2014 - I received her around a week later - so for over a year I've owned and loved this girl and still haven't given her her own post - I'm so ashamed *hangs head*

Since she's been made real her display picture on the site has changed, prior to that she looked like this:

                                             It's one hell of a difference ain't it?!

I didn't order a face up for her, so I was quite surprised to discover when she arrived that she had been given a light one, I kept it as it was subtle but sadly it hadn't been sealed and my "I love you Pendle Play Time" was obviously too much for it, so I was forced to give her my own face up instead.

I made a point of saving the animations as I was creating her so I could do a comparison post just to see how close to the animations the finished doll is so I already had them uploaded to this post, waiting for "Made Real" photo's and words, which is great 'cos it saves me from going looking for them but kind of annoys me too as it means I stupidly could have had this post up online over a year ago *sigh*

Here she is with her original face up taken on the day she arrived at her new home, as you can see being Fairy Folk and never having used a seat that wasn't made of twigs and moss or toadstool caps before, she has no idea about having decorum when she sits down.

 I'm pleased to report she has gotten a lot better, but I fear she'll never quite get the hang of it!

I made that little dress she's wearing around a year before Makies were released, I made it for Blythe from a pattern I found a small jpg of in Google.

 I guessed the measurements and went for it (never again!) - it didn't fit her but I loved the fabric and was determined to find someone it fitted so I kept it and waited...

When Pendle moved in I thought "what the hoo, give it a try" so I did and it fitted like a glove - Yay!

The wig she's wearing is not the one she came in I bought it a while waiting for her to arrive  - although she mostly doesn't wear either, I'm not sure why but I think she much prefers the feeling of the wind on her bare head...

Here she is with the replacement face up I gave her,  I'm pretty pleased with how "alive" I've made her look especially when compared to the picture below, which shows her as she was when first designed and waiting to be "Made Real".

"Made Real" is definitely the right term to use, while it may have started out as a quirky way of saying the doll has now been made tangible there is something about these dolls - more than you get with mass produced dolls, these dolls really do have a "personality" and more than the imaginative play of yesteryear... There is a "realness" to them that's hard to explain to anyone who doesn't have one of their own.

I took photographs of her in each of the positions in which you can rotate your creation to see how you like your doll as you're making her, as I wanted to do comparison shots once she arrived  - I did too but unfortunately I have no idea what I've done with the blooming things!

 I did however have the Makilab ones saved in this post, so I dunno I guess I'll just have to take some more but of course they won't have her original "face up" 

 I'm quite struck by how different these to images are, but at the same time I'm very impressed by how close to my designed doll Pendle is, it's actually quite astounding to think that a few tweaks with a fun little online gadget can produce a doll that is exactly to my taste and not only that - a doll no one else has or ever will!

 The more I look at these images side by side the more impressed I am. Pendle really is an exact replica of my design not just having a resemblance too, like many Ooak dolls are but an actual, tangible representation of my design.

It's really an amazing experience to hold a doll that was designed not only for you but by you!

 To be honest I was a little worried about how she would come out and especially in the case of her ears the holes in the "Makiebot" images look really big and very high up her earlobes but I shouldn't have been concerned as on the finished doll they are exactly as I want them!

 I have to say for an artist, doll collector & customiser like myself, Makies have to be the perfect doll!

Not only has it always been my dream to design my own doll although to be honest I haven't a clue how to start hence my almost subconsciously becoming a customiser, but they also provides so much creative input that you actually feel like you really have made the doll yourself!

 I'm really pleased with the distance between her head and her ears, it's exactly the distance I wanted...

I really need to tidy up my "play pen" as I can't find which safe place I put her original wig in, so sadly I had to use the spare I bought for the following comparison pic's - the ones I took on the day she arrived were in her original wig but unfortunately my computer is as in need of a tidy as my play pen - ho hum!

 Pendle hates having to stay still for my photos so sadly they've come out pretty fuzzy but even so, it's still easy to make the comparisons between them and the "Makie Maker" images.

I didn't realise until after I'd uploaded that her eye's on the wonk, oh well I've fixed it now just a little too late for the photo shoot.

I would ask Pendle if she'd let me take some more but she's a bit busy right now...

Pendle is very sturdy and is able to hold onto her mischievous, wriggling imp of a son (who she caught scratching up the wall behind her and laughing maniacally) with one hand, unsupported.

I think from the look on her face she's beginning to regret Motherhood - Still I'm sure he'll calm down once his had his nap!

When Pendle is not having to deal with a naughty "Mudwamp" up to no good, she likes nothing better than entertaining everyone with her best impressions of Groucho Marx while I rue the day I ever let her watch Duck Soup!!

Makies Forum News & Makie Doll Sewing Patterns

Yesterday I decided I'd go and have a nose around The Makies Blog and I discovered that The Forum is about to be closed down! 

Makielab suggested removing any images etc that members would like to keep before the forum becomes completely unusable, so I decided I'd download the sewing patterns the team put up to make sure I had a backup in case anything happens to my hard copies.

While doing so it dawned on me that possibly not everyone with a Makie had joined the Forum and therefore may not of had access to these patterns so I decided to link to them here for anyone who may wish to use them.

Please bear in mind that these patterns come under a Creative Commons License  in the words of Rikke (one of the Makielab Elves) who clarified what this means "The Creative Commons licence depicted in those circles is actually the “Attribution (BY) - Non commercial (NC) - Share alike (SA)” CC BY-NC-SA 3.0  which suggests you should tell where you got the pattern, not use it commercially and if you do adapt this pattern you must share it with similar licence (= make it a free pattern, not sell). 

He went onto say: "I found that really confusing so we extracted these words from our Alice:“This license means you can’t commercially sell this actual pattern. What you make with it however - those garments are yours to do with as you wish. Have fun!”

Now I've got the legal bit out the way, onto the patterns, but before I do, a quick note...

The following images are previews - enlarging them for print may make your pattern the wrong size - below each preview I have added a link to the PDF of the pattern, I am not sure how long these links will be supported, it is possible that once the Forum is closed, these links may go along with it...

If this is the case please contact me and I'll update the links...

1) Cape Pattern for Makie Dolls:

CAPE-Pattern-A4.pdf

Instructions-CAPE.pdf

2) Hoodie Pattern for Makie Dolls:

HOODIE-Pattern-A4.pdf

HOODIE-Pattern-A3.pdf

HOODIE step by step.pdf

3) Jeans Pattern for Makie Dolls:

JEANS-Pattern-A4.pdf

JEANS-Step-by-step.pdf

4) T- Shirt Pattern for Makie Dolls.

Tshirt-pattern-a4.pdf

TSHIRT-Step-by-step.pdf

5) Dress Pattern for Makie Dolls:

Dress-pattern-a4.pdf

Instructions-DRESS.pdf

The great thing about these patterns is they are all so versatile and easily adapted to make other items and patterns from, also they fit both male and female dolls with no need for tweaking :3

Oh I forgot, here's a chart stating Makie Measurements for anyone who would like to try their hand at designing their own clothes for Makie:

Enjoy,

*** 05/09/2021 - Update ... The links to patterns are now dead, I have uploaded scans from my own copies to my Doll Patterns Blog, a link to the post can be found here. 

‹(◕‿◕)› Another Makies doll post! ‹(◕‿◕)›

Well I've offically succomb to temptation, and after designing 20 or so of these fun little creatures, I've fallen in love so much so that I am currently awaiting the arrival of Pendle, my custom fairy folk little lady!

I'm lucky as every Christmas and Birthday my Mother's friend and her husband send Aaron and I a cash gift each, which for the last few years,  I have been spending my half of on dolls I couldn't otherwise afford to own - this is how I manage to get my Tweety Dal,  Tangkou France & China, Toffee doll Sakura,  Hujoo Freya,  2013 Mattel Catwoman (retro version),  1996 Barbie & Ken Star Trek Gift Set, Death Note Misa Icy Doll, Maudlynne Macabre, countless others and now My very own Makie Doll!!

Well it sure beats having to spend it on bills!

Anyhoo,  enough preamble, it's dolly action time (kind of)... this post is really just a look at the design of her, and my reasons behind certain aspects of the designing process; which I'll compare against the real thing at a later date.

I originally chose this outfit for her as her "Coming Home" outfit as I really liked the colour which I felt matched her hair perfectly and would give me a good "positive" to make more shirts, short and long jackets & trousers with, if I used the dimensions of the clothes as a pattern base; it's called "Alice in Wunderpants outfit" and is still available in the shop ( many of my original Makies I designed during the Alpha phase; are wearing outfits and wigs that are no longer available) so I knew if I changed my mind I could always purchase it at a later date.

Here's how it looks in the flesh so to speak, with blurb from Makie Shop listing...

Alice in Wunderpants outfit

Adventure time! Snap your braces and join us as we make Makie mischief. Designed for female bodied Makies.

This is the outfit I finally decided on, I felt it gave me more making possibilities, either for more lab coats, or short jackets, long jackets, even dresses and shirts, also during the Alpha phase I fell in love with a "bloodied version of this lab coat, which had little bloody hand prints and blood splatters all over - Very Walking Dead and very me! however, it is no longer available in the shop, so this one could also serve as a pattern to make another more gruesome version, the skirt could be made into a longer version, A-line version etc and the fitted t-shirt, I felt was much more apt as she would after all be 3D! It also gives further designing possibilities and the whole outfit comes with an adorable pair of pink scissors too; what's not to love?!

Makiebot Outfit

Makies have a special machine in their workshop called the Makiebot. The Makiebot prints shoes, goodies and tools in 3D for the Makies all the while singing a whir-whir song. Makies make magic on the Makiebot and wear the t-shirt to show it. Most suitable for female bodied Makies.

Pendle was the 18th Makie I deigned, I decided I wasn't even going o consider making one real until I had tweaked and tweaked until I made one I felt was absolutely perfect, Pendle was he result, closely followed by the 17th Makie I designed called Rainy Daze...

Rainy Daze

I would have made her real but the wig I chose was out of stock and the Makie Bots wouldn't allow me to buy her, as much as I loved her, I felt I should design a whole new makie instead of just changing her wig as I new I;d never be happy with her in a different wig, and so Pendle was born!

The thing with making a Makie is each time you go to do so, you start from scratch so to make two the same requires a lot of dial tweaking! Anyhoo,  I decided I would try and get this new one as close to Rainy Daze looks as possible seeing as I had already fallen in love with her, and I would also keep her skin in the original Makie white or as they refer to it "Ice Frosting" that way I could if I chose to dye her a cocoa shade so she'd be even more similar to my belove Rainy Daze.

In the end Pendle ended up with a slightly thinner nose than Rainy Daze but other than that she's pretty much identical. As the pink "Katy Wig" (*sigh*) was unavailable I decided on the "Manga Wig" which comes in a light aqua shade instead, although it looks more blue here; and would look great on either a white or dark skinned doll. 

I also decided I'd keep the black iris eyes as I feel they add to the ethereal feel and are pretty hard to find elsewhere - the other colour choices were Green, Blue, Grey, light Amber & Brown. 

If I change my mind I can always just buy the eyeball bundle which is available in the shop, so no big whoop!

Eyeball Bundle

Six pairs of all eye colours, which can be clipped in and out of your MAKIE. All the better to see you with.

For some reason I've found I prefer elfin ears on a Makie doll and the bigger the better - within reason of course, so the new doll just had to have a set of those too, and pierced as I have plans for them.

In order to check the size and proportions of the ears, I removed her wig - during making - and turned the image of her around to check just how much they stuck out.

N.B: The little line at the back of her head is for the doll's cranium to clip into.

Profile view, so I could check the arch of her nose, length of it and also the form of her chin and eyebrows, which will be moulded onto her face as part of the 3D printing process.

Slightly turned profile view just to double check that her facial features are exactly how I want them to look, after all once the plans are drawn up for the printer there is no going back on her design.

Slightly more to the centre profile view, double-double check!

 Her ears look the perfect size, eyebrows nice and thin, grumpy mouth looks great and nose arch and length is exactly how I want it too...  Almost ready to buy and have printed now!

Now all that's left to do is replace her hair and take one last look at her before I buy!

And here she is, or will be little miss grumpfest Pendle - in case you're wondering, I was having a hell of a time trying to decide on a name for her and sadly you have to have once chosen before you are allowed to save your doll so I started looking for inspiration on the page I was on, when my eyes fell on the legend "Patent Pending" which at first made me think of The Wacky Races Cartoon, but I knew that just wouldn't do for this girl so I focussed the word "Pending" and that lead me to thinking about the Lancaster witch trials of 1612 and the so- called  "Pendle witches", so I decided I would call her "Pendle" in memory of Mother Demdike & Alice Nutter and all the other innocents who were so wrongly accused and lost their lives during those dark times.

N.B: Info on the Pendle Witch Trials can be found here: http://www.pendlewitches.co.uk/

Yay, won't be long now - the parts have not only gone to print, but come back too! So now all that's left to do is sand and assemble them, dress and package her and then she'll be on her way to join the rest of the dolly family!

Can't wait!