Saturday, April 1, 2017

The Chateau Project ..continued.

The Chateau project as I refer to it is a group of dollies that I began three or four years ago , the main two beginning with my Marie Antoinette (Lilac Frost Poppy Parker) restyled by me, and Louis XVl, (rerooted and re-painted by Dawn of One Sixth Sense One Sixth Sense ) Louis XVl is a Mattel Twilight Emmett on a Dynamite Integrity toys Kyu body.  

Well, I had only got as far as doing Marie Antoinette's costume a few years ago, and Louis' pants and shirt, stockings and shoes, after Dawn finished his hair, and repaint. You can see Louis on her website, when you click on 1/6 males. 

BUT....I got a kick in the pants this month when my Va. fashion doll club decided to do as their theme 'real' families. I decided at first to do my Laura Ingalls family since their costumes were mostly already done and I just needed to gather together some props, right? But checking our Facebook group page, TV families were out and I realized alot of the ladies would consider this a 'TV' family even though Laura and Almanzo, and her parents and sister 'really' lived. 

So ....that brought me back to Louis and Marie Antoinette and their children. I already had Marie Therese, their daughter, who was a mini American Girl doll , mini-Caroline, and wore a perfect dress, so she was ready. I had purchased a Tommy doll with blonde hair that would do for the Dauphin, Louis Charles. I very quickly made his outfit from the few portraits I could find of the children on the internet from historical websites....that just left...........Louis himself. 

I have not been able to finish his frockcoat or hat. But I figured, I want to do those correctly. And tomorrow is the meeting. I did, however, finish his ruffled collar, his shoes, his sash, and his waistcoat. He looks pretty stunning. 



Swarvorski rhinestones were used for his waistcoat buttons and to embellish the rosette, made of real silk, and on his shoes, and on the ruffle at his throat, to resemble diamonds. 











This is Louis finished so far...Here are some photos before I did the rhinestone buttons embellishments, and the sash. 

With Marie Antoinette...


Before the finished work...


Marie Therese, Madame Royale & the Dauphin, Louis Charles...

Louis Charles' outfit is made all in one piece of white muslin with a gauze ruffle to resemble how male children had lace collars and cuffs around on their little sailor suits. It appears in the portraits his clothing was made of satin but in real historical pictures of textiles that his clothing did not look like it was made of satin or silk. I am going on what matches the illusion here. I used the same kind of ribbon on his sash as I used on the King's. 




This was the royal family a few days ago. Today was the last day I had to finish any of their last finishing touches. I might still add some diamond bracelets to Marie Antoinette's wrists to make her sparkle a little more. I have also made my foamcore backdrop , and have a few props that will go with that. We are allowed a setup that can only be 18 inches wide. I will have loads of pictures so it should be a fun meeting. Stay tuned. I wanted to get my photos in of all the work I had done sewing. I would love to do more of this type of 18th century gowns on dolls later. 

2 comments:

Sam said...

The family looks great. Louis looks rather dashing. Have fun at your doll meeting!

Lisa Neault said...

Thank you Sam!