Think it’s finished

An adaptation of Dolls House Emporium kit for the Market Cross – I think based on Wymondham Market Cross building.  I bought this to do with a friend and we never got around to it before she died.  It’s small and looks even smaller when figures are added.  I’ve homemade the adult figures between 5 foot and  5 foot  6 inches, but they do look like giants.  The child figure is a 1:24 bought in kit; I think it was intended for use as a half-scale male figure until I inflicted the indignities of babyhood.

Re-shape and opening change

Additions to orignal roof shape plus pigeons

Tiny office above viewing thro wall – jug tipped over on floor

Money and stores

Market manager’s paperwork

In the redesigned roof

Some of added detail

Added steps and shortened ladder

Cobbled and planted

Added central pillar and lights below

Pedlar and friends

Leather goods stall

Weaver and spinner’s stall

Baker’s stall

Hens to feed (and sell)

Rats and mice to feed

Baby to feed

Business as usual

Move back round to steps

Round and round it goes

The whole structure is a mix of the DHE kit for the base, pillars and ceiling/floor of market/room above and the rest is a mix of wood and layered card.  I’ve added rafters in the market place below along with the central hub pillar and changed some of the fixtures between the kit pillars as wasn’t comfy with the MDF pieces there.  The weather vane is cut from re-purposed metal from a defunct yoghurt maker.

The stalls are homemade, as are the majority of goods on them, the exception being the pies on the baker’s stall, bought a long time ago and re-coloured with make-up.  The bread is homemade.  All the animals are bought in.

Stools, tub and bucket are from Ashwood Designs Miniatures  and the plant kits are kits from The Miniature Garden on Etsy, with the odd homemade plant and the grass etc are railway miniature supplies.  Cobbles and similar are Creative Paper Clay, with added cardboard flags.  All the lighting is LED battery with either lighting gel or a dab of paint added to bring down the brightness.

Now, what have I forgotten to tell you?  Hmmm.  Mostly I’m now wondering just where in the name of blue blazes I’m going to put it.

Shaping up the last figure

Whispering sweet nothings?

The Weaver selling lengths of fabric

Decided to add the ‘meat and muscle’ shaping to this figure the long way round by padding and firming the shape with the needle rather than padding and gluing.

All wire but now needs shoulders

One arm OK

Both shoulders from back

Going for the central bulk
Looking like a tutu

Gathering up the bottom of the tutu around the legs to make a seat

Thighs next

Colour to upper part in case shows between neck cloth and shift top/waistcoat

Leg lagging and footwear

Any deficiencies (ie bits I don’t like the shape of) particularly at upper arms and tops of legs and seat etc, I can pad out further by stuffing the garments, as I did with the leather worker’s trousers.

Standing next to his stall of leather goods he has extra padding for his belly and at the top of both thighs for his bottom.

Position and pose

 

Before he’s dressed I need to know how he’s going to stand, how much he needs to bend and at what points on the body.
If I’m not careful enough I could make the clothes too restricting for the pose I’d prefer.  So, how much bend, which side should he lean over?

He needs the clothes to bulk him up a little.  At the moment, compared to her size and square posture, he looks undersized.

I padded out his chest/belly area by stuffing his shift and also the top of his legs to bulk out the trousers.
Don’t ask about the strange green head gear, it sort of just arrived.

He’s got a bag of odds and ends including an ell stick for measuring the fabric.

And, yes, I based the length of the stick on his forearm 😉

Where they are in the market.
I will have to fiddle with his feet a little, I think to make him look a little more stable.

Need to do a little more dressing of the scene on their stall and around it and then — it should all be just about finished.

So, is he whispering sweet nothings or, as it seems in this shot, asking if she fancies a beverage and a veggie pie?

Last two figures

Not spinning very finely and wearing what looks like a couple of pancakes on her head. 
The weaver will probably be standing behind her, which is why there’s a floating head over her left shoulder 🙂
I like to make a sense of usage and weight in the clothing of figures and the placing of objects. I often cheat with glue and/or stitchwork. I just couldn’t get a sense of weight for the spindle at all and getting her open hands to hold the wool was a bit of a job too.

My hoard(s) of fabric, trimmings and lace are a complete mix of new scraps and old retrieved odds and ends.  Sometimes I iron the fabric before use, other times the iron only gets used for turning hems and edges depending on the job in hand.  With the salvaged items, a lot of them still hold the ‘memory’ of how it was stitched and this shaping can be useful with its needle holes possibly standing in for decoration and the gathers in fine fabrics helping to shape a garment or a hanging around a window.

I used the same material for the sisters’ shifts too.

Feeling particularly lazy I plumped for some ready gathered fabric for the under shift of this seated figure. The stitching itself is long gone but the fabric memory holds.

This particular piece from back in the 70s or 80s is now so fragile that the first thing to do is find a new, super sharp needle to work with.  The delicate cloth is almost weightless it’s so fine.  I try not to use pins when working on it, so, once cut to rough shape, the job becomes a matter of hold and sew on the doll and no undoing if anything goes wrong.

 

The spinner and the weaver

The fabric in question

Where the woman is working

Mostly dressed and with woven band round white head linen

Skirt kilted up, hose and clogs in place

I’d have thought that anyone spinning probably wouldn’t do it at a market but I chose it as it was handy for bringing in another occupation for a seated character.

I took the Market Cross building on a visit to Hogepotche Hall

But the table I’ve put it on is much lower than the outside scene with the washer women

Links of interest:

Spinning with distaff/spindle in Tibet

Spinning with distaff/spindle in Italy

 

and a Medieval one

 

 

 

Next up

A chance, at last to get a little more done.
Have padded and stitched a very flat bottom for this woman hoping to give her a firm base for balancing on her wooden stool at the market

She has nice feet that it’s a shame to have to cover up, but those arms are rather odd (in fact they don’t look to be a match at all) and I need to work around them. I would like her to be spinning while she’s eavesdropping on her fellow stall holders.  If it comes to it she can be winding ready-spun wool instead 🙂