Marcel

Well Jester immersion ends with Marcel. Another Mary Tressler design. Extra time was spent reworking the pattern for the costume as it didn’t fit. In the end, I redesigned the pattern and it became, as Julie from Project Runway Australia said, a “fake it till you make it” moment. I’m so spoiled by the likes of Arley Berryhill and others whose designs are just so perfect every time, but never mind.

I planned to make 10 Jesters for the exhibit and along with Morris and Nicholas that I made a while ago, I will have 12 dolls to display. I’m just working on one more part of my display, I haven’t said what that is in case I don’t get it done. However, at this point it looks promising.

I’m also adding more demo days to the schedule for the exhibit. Unfortunately only one other person stepped up to put in some volunteer time to do demo’s. Demo really only means, to be there working on your dolls and answer questions people might have about the process.  This exhibit gives me two months of exposure for my doll making and at no expense to me other than a couple of hours of my time, twice a week, not a big ask in return. I’ll be able to work on orders while I’m there, so it’s all good.

On with Marcel. He did challenge me, perhaps because he is the last for the display and probably seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I was racing to get there. ;o))  No Jester display would be complete without what???? A Mardi Gras Jester of course. And here he is.

His costume is mainly cotton, except for his pants that are dupioni silk and the leggings are a stretchy glittery (evening dress maybe) fabric. I had a twinkle toe kitty around here for a couple of days until I finished working on glittery things. He doesn’t mind though, as long as I take some time out to play with him. After that he’s quite happy to just sleep while I work, but we must have play time first.

The base again is a piece of scrap wood covered with felt and trims. The bottom felt is green. This wood is 2” high, which I like because Marcel is pretty much the smallest of the Jesters I made, and this gives him some height.

I again used that funky metal trim, a trim around his waist that jingles, the trim on his vest armholes that looks like paper at first, but is actually some kind of fabric. It intrigued me, so I bought a small piece. He also carries his Mardi Gras bead necklaces, made smaller to suit little hands. ;o)

The material for his cap and vest, is the same one I used in the sample for my Mardi Gras needlework tutorial. It was the perfect thing for this doll.

There are two rows of glittery ribbon around his neck. It’s 2” ribbon folded in half, which just makes it all full and poofy around his neck.

And not to forget, a close up of his face. More female perhaps, but it’s okay. I’m happy with how the whole look came together in the end after the struggle of getting there. It was one of those sit and stare at him for 2 hours until it clicked… Thanks for stopping by. A new post in a few days to show the last piece of the display and all of it together. I will take pictures of the other displays and post those later next week.