Resources

Want to know where else to find me, or for a link to the manufacturers of every Maquette cast member, or to know where I get this or that? Want to learn to make stuff the way I do, but aren't prepared to start with 'vaguely eyeball some vintage American Girl patterns and try to figure out how to make them six times smaller by the seat of your pants'? In the mood for a few good YouTube videos? Well, hey, welcome to the Resources page! If it's still available on the internet and it helped teach me something relevant to what I do here, this is where I link to it.

Other Places to Find Me

I do not do much social media since bailing on LiveJournal; I was considering an Instagram, but since following tags seems to be useless now... well, I'm not sure how much good it would do me.

Hat Plays Dolls on Dreamwidth
My doll blog, mostly reviews, but some showing off. I've done a lot of weird little things for Monster High, and that's most of what's posted there.

Hat Plays Sims on Dreamwidth
Mostly Medieval-Fantasy content (heavy on the Medieval aesthetic cos that's how I roll, but a fair amount of Fantasy Function) for The Sims 2. Not The Sims, The Sims 3, or The Sims 4; two shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be two.

almightyhat on eBay
Any items I have ready-to-ship are available for purchase on eBay! Sometimes this is proper doll stuff, sometimes it's more of an online yard sale. New items at least once a month, everything closes (daylight savings permitting) in the 5pm hour on Pacific time. Auctions are relisted until they're either sold or I'm tired of dropping the price every week and they get tossed onto Buy It Now/Best Offer listings.

Almighty Hat on Spoonflower
Currently mostly Monster High stuff (for making outfits that hit the screen but never store shelves), with a lot of prints I haven't thoroughly tested waiting in reserve. If I need to mimic Medieval block printing in a very custom way, it'll probably be through Spoonflower.

Credit and Thanks

These folk may or may not have anything to do with dolls, dress history, the Middle Ages, or sewing, but I do owe them a hefty thanks for their help and tools in turning Castle Maquette from a bunch of documents on my computer to a mostly-functional website.

The Hartwood
The Hartwood is the Neocities home of the highly capable Cryptid, who got me into this particular mess, whether you count that as 'offering commissions for doll clothes' or 'telling stories with BJDs' or 'making a website instead of a blog.' ... She also proofread a lot of my CSS style sheet and helped me get it functional.

Sadgrl's Layout Builder
A darned useful utility! I speak a little HTML, but being able to just... generate a ding-dang page layout actually made this whole 'website' business look planned out, and never mind the fact that I broke it five or six times once I started trying to tweak it.

Paul Irish's Guide to Bulletproof Fonts
If you are on a desktop/laptop rather than a phone or tablet, and you can see this page using Garamond and Black Chancery fonts, it is thanks to this gentleman right here. If not for him, I would never have gotten the Fontspring Bulletproof Syntax right.

Places To Buy Things

Yes of course I make everything you see on Castle Maquette, but I don't weave my own cloth or sculpt my own dolls. I gotta buy the stuff to make the stuff, and... here's where I do some of that. (Fabric tends to come from my venerable stash, which has come from such sources as JoAnn, the now-defunct Hancock Fabrics, eBay, human clothes bought on deep discounts just for their fabric, curtains and sheets from various random stores, and in some rare cases, my mother's even more venerable stash.) Starting with the actual doll makers...

ResinSoul
Lady Leonette, Baroness Maquette, is a ResinSoul Lan head on a Shi body with a Zhen bust, in "Normal." ResinSoul is a fantastic company with amazing customer service, incredible customization options (not just in constantly-available fantasy resin colors, but RS will build your hybrid for you if you shoot them an email), quality products beautifully finished, and prices so low that recasters don't bother recasting them. The engineering is solid, if not anything special; ResinSoul dolls might need wiring, but once wired they pose like champs. I wish they had more heads in the Mature Mini/Fashion Aesthetic size range, but hey! They also color-match to floating heads. Beware their product photos-- the early ones are notoriously bad, and even the newer ones don't do the dolls justice. Everything is prettier in person.

Sartoria J
Kornil, court mage of Castle Maquette, is a Sartoria J Elf Dominic, on the 51 Athletic body, in Peach Cream. Sartoria J specializes in the Fashion Aesthetic, and their face sculpts are gorgeous. Their body sculpts are gorgeous, if powerfully tall. Their customer service is delightful, and best of all they offer six-month layaway, making their prices a little more doable for the budget-conscious collector. The engineering is more designed to preserve the body's aesthetic than to make it easy to get into a variety of poses; Kornil is fully wired and still a bear to pose. Also, the dolls are very tall, tall enough I'm considering only using them as elves; in strict 1:4 scale, you can choose from 5'11" (Aphrodite), 6' (Mintonette), 6'9" (Athletic), and 6'10" (Zeus). Lovely company, and I wish they sold at least some of their sculpts as head-only.

Morezmore
This is where I get my Tibetan lambskin remnants for wig making. Thus far, I have only bought lambskin remnants and some tape, but there are so, so many tempting products. Customer service is fantastic, they have an eBay store, and okay so the site is more meant for stop-motion animation puppetry than dolls, but Morezmore is well aware there's a great deal of crossover in their products.

Educational Links: How I Learned To Do This Stuff

My work here at Castle Maquette sits at an intersection of doll customizing, random crafts, sewing, costume design, and dress history. The following links are a cornucopia of crafters, dress historians, re-enactors, archaeologists, hand sewists, and Doll People. Because looking at contemporary art of the period you're aiming to copy gets you the in-period impression of how it was intended to look, while examining extant garments from the period gets you how one person made the thing, one time, in one location, and looking at modern re-enactors and experimental archaeology and dress history, on the other hand, can help you learn how to manage the look in the modern day-- and I need all that! But I also need, sometimes, to figure out how something can be scaled down, simplified, or faked entirely for doll purposes.

YouTube: Crafters

My Froggy Stuff
The folding set of Castle Maquette itself is based on a Froggy project. Toya doesn't always use the most archival materials, and really needs to learn where nail polish isn't going to flake away in a year's time (on paper, it works well on paper-based crafts, for all it can still yellow), but these are very helpful, friendly, and beginner-friendly tutorials going back years. Outside Castle Maquette, I used a Froggy Stuff tutorial to make a tattered-looking electric guitar for my custom Monster High Raythe doll. Whatever you want to make, My Froggy Stuff probably has something to help you!

Skill Tree
A YouTube channel where one learns how to do, as the man says, just about everything. A little LARP-focused lately, Kit Cl3ver (and The Middlemistred) nevertheless make it look... not always easy but achievable to level up all sorts of skills, from leatherwork to resin to metalwork. Delightfully, Skill Tree doesn't edit out their failures, either, from the time Cl3ver tried to set UV resin in an opaque mold to the time he conflated sand casting and lost-wax casting and spilled molten aluminum all down his driveway... to the time he spent three hours (cut down for time) hunting down methods to draw the perfect oval.

Steady Craftin': The CrafsMan Show
If something a little lower-key, or a different brand of Guy Whimsy, is more your speed, CrafsMan also tackles all kinds of different craft projects, with an eye towards making things to sell much of the time. He also tests out products on camera, shows and explains his errors, and is a weird wonk-eyed puppet fella with a voice that is simultaneously easy to listen to and tricky to understand (but usually properly captioned). CrafsMan also shows his mistakes, and explains them.

My Froggy Stuff taught me that not every set has to be an heirloom-crafted room box to be useful. Skill Tree made me think leather working couldn't be that difficult. The CrafsMan made me believe I could work with silicone and resin. Heartily recommend all three.

YouTube: CosTubers

Morgan Donner
Morgan Donner, on the other hand, made me believe I could draft patterns for tunics, shifts, kirtles, and cotehardies. Though she veers from the Medieval, Morgan remains an absolute joy to watch, sometimes posting tutorials, sometimes posting project videos that are less 'how to do it' and more 'how I did it,' sometimes building a stool into a bustle or making brigandine armor out of Kevlar. Morgan's stuff is not meant for dolls, but can be scaled down reasonably well. Plus: greyhounds, and occasionally, cat!

Opus Elenae
Elen is a re-enactor as well, and fairly focused on the Medieval era, with some forays into a few later things. Most often I look to Opus Elenae videos for basic construction, but I've learned at least the names of a few things from her (the cyclas, for instance), and I'm deeply grateful to her for a practical demonstration of how Hedeby trousers go together. It's always a delight to find someone who's into Viking stuff, admits to what's a reenactorism, and is on the progressive side of the scale. Plus, Production Assistant Bran (cat) and Tornado (offspring)!

Nicole Rudolph
There are only a few of Nicole's videos that really helped me with things relevant to Castle Maquette, but Nicole is a dress historian and shoemaker. Yes, her historically-adequate Maleficent houppelande taught me a great deal, but so did her turnshoe making video. If CrafsMan and Skill Tree convinced me I could make lasts, Nicole taught me why I need them. Plus one time the white furry pillow on her sofa looked up and turned out to be a small adorable dog!

SnappyDragon
V is a delight whose expertise meanders over several eras, including the Medieval, and while I haven't picked up a lot from her in terms of clothing construction? She's done a few hairstyle videos that have helped me quite a bit with how to style curly hair in Medieval ways, which is priceless for working with Tibetan lambskin wigs. ... She also taught me how to pronounce 'bliaut.' No pets I've noticed, but there was a horse in the riding habit video!

Bernadette Banner
Bernadette doesn't do much Medieval; she's currently much more focused on turning her wardrobe into that of a Victorian mob boss. That said, I definitely picked up some hand-sewing tricks from her, and she's a peaceful sort of joy to watch, or listen to as you work on something else. If you haven't watched any Bernadette Banner videos... what are you waiting for? Plus, guinea pigs!

Abby Cox
Yeah, I think Abbey only has... two or three Medieval videos, but she's a bubbling earnest font of dress history from a variety of eras, and will engage in alarming experimental archaeology in her own kitchen. If I want someone to tell me how to draft a kirtle, I go to Morgan; if I want someone to gently show me how to make shoes, I go to Nicole. If I want to watch someone React to doing eighteenth century specialist laundry, or follow alarmingly toxic makeup recipes, or slowly lose her mind trying to make chausses until she gives up and calls Nicole? I turn to Abby. Plus, dogs!

The Welsh Viking
Jimmy goes at the bottom of the list of CosTubers not because he's the least or the greatest, but because he's a combo breaker. The guy is an archaeologist, like, going for his PhD archaeologist, rather than being a hobbyist or historian. He is very passionate about his specialty, and while he has taught me a great deal about Hedeby trousers and winnigas and the kinds of jewelry and accessories that Norse folk in the Viking Age wore, what I really love about Jimmy is that he's blisteringly progressive. Plus, periodic Welsh flailing!

Do I watch other YouTube channels, I absolutely do, and while you should check out Rachel Maksy and Mrs. Crocombe (found on English Heritage) and dig up the Tudor Monastery Farm, Secrets of the Castle, and Tales from the Green Valley documentaries, they're not really on the theme of ‘learn to make Medieval clothing for your dolls!' (Although Tudor Monastery Farm and Secrets of the Castle will certainly show you how people move and work in Medieval clothing!)

Reenactment: Purveyors

There aren't a lot of these folks I use as resources, so I'm lumping them together a bit, but. Once you're aware of things like speculative garments and reenactorisms, and know to watch out for things like weird fit or modern hairstyles, a good website that sells to reenactors is actually not a half-bad place to get both inspiration and a better idea of how some of these garments look on an actual human person. Plus, like. Nicole is making the Maleficent Houppelande, Morgan's making a parti-colored kirtle out of latex, Elen's out here painstakingly stenciling a pokemon onto someone's hood. Sometimes the CosTubers get a little weird, or focus on unique, exceptional projects, and sites that are trying to sell useful pieces to whoever might need them will, by necessity, focus on fairly average clothing.

Revival Clothing
Of note: Anything labeled HEMA is made for Historical European Martial Arts, and while some of it may be historical-enough? By and large it's designed for modern safety standards while people are recreationally beating the snot out of each other. Also, Revival Clothing cites their sources but re-draws from those sources.

Medieval Design (English site)
Cites their sources (including grave numbers on Viking Age finds, very exciting!) but does not display or link to those sources, and the shoes page makes me want to make so many lasts. Located in Italy, the site is also available in Italian!

Historic Enterprises
Tendency toward modern support garments on models, but they cite sources and give dates!

Kat's Hats
As of this writing, Kat's Hats is sadly no longer online, but... I loved it and wish I'd saved more detail than just images. This was Medieval hats "for nobility," because Kat is-or-was a reenactor herself who had trouble finding the sort of outlandish High Middle Ages headwear she wanted to wear. All of her items were dated, if not sourced, and a few (such as crispinettes, sadly) may have been speculative in their construction. I still hope the site comes back someday.

Danegeld
Not clothing but jewelry and other metalwork-- not things I know how to make for dolls. ... Things I wish I knew how to make for dolls, yes...

Reenactment: Reenactors

Blogs and personal websites belonging to folk who belong to the SCA, or who otherwise funnel their passion for dress history into making and wearing historical clothing. There are so many more re-enactors than this, but these are the ones from whom I've learned things I have put towards doll purposes.

Matilda La Zouche
For as long as LiveJournal lasts! Here I got a good clear look at short-sleeved kirtles, nursing slits, wide-laced kirtles, how to put a Burgundian gown over a short-sleeved kirtle, and more, all meticulously sourced.

The Compleatly Dressed Anacrhonist (Edyth Miller)
Edyth goes into loads of detail and cites sources like an absolute champ. This is the first place I ever saw a midwife's apron, and I deeply appreciate her color breakdowns of clothing in specific manuscripts.

Cynthia Virtue
Here is where I learned the basics of basic tunic construction, discovered a method I like for houppelandes and bag sleeves, and picked up a few other tricks as well.

House Greydragon
House Greydragon did not teach me much about clothing construction, but they are the source of Kornil's breakdown chair.

Actual Medieval Things

I'm not actually going to link to a lot of contemporary Medieval... anything, because there's so much art out there-- illuminated manuscripts, statuary, paintings, murals-- not to mention extant garments preserved as saints' relics, grave goods, or on bog bodies... I've learned more from people examining those things than I have from my own examinations, because I'm not a trained or educated dress historian. I'm a miniaturist. When I see something, my brain defaults to "Could I make that, but smaller?"

Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
This early fifteenth-century manuscript is lavishly illustrated, and if I could make my Sims 2 game look like the calendar section, I absolutely would. (I've been slowly working on that.) It's got everything. Block printing, parti-colored hose and tunics, houppelandes, peasant life, ridiculous hats, plaited rush mats, bollock daggers, tippets, houppelandes, cotehardie, skinny-dipping.

Medieval POC
Not exclusively Medieval, but you can peruse tags by century. There was never a moment when Europe was exclusively white, and this blog scours various sources-- statues, manuscripts, paintings, various flavors of religious art-- to show modern audiences that. And I think that's fantastic.

The Lengberg Finds, Medievalists Article
The Lengberg Finds, Vintag.es Article
The Lengberg Castle finds were, well, found between the floor and ceiling of said castle, with a lot of other worn-out soft goods, having been used as insulation in some Medieval renovation. I'll admit I find the Lengberg Castle undergarments to be exciting mostly because there's only so much other really good, clear evidence we have for how larger busts were supported in the Middle Ages. There's some evidence that the 'longline bra' version was actually part of a sort of sleeveless supportive shift, with the linen of the skirt cut away to re-use while the upper portion got stuffed between the joists.

Doll-Specific Stuff

... Or at least, doll-specific stuff that isn't a YouTube video, because... seriously. My Froggy Stuff. The things that woman can do with a cereal box. So, yeah, tutorials, information, everything I remember how to find for doll-oriented or miniature stuff-- especially as it applies to things you see around Castle Maquette-- goes here.

Antique Lilac's Tutorials
Free sewing patterns, details on how she does things... and most importantly for me, her tutorial on making Tibetan lambskin wigs. The cast of Castle Maquette would look very different without that tutorial!

Eliot's Brushed Yarn Wig Tutorial
I have mostly only used this tutorial for Monster High, and I sewed my wefts down rather than gluing, but it's darned useful. It's not implausible that this technique could someday be useful for Castle Maquette, too.

Fashion Doll Shoes
Lots and lots of different ways to make shoes for dolls! ... This blog did not convince me I could make lasts (that was the CrafsMan), but it did show me that not having lasts was what I was doing wrong.

Whispering Grass Eyelashes Guide & Tutorial
Technically, this is a lot fancier than my ‘buy cheap false eyelashes, cut to fit the doll's eyes, and then trim the lashes to within an inch, or rather, 2-3mm, of their lives' technique, but it's where I got the idea-- the lashes in the tutorial are still too long, proportionately, for my tastes, but it made me think hey, if she cut them shorter, why can't I?

Molendrix: Dolls for Joy and Pleasure
There are free patterns here! Lovely, carefully-fitted free patterns, that I've poked, prodded, and examined many times before drafting some of the fancier shapes I've done. That caraco dress is just. Chef's kiss.