Creating a Stencil of the Model's Head

HOW TO MAKE A STENCIL OF THE MODEL'S HEAD (for use in making hair/hats/earrings/etc.):

1. First, make a shirt in the FM with a high collar and save it to your closet.
2. Go to the Makeover Creator and put on the shirt you made for stenciling.
3. Choose hair for the model that is close to the head.
4. Hit the “Zoom in” button on the top left (the head will now be the perfect size for the mannequin in the Fashion Maker when you’re zoomed in there).
5. Now you’ll want some tracing paper or a clear plastic sheet. Put the paper/sheet up to the screen and hold it there or tape it up. (I tape it up with electrical tape, but that’s my choice. If you’re a child or using someone else’s computer, you’ll want permission before using tape on the computer).
6. Lightly trace the head, neck, hair, ears, collar and shoulders. If you think you’ll be making masks, glasses, makeup, etc, you’ll also want to trace the facial features.
7. You may want to make several stencils with different hairstyles that you commonly use if you want to make hair accessories or hats. That way they’ll sit perfectly on the hair you’re making them for.
8. Now you have your stencil! When you use your stencil to create accessories on the head, just use the same collar in the FM as you made for stenciling so you can line your stencil up perfectly. You can always change the shape of the collar or get rid of it before saving your new creation.

NOTE: Remember that when you are zoomed in in the fashionmaker, you cannot go far up or down, right or left without having already placed four details in the corners of the fashionmaker "room" when zoomed out.  So you will not be able to use your stencil of the head in the FM until you do this.  For details on how, see tip here.

:) tmck18

Creating Different Accessories

TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE DIFFERENT ACCESSORIES:

Shoes:

* Use the pants garment that hugs close to the leg and ankle like tights.
* Use your detail of choice (I like to use roses or beads) to create the shape of your shoe.  Even if your shoe is form-fitting to the foot, make sure the edges of your shoe still go slightly past the silhouette edges of the feet.
* If you’re in a rush for time, a quick heel can be made by stacking the belt buckle.
* You can always create the shoe and leave off the heel, then when you do a MO, add a heel by moving some DUC heels behind feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toenails:

* The only garment that shows the feet is the pants. So choose a long pants design, then go down to the feet and place beads where the toenails should be. Then go back and change pants to the form fitting shorts so they can be hidden under most garments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hats and Hair Accessories:

* I like to sit at a table and put a plastic sheet or paper over my stencil. I then draw a hat that fits the head/hair shape. Then when I make my design, I layer this drawing over my stencil on the computer screen, and simply fill in the drawing with details.
* If you want to do a simple headband, you can always draw one on your stencil when you make it, so that you can easily create headbands in different colors whenever you need them.

Jewelry:

* Earrings can be tricky to position properly, so be very careful when making your stencil to get the ears exactly right. And to keep your earrings even on both ears, use the stitch detail as a ruler to line the earrings up.
* Necklaces are fun and easy to make, just think it through first. Do you want to make the necklace on a wearable garment? If so, you’ll never be able to wear that garment with another necklace, and you’ll never be able to wear the necklace without that garment. Personally, I like to make my jewelry, especially necklaces, on an “undershirt” or “underdress.” Think about such issues before you create your design. I often make a whole set of accessories (hair accessory, earrings, necklace, bracelet and purse) all on one undergarment, and keep it for use in many makeovers.

Hair:

* I like to draw my hair over the stencil first just like I do with hats.
* Hair can be made with many different details. Some I have used are the rose, bead, triple-ring, donut and rip. I often like to combine details. Try different details, layer them in various ways, and see what looks good to you.
* I usually make hair on a shirt used as an undergarment so I can use the hair with more than one outfit. The only problem with this is that if you make long hair that goes over the shoulders, the garment you put in front of the hair garment will be placed OVER the ends of your hair, so take this into account when designing.

:) tmck18

Creating Tights or Nylons

This comes from my wonderful friend Karen Van Houten. It was posted on the Q & A thread, and I thought it would be a great contribution here, so I've copied and pasted what she said below.  Before you try it, you may find a tip about placing graphics using the I.E. method useful. Find tip here.

MAKING TIGHTS or NYLONS:

Let's say you've made a light blue dress and want to make tights or nylons to match. Try one of these two ways:
1. Solid Color tights: Choose the pants that are skin-tight.(choose the waiste hight you think would go well behind the dress) Simply make the pants the same color as your dress, and if you wish, decorate it with graphics that match well.
2. Nylons that have a 'hue' of the dress: First start with the same skin-tight pants. Make them the same color as your dress. BUT, then go to graphics and choose the solid colored circle and make it the same color as your model's skin. Take that circle and color over the top of your dress-colored tights. It will have the skin color but will have a 'hue' of the color around the edges like real nylons would have. You can leave it this way or decorate with tiny graphics to make it fancy.
Your tights/nylons will not have the feet in them, so plan on putting a boot or high-top shoe on.

Thanks Karen, this is a fabulous tip!!

:) tmck18