The Birth of a NiniMomo

Follow the creative process of making a NiniMomo from A-Z. NiniMomo takes you through the various stages that go into to creating one of their one-of-a-kind pageant Delegates.

For our newsletter, we've chosen Miss Uzbekistan 2008 as an example to show our customers what goes into creating one of our gorgeous competition Delegates. So, where do you begin when creating a NiniMomo? And how do you keep obtaining ideas when your goal is to create a number of gorgeous one-of-a-kinds each week? Well, when we do not have a pre-existing design in our folders, we peruse the web, checking out all the latest fashions from the world's great designers. In the case of Miss Uzbekistan, inspiration came fast with a stunning gown from Ella Zahlan. Zahlan is a Lebanese designer that prides herself in mixing Eastern and Western cultures in all her designs. The country of Uzbekistan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is a landlocked country lying in Asia - a perfect canvas for showing a Zahlan inspired gown.

Once the design is chosen, the next step is to find the fabrics that best suit the theme. For the body of the gown, we chose a rich, golden embossed organza that Nik picked up in Florence last year. Proportionally, the pattern could easily work with the doll's 11 1/2" frame. The only problem... we wanted the gown to be in shades of Zahlan's original: rich garnets and Siam reds. We pulled out our huge selection of RIT dyes and custom dyed this Italian organza a lush wine/garnet shade that translated gorgeously. Besides the beadwork on Zahlan's original, what appealed to us was the rich pleated fabric overlaying the beaded under-dress. Luckily, we have a proportionally correct white pleated jersey with gorgeous flow, but once again, it had to dyed and then custom painted to obtain the gown's rich garnet shade.

Once we choose the fabrics, the gown is created. For 12 years now, Marie has been machine sewing miniature 1:6 scale ensembles for BarbieŽ and other fashion dolls. At the beginning, it was a difficult task but over a decade later, it has become second nature. The first step in sewing the gowns is to always have the pieces of the ensemble that need to be hand-beaded prepared first. This way, no time is wasted and the remainder of the gown can be sewn while the other pieces are already in the process of being adorned with our signature hand-sewn beadwork.  We decided to bead the gown in deep shades of garnet, maroon, along with shimmering crystal and silver with accents of smoky gray and gunmetal. What makes our delegates so unique and so rich is also what takes us the most amount of time. Hand-sewn beadwork is a very tedious task and can be extremely labor intensive, especially if you are not familiar with the process. Regardless of the sometimes "feet-curling" process of beading, the outcome is always what makes it worthwhile! As you can see, the embossed pattern of the newly dyed Italian organza is gorgeously accentuated with the addition of hand-sewn beadwork. Most of the time we are sticklers about  replicating an already existing design' to the "T". For the embellished straps and belt of this gown, we could see that Zahlan had used unusual rectangular and geometric sequins which we wanted to replicate. This is something that cannot be simply ordered or bought at a craft store. Many times, we make our own sequins using special foils from European companies. To replicate the geometric sequins on the belt and straps, we've cut tiny, odd shaped pieces of thick silver foil, heated up a pin and literally burnt holes through the foil and voila!, you have a custom sequin!

While the beadwork is being worked on, it's time to choose and paint Miss Uzbekistan's head. We've chosen the 2008 Spain BarbieŽ from the Doll of the World CollectionŽ . First, we like to root the delicate hand-sewn lashes onto the doll in black nylon. Once the head has been rooted, it's off to be painted. Giving her ochre/amber eyes and matching garnet lips, Miss Uzbekistan is gorgeously made up and on her way towards competition.

The final steps to preparing Miss Uzbekistan 2008 has begun. Here, we're adding some Swarovski crystal rhinestones to her hip-hugging belt. We also decided last minute to add a little more exotic touches to her look by giving her a dramatic veil and headdress adorned with Swarovski crystal rhinestones.

Finally, after a heat straightening and re-styling of her hair and the addition of embellished drop earrings, Miss Uzbekistan is ready to be photographed for her debut!

visit our main site