Somewhere the idea originated to make a lovely demure Japanese Geisha. Well, Marianne sculpted a nice oriental doll with very pale skin. Soon she had a body, but the idea of making several layers of beautiful silk kimonos no longer seemed very appealing. The doll was put on a shelf, weeks turned to months, and I sometimes wondered what to do with her.

One Sunday morning we woke to a crash downstairs. My husband ran down to look.“The doll shelf fell off the wall,” he murmured as he climbed back into bed. Horrified, I went down to look. Sure enough, a metal bracket had come loose somehow and the whole shelf above my sewing machine had come crashing down. The filing unit full of beads lay on the floor, vials of beads everywhere, a treasured Mexican pot had hit the sewing machine on the way down and was now a jigsaw puzzle on the floor. And the dolls? One man lay face down in the mess missing an ear, and the oriental girl’s hand was destroyed. Cleanup began immediately. Beads and broken bits of pottery were picked up. I found the missing ear and glued it back on. The rest of the day was spent gluing my pot back together. The oriental girl went back to Marianne for a new arm.

By this time, I had decided that “barbarians” were more fun to do, so instead of a Geisha, I would make her into Mulan - not the Disney version, but more like actual Chinese legend, in which she rises to the rank of General. So, Marianne sculpted a new arm and repainted the face with a nice “outdoors” glow.

The search for a costume design began. I had found a wonderful Japanese Samurai outfit on the cover of a Japanese costume book. It was a very complicated costume made up of many layers, topped with armour made of small metal plates laced together with silk cord. Where to find such things? There’s only one place - downtown Toronto on Queen Street.

Early one Saturday we went fabric hunting. Soon I found a beautiful blue silk brocade with a small dragon design. At my favourite bead shop, I found small metal filigree rectangles that would be perfect for the armour, as well as assorted silver filigree pieces that could be used to create the helmet. I was so happy with myself, until I was almost home and I realised that Mulan was Chinese, not Japanese! For a moment I wondered if people would actually notice - yes they would! Someone would know! Well, I hadn’t bought all those expensive supplies for nothing - she was going to stay Samurai. She was no longer going to be Mulan!

So the costuming began. First the pants and those interesting “bear fur” boots. I had just sewn on the two short kimono tops, when Isobel Tyrer, who just happened to be visiting that day, said

“Do you mind if I make a comment?”

“No, go ahead.”

“Well, you have the kimono overlapped the wrong way. The left side is always on top. The right side overlaps only when the person is dead and lying in state.”

But that’s the way it was on the cover of my book. I looked inside, and sure enough, all the kimonos overlaped with left on top. Only the cover was wrong! For a moment I toyed with the idea of making her a “ghost”, but accuracy got the better of me, and out came the seam ripper.

To “soften” the look of the figure a bit, I decided to give her a loose kimono to drape over her armour. I wasn’t about to tackle any fine oriental embroidery, so I found a silk satin housecoat in a small Chinese shop. It was a beautiful blue, with an orange and yellow dragon embroidered on the back.

Soon her clothes were done, the armour laced together, and a helmet fashioned of leather, metal and beads. She was ready for hair. Mohair wasn’t straight enough, I decided only human hair would do, but I only had long human hair in light brown. So, off to the store for some Miss Clairol. The hair dyed beautifully, but when I took off the gloves, I noticed the holes - my hands were purple black for days!

Time to make weapons. A long “black lacquer” Japanese bow was made. along with several arrows. But I needed a historically accurate Japanese quiver. The closest thing I could find, was a Chinese one of about the same time period. I hope the Chinese and Japanese were trading partners back then! Then came the swords. Samurai always carried two razor sharp weapons - a long sword and a short dagger, and what did it say there on the bottom of the page - Samurai are forbidden to wear satin?! Well, I’ve already made a wonderful satin kimono. I’m not getting rid of it! Forget historical facts, she’s going to be a Fantasy Figure now! The Japanese would never have allowed a female to become a Samurai anyway.Saves me making two swords too.

“Hey Marianne, can you sculpt a baby oriental dragon hatching from it’s egg? One that matches the dragon on the back of her kimono?”