Mood:
energeticNow Playing: XM XL 150 - Adult Comedy, 'Louis Black'
Yeah, Dearest Son's beloved "My First LeapPad", a Christmas gift from his doting Grandparents, met about five drops of water from a nearby splash yesterday. I got it cleaned off and stored upside down, in case any squeezed inside, but today, Son couldn't get it to work. I couldn't either. Pressed the 'on' button, nothing happened at all. So I changed the batteries. Still nothin'.
So I took it apart. Wasn't at all difficult, which makes me think LeapFrog allowed for this probable contingency. Noticed a tiny bead of water on the cartridge slot, and gave it a hearty shake, to make sure there wasn't any more anywhere. Then it got a thorough air-can dusting all around, in and out and under. Go figure, now it works. Sorry, Son. If momma can fix the one you have, we don't have to buy you another ! Besides, I don't think that LeapPad even makes that model anymore. It's hard to call it 'My First' when they now have a version for infants. Seriously. It's called 'Little Touch', for six-month olds. They have stuff from that age to sixth grade, probably beyond. I keep waiting for one for college students... guess that's a side effect from living too close to a 'major' university.
You may remember I was working on an alteration for the simple blouse pattern from Fashion Doll Fun, because the one I made Leia was too tight in the arms. My first trial with the slightly enlarged version is pictured in yesterday's blog, if you can see around the belt ! Since Leia's arms are nearly the same soft, rubbery vinyl as her legs, anything snug is a real pain to get on her. Even if I use cornstarch powder.
Well, I think I finally have it. Took a ruler and marker to the current pattern, folded and cut and traced. Did a test run with the revised pattern in the omnipresent red fabric - but this time with black thread ! While I need to work on my top-stitching around curves, it came out fantastic. Still bunches a bit at the shoulders, but the original pattern does the same thing on regular Barbie-size dolls, so it's OK. And, guess what, we're nearly out of red fabric. Maybe a pair of Capri pants can be found in what's left, and afterwards, it'll all be tiny shreds. I don't know why the idea of using all of it makes me happy, but it does.
I love having all my patterns scanned and in the computer. I can print one, make changes to it, but still have the original. And then, if the alteration works, I can scan it and make more anytime, too. Some sewists say they won't sit down to their machine without a serger. I wouldn't want to sew without a scanner/printer !
And I wonder - since I enlarged it, then changed the sleeves, the side seams, and the neckline, does it count as a new pattern that can be legally shared for free ? There's precious darn little for Leia dolls out there.
Took Dearest Son to Dollar Tree. It was so funny, he told me exactly what he was gonna buy (I let him choose two things usually) before we left, and that's exactly what he did get ! It's getting harder to get me to spend money, though. I'd thought to get a special box for his baby teeth, but I remembered I had one already that was too small for what I'd intended to make for Elphie. Perfect for his teeth, though. I then toyed with the idea of getting a plastic shoebox for Leia's new wardrobe, since most of it's too big for Barbies. But then I remembered that 1) Beloved Hubby has new shoes, hence a bigger cardboard shoebox and 2) I still have a 20c pencil box from last year's back to school clearance sales that's just sitting around.
They didn't have any sewing notions I wanted, either. So I ended up just getting some fancy herb crackers that are quite tasty. At least those we didn't already have ! :)
