Mood:
a-okNow Playing: "Hamtaro" - we have two different DVDs, I just don't care enough to see which one 's on.
Pretty much had to get off my butt today - ‘meet his teacher' night is tomorrow, and that's when most parents turn in the requested supplies. We had most of it, but not all, since we didn't know which school he'd be attending until Monday. Bought the wrong scissors, too. So it had to be done today, as tonight and tomorrow, the ‘school supplies' aisles will be utter disaster. Parents who can't shop ‘til this weekend will be seriously shocked at how beaten up those aisles are.
Heck, it was pretty bad at 8:45 this morning. After I had to wait for a mom/daughter team to go through ever.single.folder.and.notebook for the ‘look' they wanted - and, of course, this takes the entire aisle, both sides, to accomplish - I got almost everything he needs. But not the ‘ 4 blue, two pocket brad fastener folders'. Mal-Wart was sold completely out of all colors. Well, they had a few, but they looked as though they'd barely survived last year's tour of duty. Not enough, and not blue. So we got the groceries and hit Albertson's, which is now Homeland. They had ‘em. Cheap, too, just not quite as cheap as M-W. I was so happy just to have it done, I would have paid double. But a buck for all four was nice.
Still, when you have to hit three or more stores to find the list stuff, it's a bit much. I don't mind getting what Dearest Son will need, it's not even that much money. I just get tired of every year having to hunt some items down like a bloodhound. Luckily my doll shopping has trained me well for this. It's just not as much fun.
Got home and proceeded to round my rump some more. This time, with chips ! But I knew I'd soon have the ‘cicada shell' feeling again if I didn't do something. Dishes and laundry were right out (grin), so I decided to download some music from Napster onto the MP3 and go clean the studio. With some new tunes flowing out of the Sound Cube, I got patterns sorted and stored, loose doll clothes put away, and the sewing table cleaned up.
I then went after the Fashion Fever sets. While I'd opened the one Gabrielle was in and one of the fashion sets, most of the clothes for those two and one other fashion-only set were still attached to the packaging. I hadn't even opened the red/white/blue/gold one. Not sure why I do that. Even when I'm pretty sure I'm keeping some new doll goodie, I often don't open it right away. Oh, well. At least they all got opened today ! Got it all stored, too. It felt really nice, like a gift all over again, to de-box everything.
There was one outfit from Gabrielle's set I really didn't like. Actually, I liked the minidress, but the open-back hood just didn't look right to me. I almost didn't buy that set because of it. It looked OK on a doll - I saw it on the Fashion Fever doll group - but I knew it wasn't anything I really wanted. So, when I deboxed, I put it aside with the purses that don't open. No kidding. One, a cute little gold and black box of a purse, even had a hinge and a clasp, but it was molded or glued shut. I normally stuff ‘em in a baggie and donate ‘em.
Went to pick up the dress along with the purse donation, but I looked at it a bit more. Yeah, I wasn't much on the big "8" on the front, and the curly script said ‘Barbie' and something, I couldn't read it. But the skirt was asymmetrical, and the fabric was really nice. I like asymmetrical stuff. I started to wonder...
Yup. Hood was sewn on separately, not part of a seam or hem. Well, in that case... The hood detached easily, but it was holding the hem down. Nothing a few hand-stitches won't fix. About ten minutes later, I had a dress I liked much better. It mostly fits my Scooby Doo ‘Velma', but it doesn't close all the way in the back. Not much of a surprise, it didn't close in the back in the packaging either. The little thin plastic body form was also too big for it. Velma's almost too big - and she has the 1997 Teen Skipper body !
Wasn't sure what to do with the hood. It had a seam already, and a hem. Too short for a scarf or even a good headband. On a whim, I sewed the new raw edges together, and folded it into a shape. Voila ! Coordinating hat. It's still mostly just an irregularly-shaped tube, so I can configure it differently later.
Velma's using the star on the door to the Studio as a photo backdrop. It's just a cardboard star box lid, spray-painted silver. Her hair's more red than this, too. Out of the package, Velma's hair is like concrete. A warm wash eliminated the heavy spray, but also some of the darker color. She actually looks more like a Molly Ringwald doll, but she's still Velma to me !
