Mood:
irritatedNow Playing: "The Running Man Special Edition" - another find in the $5. bin
No rude surprises on the porch today - I'm sure you're as disappointed as I. I did, however, have a minor brainstorm late last night. Was thinking about the pseudo-Agatha's Underwear set I made. It's pictured on Honey on the main site's home page. One side is curved, the other is almost squared. That could have come from the way I cut it, or the way I hemmed it. It's often difficult to see if you're staying on the mark when you're feeding ¼" of fabric to the needle. Especially when curves are involved.
Then it hit me - they make invisible (i.e., clear plastic) presser feet ! And, digging in my sewing machine's built-in accessory drawer, I found that I already had one ! Machine came with it, I just never used it. Well, score ! That almost makes up for the rain that washed away all my usual yard sale hunting today.
And while I had ideas, I went ahead and looked up ‘sewing snap fasteners' online. Long time ago, I read an eBay auction for a kitchen-table type doll clothes pattern that included tips on how to sew snap fasteners perfectly. I was intrigued, but had patterns for the same outfits at least five times over. But I was intrigued about perfectly sewing snaps. Mine look like crap. No matter how neatly I sew the tiny stitches, or how much time and care I spend, it always look like a car accident on the other side. Just with thread and fabric instead of a Mini Cooper and a Mack Truck.
The online tips were more of what I already knew, but I guess the real secret is to either use an industrial machine, like Mattel does on those rare occasions when they run out of Velcro TM or something, or sew the snap to only the facing, not the fabric beneath it. Not very stable, in my opinion, but it'd still work, and definitely wouldn't show. Hmpft.
Oh, yeah. Remember those Birthstone dolls I was considering a few weeks ago ? Decided against ‘em because their faces just didn't appeal ( actually, they looked like grown-up Bratz to me, or worse, Paris Hilton, if you want my truthful opinion...and those *&^% tiara'd dogs certainly didn't improve that image !) even though they were on my favorite Steffie head mold. Now I'm really glad I didn't get one. Turns out, Mattel's back to their familiar tricks. Those pretty curls in front ? It's a mass of loose, frizzed up and tangled waves in the back. If you really look at the doll still in the package, you can see it. Member of a doll chat group was upset about it, and I sympathized, but part of me was laughing hard. (softly chuckling sigh) Oh, Mattel. Can I ever trust you again ?
In fact, at Lisa's ‘Tiny Zippers' site, you can see it, but she's taken time to brush hers out, probably a lot of time. Curls are so short in the front, but the hair in the back is much longer.
http://tinyzippers.com/index.html
Doll in the middle, of course. Pretty doll, but I just can't get over those ‘roving eyes' and ‘p*rn star' mouth. If they'd just de-puckered her lips a bit, I'd probably have that exact doll. Goss knows Mal-Wart's got a few dozen of ‘em now. Not sure if I'd like the ‘Model Muse' body either - that hollow throat thing bugs me. Reminds me too much of a shrewish political commentator we have here in the States. You know, the harpy.
Off that. Was thinking about the new line of ‘Pivotal' dolls Mattel's rolling out. They were evidently the stars of Toy Fair '07, given the number of photos and press I've read about ‘em. Mostly, I thought about ‘em because I was reading the cover-story article about it in the Barbie Collector Beloved Hubby got me the other day. Still need to review that, BTW, for now, let's just say I'm enjoying it. They're certainly pretty - especially the ‘Velma Kelly'-ish brunette. But what makes these the subject of intense adult interest when other dolls have had poseable joints for decades ? Were they Mattel's answer to big-ticket ball-joint dolls ? Or was it just more hype ?
Started to believe it was the latter - especially since their sexy Cabaret costumes covered all the joints. Long gloves, fishnet hose, glittery black netting...hmm. It almost sounds like they don't want anyone to see those much-ballyhooed joints. Remember the ‘Twirling Ballerina' dolls ? First time Barbie'd had hose in years, and it was mostly to give the illusion of a smoother set of ankle and knee joints. Many other ‘Gymnast' bodies were issued in long sleeve costumes, possibly to hide the almost insect-like elbow, with its glaring silver screws. It didn't bug me, I just could never figure out why they didn't paint the screws to match the skin, but let's remember, this is Mattel.
The article itself had waaaay too much white space. Surely somebody can fill a three page article with more than just photos ! Guess not. Maybe there's not much to say. Except that the dolls have twelve points of articulation - head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hip, and knee. Um...that's not much more than a standard $5. swimsuit doll, guys. Less than yer average six-inch action figure, too. Jem has all of that, with no hinges exposed, and she was out on the market in 1985 ! New Living Barbie had much the same - a twist waist instead of a torso hinge - and she was released in 1970 ! Even her ankles were poseable. While she's a little bit bigger, Elphie has all the same joints the Pivotal ones do - and you could see hers before you bought her.
While the Pivotal dolls are lovely, I just don't see what all the fuss is about. If Mattel is sooooooo proud of their newest doll, you'd think there'd be photos of the doll in a swimsuit, or even nude. Nope. They don't want anyone to see those precious pivots, at least, not until they've shelled $50. for each. Wow. Seems like a lot for not much. Especially when the engineer interviewed - Bill Greening - didn't have much to say either, except that press was positive, and that body'd been on the drawing board since '05. I'm wondering if it wasn't on the board a heckuva lot earlier than that !
And they come with nice props. But I can't help remembering The Simpsons episode where Lisa points out that there's nothing really new about the latest Malibu Stacy. The enthusiastic reply is "She has a NEW HAT !", and the pushing and shoving to get one begins.
You can even see it on YouTube...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-SC_gOD5l_w
Yeah, I'd have been the kid yelling that the Emperor was naked, too.
About all the sewing I did was attaching snaps and buttons to the shirt I sewed Rio yesterday, and posting a new photo of him and Jem by the Sound Cube on the main site. I'm not sure which doll will get something new next. But I hope to sew tomorrow !
