Now Playing: Wii Sports - I think it's tennis...
Current Mood : Lazy, yet still critical
As it turned out, I didn't have to go anywhere for new curtain hardware. Beloved Hubby had a discarded dowel from a closet redo he worked on, and it took him maybe 15 minutes in his Shop to fashion wooden hooks for it. Still had some silver spray paint from the star box and star pegs I made for the Lab back when it was the Studio, so we painted ‘em to match. Poof ! Great new curtains and hardware, with a matching chair cover, and a blanket and dust ruffle, all for $5. I really like it !
While you don't see it in the photo, these go nearly to the floor, and the 'planets' print is bordered top and bottom by the same 'stars' fabric you see at the top. It even hides the ironing board hooks. Sweeet !
We sort of took the rest of the day off. Sorted and stored all the stuff I bought yesterday - it took me nearly an hour to wind the bag of lace up. Had no idea some of those strips were so long, because they were wadded up in a bunch ! It twisted like a cyclone, too. But there's plenty of it, and it's not in a tangled wad anymore, so it'll be easier to use. Still have to cheap-serge the new fabric, though. I didn't even fill up the stuff-a-sacks, but I certainly got a lot of it all. Scored a blouse I have no use for, but the lace on it was gorgeous. So I'll pick that off while waiting for Dearest Son's bus this week. I like to have little projects like that, so the wait doesn't seem so long.
We'd promised to get Dearest a certain movie, so we headed out to the book/video/music store. And I got a copy of Fashion Doll Quarterly, Summer 2008. It has a couple patterns - fake fur coat for Tyler, slinky-tight dress for Sybarites (how big are they, anyway ?), and a room divider ‘screen' for FR/Barbie size décor. It also features multi-page ‘articles' (coughCatalogs) about companies and events that have amazingly taken out full-page color ads ! What are the odds ?
I was really underwhelmed at that screen. Here's the directions : ‘Paste (design) onto foamcore and tape together for an instant budoir (sic) delight'. Guess I shouldn't expect much from an editor that lets misspellings like that go by - especially when the ‘article' is only three sentences long. It further advises using a scanner to enlarge it for the bigger dolls. Of course, the one in the magazine looks great. The white edges of the foamcore don't show at all ! Even if you buy black foamcore (at roughly $6. vs. the white stuff at Dollar Tree), the inside is white, but somehow, gluing paper to it dyes the inside. Ingenious ! And every time I've cut foamcore, I've sort of bent the posterboard edges in a bit, even when I used a knife or rotary. Amazing again how that doesn't happen here, especially when you're using three pieces...and it also balances perfectly.
That's one reason I haven't bought a room divider screen thing. I love ‘em, and love to have one, but ready-made ones are too expensive, the wrong scale, or not really the kind I'd like. I had a pattern for one that involved covering foam core with a fabric sort of slipcover, and joining the pieces with ribbon, but I haven't done it yet, because I didn't see how it'd work. Kind of like here...
The Elphie-size fur coat is interesting, but rather bulky. It actually looks better on a 19-inch doll ! I may try it with some simple broadcloth, maybe it'll look better if it doesn't overwhelm the doll so much. And I doubt any of my dolls would fit the Sybarite pattern. Mine kind of enjoy being able to sit down.
So why did I shell out $10. for a magazine I can barely use ? Well, I was kind of desperate for something new to read, and the new ‘Ultimate Basic Tyler' ad intrigued me. Sadly, the only multi-page Tonner articles were about the new Company Store opening and a pretend doll ‘feud' between Tyler and Voss, another imaginary designer. I so love it when a doll company creates a play situation for me, so I don't have to use my own imagination. Heck, I might play with their product wrong ! There was also a rather hack BJD photo-story and pages of artfully-lit Sybarite photos. I don't know which repelled me more.
What sold it was a three page article with a sort of hidden pattern, under the heading ‘Midge Can Be Glamorous, Too !'. Well, I'd cross out ‘can be' and write ‘IS', but you know I have a soft spot for Midge the size of my whale heart. And even though the pattern is very simple, the photos are pretty and gave me ideas. Maybe I'll have time this week to sew a bit - summer school starts Tuesday !
