Current Mood : Vastly improved
Spent on thread : $5.84
Spent on patterns : $1.08
Spent on dolls : 54c
Sorry for the vanishing act yesterday - there was a lot going on and a lot I had to deal with and work through. Suffice it to say that the worst is worked, and I feel much better.
Busting butt yesterday on housework - washed, dried, and put away four loads of laundry, vacuumed the whole house, swept the Kitchen and Lab, and did dishes - meant that I was prepared to do jack-all today. Well, I still cooked and cleaned and did groceries and ran an errand for Beloved Hubby, but the rest of the day was mine !
Took a nap after Dearest Son left for school, then feasted on a nice breakfast of ham steaks (freezer leftovers) and going-fast eggs. Made up a grocery list and double-checked Checking, and off we went. I kind of have to plan things with Weather.com since Molly-chan's driver's window is stuck. All the way down. The power window's motor has been iffy for quite some time, and of course, it died during a week when rain's expected every day. At least we have the garage to park her in.
We kind of needed the driveway space anyway - DFIL got his truck out of repairs yesterday, so we got the little truck we bought back. Until the key froze in DFIL's ignition last night. My afternoon errand was taking our little truck to DFIL. (sigh) We call the little truck ‘Bonnie', so we're hoping Bonnie comes home soon - and stays for longer next time !
During the grocery run, I saw that they were redoing the thread display in some fashion - mostly I heard this guy getting loudly upset that parts were missing for the new one. I have no idea what it's supposed to look like, it was still cardboard and general upheaval in that section, not much else. I snagged another ‘blush peach' spool and a ‘palest pink', along with a variegated green I've been wanting, for $5.50. Yup, only one was on markdown. Oh, well. I looked over the machine embroidery threads again, but I pretty much have what they do, and bobbin thread was still only average-priced. Someone cleaned ‘em out of the glow-in-the-dark spools. No good fabric remnants, either, but it's not like I really want prints anymore.
From there, I hit the thrift, and scored two unused patterns and a small-toy grab bag. The toy bag had a Perfume Princess Cinderella, unfortunately nude, but very pretty. The two patterns were for accessories. McCalls 5012 was all about cases. It included a vinyl tote, a checkbook cover, a glasses case, iPod and Mp3 covers, and a cell phone case. I'm mostly interested in the checkbook cover and the eyeglasses case.
McCall's 5017 had sewing accessory patterns. There was a cat-themed appliqué sewing machine cover and matching pincushion, and a patchwork cover. What got my attention was the hang-down organizer. It's basically a divided pocket that fits under a machine and hangs over the edge of the table/desk. I could see this coming in handy for those multiple-spool embroidery designs. And the machine covers... well, here's the truth. I saw one for an embroidery machine just like Brody, with the embroidery platform attached. It covered the whole machine, platform and all. It was a really great design. Too bad the pattern alone was $20., and I was unlikely to make more than one. Let's face it, I'm cheap - for twenty bucks, I'd expect the cover already made, not just a pattern. So I bought this one today in hopes that I can learn enough from it to draft my own embroidery machine cover.
I sort of did for KJ's cover. I measured how much fabric I'd need to drape over him, then added sides. I know that doesn't make much sense, and the cover was kinda lopsided, but it worked, and I had fun adding buttons and appliqués and patches to it. Now I want something fun for Brody. And I'd rather spend time and effort on prototypes than a pattern.
What was funny about both patterns is that they're unused - but both tissue sections look to be unfolded, refolded... then wadded up and shoved back in the envelope. I'm gonna have a lot of fun getting these cut out and ironed back into shape. I'm not sure why I didn't just decide to wait and get them on 99c sale in better shape, since they were 50c each at the Thrift, but, well 50c saved is still fiddy-cents. And I just now found out that 5012 is out of print, so I think I did well anyway. Plus, it's a good feeling to pull something good out of a second-hand venue.
Came home from the day's endeavors and decided to take a trial run at the ‘Grammar Police' designs. Used fabric from the first $1.99 fabric grab-bag - but it was badly wrinkled. So I had to iron it first. Also used the color scheme suggested by the designer. Came out pretty cute, the apple catches light like a real silver badge, but I'm wondering how it'd look with a red apple...This one also got Peltex attached to the back via Stitch Witchery, and got a SuperGlue-applied magnet. I was hoping to make a pin from it, but it wouldn't stick. Hmmm...
Beloved says he has a can of spray adhesive I'm welcome to experiment with, so I may try that on the next one. I'm not sure why, but spray adhesive at paint stores is about $4. a can that's about spray-paint sized. Same size can at Hancock Fabrics is about $12. I wonder what the difference is, if there is anything different about them.
After dinner, I got a bit bored, so while Dearest was showering across the hall, I hit the Lab with the new variegated green thread. It's official, BTW - my embroidery thread boxes are now full, and the regular thread boxes are at capacity, too. Unless it's darn near raining spools, no more thread purchases. Besides, creative substitution is sexy.
The second Disney-font D came out gorgeous ! I can't wait for you to see it tomorrow ! True, it may not be to everyone's tastes, but I think it's awesome. I think I still need to work on the bobbin tension - you can't even see the bobbin thread on the back side ! - but there's no puckering and no errors at all. It's as close to perfect as I've ever come. I may have to iron my fabric before hooping it from now on, if my results are this good.
