Mood:  cool

XM's 'IT' is fantastic. Second time I've heard it, it begins on 4 (the 40s channel), and keeps going until every song that's ever charted has been played. They've played all day and are now up to April 1980. It's incredible !

Still sick, but doing better. Dearest Son returned to school, but it looks like it's making the rounds - several of his classmates were out today. I'm on the downhill part, but Beloved Hubby is where I was yesterday. Blasted miserable. About all I can do is feed him and put him to bed when he comes home.

Had errands to run - I keep forgetting it's Tuesday ! - and on the way back from the last of 'em, I decided to stop in a thrift store I haven't been to in a while, mostly because they're not open Saturdays. Found an Alto Sax music book for Beloved Hubby, a fire-engine sweatshirt for dearest son, and a pattern for me - well, actually, for Cabbage Patch dolls and kids. It makes simple jackets and pants, and it's in Dearest Son's size. There's girls all over the pattern envelope, but a jacket's a jacket. Still have to see if all the pieces are there, but for a quarter, I couldn't resist.  

On the way to the register, I found this doll. A soft-body Belle, from Playmates 2003. I think she was a 'Princess Diva' or something, I vaguely remember them from the Marts. For a buck I bought her, too, and her removable dress fits Leia !

Isn't she lovely ? Now, if I could just figure out what that doll line was called...they had a Cinderella, too...

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:34 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:43 AM CDT

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Ok, so we turned off our TV two years ago. I know almost nothing about the American Idol craze, save for a few winners' names. One is nearly a local girl, the newspaper is there with a hanky every time she sneezes, so we can be informed about how she felt during and after said sneeze, consequently, I haven't been allowed to forget her name, although I'd like to. Anyway, XM Satellite Radio's channel 23 - The Heart, love songs 24-7 - seems to play AI recordings fairly frequently. So here's my question - do all AI alumni have a song with 'one moment' as the theme ? I swear, I heard two like that, nearly identical songs from different 'winners'. Urgh. I may be sick again...

I'm still miserable, but the cold has gone from 'drip' to 'chunk', which is entirely too much information for you, and I apologize for icking you out. Some people shed inhibitions with alcohol. I get waaaaay too personal when I'm ill. Beloved Hubby has a minor version of the same thing, and Dearest Son, who brought this %$#@ thing home from school, is nearly recovered.  

Haven't done much but sleep. Oh, I did join DeviantArt a few days ago, posted some doll customizations you've already seen on the site. It was mostly to thank Doc Hammer for that I-still-love-it poster for DragonCon, I had to join to leave the message. So I posted the home page photo of Elphie wearing the poster shirt. And posted a few more. And some later. If you wanna see, I'll post the link, but it's nothing you haven't seen or read already.

http://dorriebelle.deviantart.com/   Heh. Looks a lot like the address for the main site, huh ?  

It's kind of suprising I did that. Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel confident about sharing my hobby anywhere but here. And it's one thing to make off with web images and make a doll clothes out of 'em, but to tell the image creator...? That's confidence bordering on near arrogance for me. But I did it. Wheee.

Beloved Hubby ended up getting Labor Day off after all. He was all set to work, but it was raining there. I've let him have the terminal so he could write. Still, he's sick, if not as miserable as me, so when he got tired, this baby was mine, all mine !

Not that I'm really doing much with it. There is some secondary guilt I wanna talk about though. Remember our neighbor's dogs ? The ones that barked for hours and woke me up at least three times a week at 3am for no apparent reason ? The one our neighbor, their owner, ignored, even though they were barking about two feet from her bedroom windows ? 

Well, they're gone. Have been since Saturday. They got out somehow - I know when they get into another neighbor's fence, he puts them out of his yard to run free, but they always go back to their yard. And here's my guilt. I saw them running loose, and didn't do a darn thing to corral them back. I figured they would on their own, they have before. Their owner wasn't home, not that she would have answered her door anyway. She herself said Friday that she needed to 'do something' about them, the property management co. had leaned on her some about 'em. Probably due to neighbors calling about them being in their yards and the ceaseless barking.

But knowing it all, I did nothing. I honestly thought they'd go back on their own, and chasing dogs in the rain wasn't something I was gonna do when I was already sick. I do feel vaguely guilty about it, mostly because I haven't been awakened at 3am since Friday night. Haven't seen her, and for all I know, she's relieved, but I'm happy they're gone, so I'm guilty as heck.  My karma's probably in the toilet.

Haven't done anything doll-related since I finished Elphie's shirt. I keep meaning to make Fiyero a t-shirt, but I just don't have the interest and energy going at the same time. I need to go get some cold medicine, or something. Maybe they make one with a guilt reliever, too... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 2:12 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 4 September 2006 2:17 PM CDT

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Mood:  don't ask

Uggh. Caught Dearest Son's cold, and I am miserable. How am I dripping from my nose like a busted faucet and congested at the same time ? 

At least the plumbing got fixed yesterday afternoon. Not that it has anything to do with how ugggh I feel, just that using 'field expedient' methods would be even more of a PITA when I can barely be more than two feet from some sort of tissue or handkercheif.

I'm going back to bed...Hope you have a great Labor Day tomorrow !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Have you ever bought something - a pricey purse, maybe, or a special do-hickey for your computer - but ended up too scared to use it, for fear you'd screw it up ? Well, I may be clearing my 'fear' decks after sewing that blouse Thursday (fear of a new pattern and new fabric !), because yesterday, I faced one of the specialty items I bought months ago, and actually used it !

Months ago, using a Hobby Lobby discount coupon, I bought some iron-on 'Print and Press' paper. Even with the discount, it was more than a buck a page, and we didn't even have a color cartridge in the printer yet ! Dutifully, I read the directions and then never touched it. Had some grand ideas, but my follow-through was, as usual for me, seriously lacking. 

But sometimes, it's just the absolute most right time you're ever gonna find, and you're ready and can go for it. As a devoted fan of The Venture Bros., I keep my shiny eyes on a favorite fan site. The site owner announced the link to a poster for a convention that the show's creator, Doc Hammer, created, and I was at that site PDQ. And I loved it ! 

Here's the link to the poster - http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38849487/

See why I love it ? 'May the Better Man Win' ! And there's Dr. Girlfriend ! AND The Monarch ! Who gives a flip for Phantom Limb ? Nobody I know ! I had to have that ! So I saved it like a good image thief and printed out a copy as a poster perfect for Elphie's bedroom. Still, that wasn't enough for me. What about that iron on printer paper...

After a few misunderstandings with PaintShopPro, I got it to print the size and color I wanted. Y'see, it wanted to use a whole sheet of that $1.25 paper to print one miniature, cropped version of that ! I then hit on the obvious idea to 'create' an image sheet, with several versions of that graphic - plus a few more -  and that way, get a bunch of images on that same sheet. Just takes some cut/paste and mirror skills.

So. It's all printed.  Would I have the guts to actually *use* it ? The convention was Saturday. If I wait too long, it won't be very special... well, it's on the home page.  After four attempts, I got it right, and I love it. Even wrote Doc Hammer to tell him, not that he'll respond, but I feel I owe it to him to tell him what I did with his image. 

Debated which to do first. Sew the shirt, then iron on the decal ? If the decal screwed up - and it did, twice - that'd be a lot of wasted work. But if I put the decal on first, it'd get handled a lot, and might not be in the right place. Decisions... ended up putting the decal on after I cut the fabric. First transfer didn't work, second worked, but I screwed up the shirt. Third didn't work. Fourth did, and I got the shirt right ! Happy ! 

I've since figured out where I messed up - iron wasn't hot enough on the first and third tries - and I really enjoyed doing it. And there's still two more decals to use - one great image of Lisa Hayes from Robotech : Macross, another from a doujinshi (fan art comic book) of Molly and Nephlite sharing a parfait (Sailor Moon). I'd say that I'll try to get to them today, but...

Our plumbing doesn't work. Yup. Toilet and tub, no go. We've put in a call, but it's Saturday, on Labor Day weekend, so I think we're gonna have to shift for it until Tuesday. I'm kind of hoping it's our neighbor's fault - everything worked until hers went screwy, then ours did. Wish us luck...  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Saturday, 2 September 2006 9:51 AM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Seems like I have to keep starting these with apologies. Sorry I vanished again. I guess I hit a slump. Seemed like nothing was fun or important all week. Made a simple Leia skirt that screwed up - it's now a simple Barbie-size skirt - and I think that was a signal for me to take a break for a bit.

But I came back yesterday, made the skirt again. Still not happy with the hem, yet it fits, so I'm just gonna go with it. When I make the matching blouse, I'll post a photo. I'm thinking seriously of giving Leia her own page. It's kinda not fair to the Barbie-scale dolls, since they can't really wear her stuff.

Once that was done, I still had most of a day, so I slumped around a bit, bored. There's this basket on top of my milk-crate fabric storage towers that holds 'recent uncompleted project'. Kind of a misnomer, as the project in it had sat untouched and unbegun since April. Just a couple yards of fabric I liked from a Mart discount table, and a never-used pattern for a shirt (also two other shirts and pants/shorts) in my size. Back in April, I was gonna try this new pattern, as the one I'd used twice before was OK, but I wanted better. And there it sat ever since.

Until yesterday. It'd be simple to say I started at 11am and finished at 9pm, but there was a lot in between ! Dearest Son's school and therapy, my extended lunch and computer time-waste, an hour's worth of housework and some more wasted time on the terminal, dinner, time with Beloved Hubby, etc. I estimate that solid work-time, from layout to final hem, was about three hours. Lotsa narrow doubled hems. It's much better than the one I worked before, and the fit's better, too.

I'm still not entirely sure what got me off my burgeoning butt. I need new clothes, and if I can find fabric I like at a good price, it's actually cheaper to make my clothes. My size isn't the easiest to find. Heck, I can spend more time trying to find my size than I'd use to make something. 

Few days ago, I was checking the Mart 'dollar table' (some Marts do have a fabric section wherein all you see's a buck a yard !) and found two lovely Asian-inspired fabrics. Inexpensive woven cotton, but very pretty. I prefer woven fabric to knits, as I tend to 'show through' knit blouses, and it's embarassing. One had more browns and a bolder design, the other one was green with a gingko leaf and luna moth design. Ended up buying some yardage of each, and got 'em cheap-serged and washed. Afterwards, I realized - I'd bought the *pants* yardage, not the blouse's !

Well, darn. Print's too big for doll clothes, and I hate to have a spare yard sitting around. So I planned on going back the next day to get blouse fabric, and make sets ! Yup. I love matching pants and blouses, wear 'em all the time. Why not make 'em ? I have before.

Beloved Hubby saw them drying on the rack, and really liked the green one. He asked if there was more of it - he knows I often buy remnants -  I said there was...and he asked me to buy the bolt ! Seems he wants a floor-length men's kimono. Kind of like the Happi Coat I made Fiyero, but longer. That's doable. I even have a set of 'no pattern' directions. So, I trotted back to the Mart, and soon had the one blouse yardage and 8 2/3 yards of the green - the first time I've ever gotten to say, "And that one, I'll just take the whole bolt.". When half a yard is an entire doll wardrobe, buying a bolt is a seldom thing !  

So it's all washed and dried, ready to go whenever he is. Y'see, he wants to make it himself ! That's fine with me. I have enough to make my sets, and I finally got the April blouse made, so I'm ready to make more. Making clothes for myself is more fun than I thought. I feel a kinship to everyone who ever laid fabric out on the bed, Simplicity pattern in one hand, scissors in the other, pins gripped between lips. Or out on the floor in the hallway, I've done that, too. It's a real accomplishment, to have fabric in the morning and a blouse at night, while the rest of the country seems to gasp, 'Somebody still sews ?!!'. I hope to again, soon ! 

Just not today. Dearest Son has a bad cold, and he's home today. Just not gonna have the time. Maybe next week. I have lots of fabric sitting around here... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:42 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

(happy sigh) My Beloved Hubby is the greatest ! We visited the local comics shop this morning, and bought two new manga (Japanese comics) volumes, and rented three anime (Japanese animation) DVDs. I also found the adorable 'Goth' Hello Kitty keychain that Elphie's shown holding at the top of  the main site's home page. It's so cute ! Normally, I don't like Hello Kitty much - the 'no mouth' thing kinda freaks me out, and she's so darn pink !  But this bad girl has a glittery black tutu, with gloves and lace-tie shoes to match, with an attitude-laden saucy bow. But what sold me were the tiny felt wings ! You can barely see them in the photo, but they're so cute !

From there, we travelled to a Japanese steak house he wanted to try, and we had the most delicious lunch ! We had sushi for the first time - and it's OK, but I preferred my beef teriyaki bento box. I just had a California roll, something most gaijin like, but Hubby had a cucumber roll as well. The presentation was beautiful. Almost hated to eat it, but it smelled wonderful. We also had miso soup, with tofu, onions, and seaweed, something else new. It tasted a lot like chicken soup to me, but not quite. Very tasty. 

It was amazing how full you got from eating so little. I don't normally like seaweed or cucumbers, but happily found myself eating both, especially with a little ginger. Wow, is ginger spicy ! My previous experience with it was ginger snap cookies ! I didn't go near the wasabi, as I hate things like horseradish. But sushi isn't bad at all...still, I enjoyed my teriyaki more. Found another sushi place, so we may be going there soon.

Came home and watched our anime DVDs. We'd been reading Ai Yori Aoshi - translated, of course - but I saw a clip of it on YouTube.com yesterday. Had no idea it'd been animated. It really is beautiful. With so much focus on 'battling trading card' kid shows, I'd about forgotten that there is more adult-themed animation out there. AYA is far from x-rated (it's not even R, save for some airbrushed nudity, much like a nude Barbie in appearance), but it's not a kids' show. It's more of a relationship series. And it's very sweet. 

Found two pair of old doll shoes in a yard sale this morning. Took a chance - hey, for 50c, why not ? - and they fit the Disney Princess dolls perfectly. I think they were made for porcelain dolls, but it's not like that matters now ! The comic shop also had some Hello Kitty sneaker keychains that would probably fit Crissy - high-tops with cool patterns - but it'd be $14. for a pair of 'em. Kinda expensive...maybe later.

I've about cleaned out our local Dollar Tree's supply of those tiny brads - you can see 'em in use in Leia's latest outfit, on the Barbie page - so I hit the one in the next town. Theirs hadn't sold at all, so I bought out all the black ones they had, scored two more packages of white and one silver. That should do me for quite some time ! Beloved Hubby told me what I'd need to do to custom-paint 'em for special outfits, so I think I'm all set !

Right now, we're in the middle of a rainstorm. And it's nearly Dearest Son's bedtime, he had such a great day with Granny and Grand-dad. I'm pretty tired m'self, and I didn't do much. Hope your day was fun, too ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:11 PM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Late again -man, my social calendar books up fast when school's in session !

Had some time this morning, and tried the polo/golf shirt again. Seems I misread the directions - when they said 'follow the 'sew line' down and back up again, making a small slit', I did just that. The slit was about an eighth of an inch wide, and v-shaped.  So today, I used the 1/4" seam allowance on the 'sew line', and it worked better, but didn't leave enough for the placket extention.

So I ripped it out and cut another front and facing. Instead of using the marked 'sew line' on the facing, I used the line next to it. Worked much better, but as a consequence, mine has a button placket that goes down much further than the pattern photo indicates. And I still have to work on getting my collars even, but on the whole, it's not too bad.

Here's a comparison photo of today's finished item and the pattern. As you can see, the pattern image is on the left.

The pattern is by Tamara, of 'DesignsByJude', and it's called 'Resort Getaway'. Here's a link to it, it's available via eBay - 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=

9512610190&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Or just do a search for "Resort Getaway for Matt O'Neill", it'll come up. 

The fit is great, and while I still need some practice, it isn't at all difficult to sew up. Especially if you read the directions correctly !  The collar webbing I used on yesterday's and today's efforts came from discarded Dearest Son shirts, so it might work up better for me if I used new stuff. 

On the whole, I'm pretty pleased with this pattern, and I'll definitely work it up again. There's a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and swim trunks included, and I wanna try them, too. A darn good value for $10. plus shipping - it's not like you can find a Matt O'Neill pattern on sale at Hancock Fabrics or Joann's for 99c this month ! She ships fast - I think I paid for mine on a Monday and had it in my hands Wednesday. I've been sitting on this pattern for over a month !  

For some reason, I'll get all excited about getting a new pattern, and once I have it, I don't use it, often for quite some time. Doesn't make sense, does it ? I have some Barbie patterns I've never used, but I was happily clutching 'em to me when I bought 'em. And I'll be honest, once it looked like today's efforts would work, and I'd have a Fiyero-wearable shirt, my hands got all wonky and shaky. I was that excited. I guess I don't want to ruin the excitement with experience ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:42 AM CDT

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Mood:  bright

Having a little more trouble connecting to the Blog Builder - nothing like earlier this week, but it's still a bit of a pain. So let me get this done quick, before there's more problems !

Tried the Fiyero (Matt O'Neill) polo/golf shirt pattern today. I completely messed up the collar and the extentions all by myself. Not the pattern's fault, and I know where I bit it. Here's the proof -

Shirt body itself fits great. Sleeves are good, and the shirt goes together well. I didn't do the collar right - I misunderstood some directions, and by the time I understood, and resewed it, the fabric had torn and become unstable. I also didn't quite have the front opening extensions right when I sewed 'em, so that's something else to work on !

Luckily, I got lotsa fabric, even if it looks like Fiyero here's short on patience ! This particular bit was from a box of rags. One of the joys of my hubby's job - he gets these rag boxes on occasion, and I plow through all twelve pounds within, looking for the occasional treasure. They're mostly ripped t-shirts, but I often find lace, elastic, designer labels, and nice material.  This wasn't as nice, but it was polo/golf shirt fabric, so I decided to give it a go.

My fledgling PaintShopPro skills are hiding a bit of an oil spot on the front I didn't see during cutting. But it's not like I'm gonna keep this one - it's not even hemmed. I'll work it again tomorrow, and once I get it right, I'll be glad to share the creator's name - since the error on this one is mine, not hers, I don't want to put her good name on my bad sewing.  

I like this pattern. And I can't wait to get it right !  Wish me luck tomorrow !

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:20 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:41 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

It's still kind of funny to me. Spent the last two weeks, if not all of August, getting ready for Dearest Son's return to school. It's already over, and I'm the one wandering around wondering what to do next !

Well, today, I sewed. But in order to do that, I had to organize and store all the patterns I've used - I knew I already had a Leia Pants pattern, but darn if I could find it. So I popped in an old MST3K tape (Castle of Fu Manchu) and got everything sorted and stored. That's a job I've put off for weeks. It's a lot more fun to print and sew and go - not much fun sorting all of it out ! 

I also got to use the tiny brads I bought from Dollar Tree. Those worked out great ! May go buy 'em out tomorrow, Leia's outfit used six and I only had 25 black ones ! Finished photo's on the Barbie page, but here's a close-up of the blouse...

Not too bad. Wanted to try a new 'Dr. Girlfriend' costume for Elphie, one that looked a bit closer to the real thing. Was playing with the lapels in Leia's size, and printed it out for reference. Out of boredom Tuesday, I went ahead and worked it up. Skipped the collar, and it's too short for a dress, but it's darn cute as a blouse, especially with matching slacks.

The brads were so much fun. I put one in at the top corner, then measured Leia's hand with a sliding ruler. Rounded it off, then measured down from the first one, marked it with a pin, made a small hole with the seam ripper, and treated it with Fray-Check - this fabric frays easily.

Once dry, I just inserted the brads, clipped the long ends, and folded 'em closed. Done. Since the blouse is supposed to have a lapel, the brad edges don't get near Leia's chest - there's two layers of fabric (the other side facing) between brad and...well, bust. Two hidden snaps keep it modestly closed.

Sure, it's not much like the costume. But I like the design anyway. It looks sort of futuristic !

I'm thinking of trying Fiyero's golf shirt tomorrow. Wish me luck !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 4:05 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:41 AM CDT

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Mood:  don't ask

Sorry again - this time it ain't my fault ! I've been trying since Sunday night to get in to write ! All the stuff I wrote in Word to transfer in here is so out of date, I won't waste your time with it.

But here's the rundown - Dearest Son started school. After wrestling with school admin and lunchboxes, everything went just fine. He's adjusting well, and the much-ballyhooed Cars lunchbox arrived today. Parking and pick-up/drop-off is a freak-out fest, but I'm getting acclimated. Long as I have a book and my $25. MP3 player, I'm fine. Why spend big bucks on an iPod ?

Printed out a pattern just for giggles - I mean, I had no intentions of actually *sewing* my Leia doll a Dr. Girlfriend costume. I was mostly playing with the lapels, so when I make Elphie's lavender one, I'd know a bit more how to get those right.

Well, today I sewed Leia a kelly-green Dr. Girlfriend outfit. What can I say, I love green, so there's tons of green fabric around here. It's a bit short, right at her hinder without the hem I haven't sewn yet, so it'll end up as a blouse. But it looks good, fits well, and I think she looks gorgeous. Still have to finish it up - hem, brads, snaps -  but that'll complete it, so I'll post a photo then.

Fact is, I'm still adjusting to Dearest Son being gone all day. Although we got on each other's nerves sometimes during the summer, it's awful quiet with him at school. I can barely get motivated to do much beyond watch old MST3K tapes, so sewing Leia's Dr. G costume today was a welcome change. I was thinking I might start back up with my old service project, dressing dolls for charities, but there doesn't seem to be much call for it now.

I'd go back to work, but since Beloved Hubby's started advertising his new business, and Son's in school, I'm on phone and chauffer duty. Guess that's work ! 

So's that kitchen, and it hasn't cleaned itself yet. Guess I'd better get on it. I'm so happy I finally got to Blog !! Missed you !

Posted by dorriebelle at 5:05 PM CDT

Updated: Tuesday, 22 August 2006 5:13 PM CDT

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