Mood:  d'oh

Not a lot happening. Had time to sew, just didn't, for whatever reason. I just wanted to sit and stare at the monitor. About all I got done today was a new alteration to the made-four-times Velvet dress. I added an inch to the hems, and cut it to form an ungathered yoke. And even after that, I wasn't interested in sewing it. Maybe this weekend. Guess I'm in a stupor.

Looked at Beth's 'Children's Advocacy' pages - and there's not really anywhere I can donate. So I'll send a donation to the local shelter. It's not much, but it alleviates my 'grabby guilt'.

Forgive me, I'm in a mood again. Few weeks ago, we downloaded the Japanese version of a much-loved show that aired here in the States in the 80s. Oh, how I adored this show. I loved its soap-opera romances, kind of got into the politics, tolerated the mecha (robots, spaceships) aspects, grabbed snacks during the extended battle sequences. Let's face it, I was there for the romance ! I used this show frequently to illustrate my point that animation doesn't equal sub-par dumbed-down kids' show.

So. Getting back to the point. We got to see part of the Japanese original. And in many ways it was superior. But where it counted, it bothered me. Mr. Hero, the apex of a love triangle, doesn't choose the character I liked. Oh, he ends up with her, but it doesn't seem to be by his choice. He never said he loved her, ever. At least in the last US episode, he realizes that he does. Not so in the Japanese. Little Miss Singing Star basically says she's going back to her life, been nice to know ya, Mr. Hero Stud. So he stands there with Character I Really Like, and it snows. End of series. 

As a result, I feel a bit cheated and angry and oddly out of sorts. Same thing kind of happened with something else today, so I'm in a mood. Hopefully I'll bounce out of it soon.

Maybe I'll hit Hancock Fabrics. Haven't been there in months. 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  a-ok

Whoo. Busy day. Got tired of the huge pile of VHS tapes scattered everywhere, and set out to organize it. Two hours later, I was done, and tired ! Eight tapes will go to the next charity that calls for a donation, ten were culled to use for repairs or blanks, and all the 'Disney Clamshells' are in Dearest Son's room. Got all his 'Thomas the Tank Engine' tapes together, too. He had about twelve of those, and most of the animated classics from my younger years.

On seeing the wealth of videotapes in his room, Son exclaimed how happy he was. Looking in his eyes, I could see that he just knew he had the treasures of Midas at his fingertips. I felt much the same way. Just having them all  organized differently made them seem new again. Watched two of them tonight.  

As predicted, today was too busy to do anything doll-related. But the Velvet patterns are now up on Beth's site. They're smaller icons of the larger pattern images, below, on the same page I listed yesterday. Hopefully next week, I'll be able to send something to her children's charity. I feel vaguely guilty about downloading the four I have without contributing, even though Beth doesn't ask that we do.

On the Crissy group, someone mentioned other patterns for more 'up to date' clothes. While I think you could make darn near anything from any era out of what Beth gave us - nobody says those patterns have to be worked in 70s-vintage polyester - I can understand the interest. Not everyone gets a week of happy evenings out of continually altering a pattern. Several other companies and designs were mentioned, and off I went to eBay, clam-happy. Once I looked at everything listed, I shrugged. Nothing really new, nothing I didn't already have. 

But I was rather happy to potentially want something. It's been a while since I did. And since the Crissy patterns have been dropped into my lap for free (darn near), there's one more off the kinda-sorta list. I guess I kind of miss wanting stuff.

Go figure.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 11:00 PM CST

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Mood:  down

Still getting over and getting used to stuff. It's kind of like writing "2007" on checks. Ya hafta think about it, and it'd just be easier if you didn't have to.

Anyway, I haven't had much time to get back into doll stuff. Dearest Son goes back to school tomorrow, and he doesn't want to go to sleep ! I mended a small tear in his backpack - hand-sewing ! Gosh, I hate it ! - and got as much ready ahead of time as I could. Makes the mornings go smoother.

I'm aiming to sew Thursday, as tomorrow's gonna be too busy. But here's something I can share with you. Author Beth Colvin (formerly BethGunter, she wrote Crissy Doll and Her Friends) has the best Crissy site anywhere. And now there's a bonus. If you visit her "Sewing for Crissy and Her Friends" page, you can download complete Adobe copies of all the patterns made  for Crissy ! Wow ! I only had two of 'em, so I was darn quick to get the rest. Whoopeee ! Just click on the image of the pattern envelope and that's that !

She'll add the Velvet-size ones later. Wow. Each of those goes for about $10. on eBay, and there was one I've kinda-sorta wanted for a long time. Of course, that's the one that often goes for $20. each time I think to get it ! She has a children's charity page as well, so when we're a bit more solvent, I hope to send some 'thank you' funds to it on her behalf.

Here's her site :

http://www.crissyandbeth.com/ 

And the 'Sewing' page :

http://www.crissyandbeth.com/Sew.html 

And here's a bonus tip for Crissy fans. There's a Yahoo Crissy group - I'm a lurking member. Well, I scanned the Sewing for 20th Century Dolls Crissy patterns from Books 1 and 2, added them to the group's files. Some members had LOTS of problems getting them to the right scale, and frankly, after sending them via e-mail several times, I got tired and kind of left the group to occasionally lurk. I wish I had Adobe, I understand it makes stuff like this super-easy. But it's expensive ! The free 'Reader' doesn't save like I need it to. 

Anyway, the group's pretty nice, I just let my ego get in the way, and got a bit tired of the resends. I may yet go back, I have some questions.

If you're interested in the group, it's at :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crissydollclub/

Gotta finish dinner. Sorry this isn't much content if you don't like Crissy - but it's better than another week of silence (I hope !) ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  don't ask

Lots of family drama crap. I'm not worth much right now, won't be until I get some stuff worked out. Back tomorrow.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  celebratory

Man, where has the year gone ? I keep a list of what I've made and tried, and it's hard to believe I did it all this year, but the time went so quickly !

We're just relaxing at home, with a deli cracker and cheese tray and some of those 'poppers' - Dearest Son loves those. They sort of look like wine bottles, and when the string is pulled, it unleases thin crepe paper streamers in a dozen colors. They're lots of fun.

Got a picture taken of the four 'Velvet' dresses, it's on the "Disney Princesses" page. Man, it's sad how I've neglected the site this month. I hope to get off my rear next year !

I hope your New Year's is as quiet - or exciting ! - as you like it ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  a-ok

Well, Dress #4 and Panties #2 and #3 seem to be the charms. Dress 4 fits beautifully, just like I wanted it to. Shoulders don't point upwards on the inside neckline, front lies flush, armscryes are good. I could probably use  heavier material, like denim or corduroy, and sew it as a jumper to wear over a blouse. 

Made two adjustments to the panties pattern, one for Mia, the other for the Disney Princesses, and now those fit great, too. I took off about half of the crotch, and added some to the hip. Since there isn't a real front or back - it's the same pattern piece for both - I kind of angle the panties on Mia, so her undies don't resemble a thong. Little higher on the front, little lower in the back. On the DP dolls, it didn't seem to make a difference. So now, everyone has a 'Velvet' style dress with matching panties. I hope to get a photo for the site Sunday.

One good thing about doing this same pattern over and over - I'm darn near an expert on neckline and armhole hems now ! Even used the same method on the hem of #4, and it worked OK, but the lace looks better, and is just as easy. I can whip this dress out in about half an hour, and it takes about 20 minutes for the panties. Beloved Hubby was curious about all the adjustments I was making to the patterns, so I told him a good doll panty pattern was so rare, it was like rainbows and candy when you got one that really worked. And now I have two ! Although really, the only difference between Mia's and DPrincess' is the width of the crotch seam.  

And it's great to have a simple, fast to work pattern. Sometimes ya get a real urge to make something, but after everything's ready to begin, your time is up. With these, the hardest part will be finding the pattern once I file it away ! Of course, no doll needs 20 of the same thing, so I'll probably use it as a base for new techniques and trim trials, too. 

Of course, watching all this 80s anime makes me think of the fun stuff I could make...Oh, and I got to watch some Crissy and Mia and Barbie ads on YouTube today. You know, I had a first-year Crissy as a kid, but I don't remember a single ad for her. So it was really fun to see how she was marketed. Also cleared up a doll memory - it was "Little Miss Echo" I remembered. Never had her, just a small memory. For some reason, the ad showed Echo in the dress I remember, but all the examples of the actual doll that I've seen are wearing something else. 

If you haven't checked out YouTube.com, it's fun, easy, and free ! I just looked up 'doll ads', and got the wealth of merchandising described. Even saw an ad for my Leia doll ! :) Check it out if you haven't already ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  irritated

Got tired of the 'Velvet' dress tonight, and made the coordinating panties. Same pattern book, two pages over. I completely redid the directions - there's easier ways to sew underwear than what the author described - but otherwise made them just as the pattern says. So if you can imagine Ariel in the photo below with matching green panties, that'd help me out a lot. 

Unfortunately, they're waaay too big, for both Mia and the Disney Princesses. The waist and leg openings are OK, thanks to elastic, but the crotch is at least twice as wide as the doll's. So it bunches up there, and looks bad. On Ariel, they bunch up so bad, it looks like the panties are pleated !

So, it's back to the 'rework the pattern' board. Measured and redid the pattern, but I'm pretty well worn out, so I'm off to bed. I'll sew 'em tomorrow, see if the changes need to be changed further.

On the plus side, I'm getting better at altering patterns. On the negative, I don't trust a pattern to fit anymore, at least not without alterations. It's a darn good thing I have all this fabric to experiment with ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  lazy

Took a day off from sewing. Kind of weird, because it was a great doll sewing day - Beloved Hubby was at work, Dearest Son was visiting his much-loved and appreciated grandparents. Although I just wasn't into it earlier today, I'll probably go for #4 on the 'Velvet Dress', for kicks. Maybe try a knit one...

Had to do the put-off-since-Monday grocery shopping today. We were running out of things ! You'd think the crowds would have dissipated by now, but the parking lot looked just like that on Christmas Eve. Took me a half-hour longer than it usually does. But it's done, and supplies willing, I may not have to go next week ! And I remembered the batteries the 'Radiator Springs Challenge' needs !! I'm kinda curious as to what that thing actually does. Sucessfully steered away from the fabric counter. So far, my first goal for 2007 is to empty one of these milk crates ! 

Did some housework - place looks like a bomb hit it, I haven't cleaned a thing since before Monday. Even then, I didn't do much, the kitchen's still wrecked. But there's clean clothes drying and you can now walk from room to room, so I call it progress.

Our kitchen table has the world's hardest coordinating seats. I've put random pillows on 'em, but Son doesn't seem to care for that. I'm always picking the pillows off the floor, putting 'em back on the chairs...and next day, there's four semi-ugly pillows back under the table. Been meaning to do something about that, so I did today. Sewed old bias tape on 'em, and tied them to the chairs. We'll see how Son reacts to that  Next time I pick one up, the bows become knots ! 

That's about it for handicrafts today. Here's hoping I'll have time tonight ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 5:34 PM CST

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Mood:  caffeinated

I've now sewn the Dolls' Clothes Pattern Book 'Velvet' dress three times. First wasn't good, second altered the sleeves, and it looks great. But it didn't fit the similarly-sized Disney Princess dolls. So I scanned the altered pattern and prepared to alter it again. 

Measured to see what I'd need. Ariel was the test - her neck is 3/8" larger than Mia's, and her arm circumference was a full inch bigger. Measured the paper pattern and cut what I thought it'd need. To think, I believed learning how to multiply, divide, add fractions was a waste of time, back in the day. I'm quite good at it now ! Unfortunately, even with the right measurements, I got a little scissor happy with the armholes, so those have to be adjusted back, but I got the neck mostly right. It stands up a little on the inside neck, so I've adjusted that again. It'll get scanned once more and I might get to sew it later today.  

Mia's wearing the second attempt. Adjusting the armholes fixed the 'not flat across her chest' billowing. I also took in a bit more on the back closure. Believe it or not, this is a darn good clone of the first-isssue Velvet doll dress. It's the right length and everything. I still think it's too short for a dress. The fabric was in a thrift store scrap fabric bag. It's great fabric, but I use it for muslin. The 'wreath' is actually embroidered, not printed, and the fabric itself is nice. It'd be perfect if the design wasn't too big or too scattered for most other dolls. 

Ariel's got the third attempt. I made the armholes bigger (actually too big, back to the drawing board !) and deepened the neck. It's standing up a big on the corners, so I'll tweak that, too. But overall, I'm pleased with both. I just have to make sure they have shorts or something to match !  

But anyway. It's often fun to sew the same thing several times. I've gotten to refine a few skills that I always neglected in the past. As you can probably see in the photo, the sleeves and neckline are simply folded over and hemmed. No facings or collar/sleeves. I'd read a long time ago that it was easier and better if you sewed a sort of 'marking line' where the hem would go. In this instance, a simple line of stitching went 1/4" from the edge. Then, a few snips with the scissors at the curves, right to the hem line of thread, and the hem then lay down flat, much easier to sew. No widening or tearing, and it looked so much nicer !

Well, I never did this. It seemed like an unnecessary step to me. Waste of time, and thread, too. Nope. I'd rather sit here and curse at how hard this *&^$ hem is, it won't lie flat and folds up and rolls the wrong way.

(sigh) I guess the things you learn the hard way are the things you don't have to learn twice. So on these two, because it's a dirt simple pattern, I got to refine a few techiniques. Did Velcro on the back, and I'm better with that now, too. Also curved hems - but it's still easier to 'hem' those with lace !  

So, by the time I'm done with this pattern, I should have several techniques mastered...that I should have been doing three years ago ! I may be a slow learner, but once it's in there, it's in there good !  

The girls are resting against two of nine 'milk crates' that store material in my studio. There's more -  a box and two zipper bags that used to hold bedding are now fulla fabric. They're standing on a hamper Beloved Hubby made me - it now holds my pattern folders and doubles as a cutting table. Guess it's tripling as a photo staging area ! I've managed to make it through December without buying any new material (I don't count the Cars stuff I bought for Dearest Son's pillowcase) or doll stuff at all, so we'll see how long I can keep that up. This year, we spent about $600. on my little hobby - whooo ! What did I do with all that cash ?! 

Well, we'll see if I can enjoy more and spend less in '07 ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:43 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:52 AM CDT

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Mood:  incredulous

Well, as reported yesterday, I traced a pattern from Roselyn Gadia-Smitley's Dolls' Clothes Pattern Book - yeah, I didn't wanna waste time or printer ink on scanning it, I just took a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil and went for it - that turned out OK, but had problems. It doesn't look that bad, but the armholes were much too tight, and the front didn't lie flat across Mia's chest. 

Looked up the original dress. It came on the first-year same-body Velvet doll back in the 70s. It wasn't as 'billowy' as this copy, but as the day progressed, I found I kinda liked it. As a blouse, though. It's too short to be a dress, in my opinion. And those armscryes were still too tight, which might be what's throwing off the chest fit. So I altered 'em, traced 'em again with a Sharpie, and scanned those. We'll see how that fits in a few minutes. Honestly, scanning the alteration is as far as I've gotten today. 

And I think I inadvertently figured something out. I was ranting a bit yesterday on having to fix patterns with errors. It's a pattern. It should have been worked on enough by the original author to have most clumsy problems worked out before it sees the light of publishing. That goes for any pattern, from a freebie in Doll World to a couture costume from Vogue. 

Still, there's often problems. And here's the deal. I think I like that. I've never questioned why I enjoy sewing, or why it seems to calm me down no matter how f'ed up the pattern/finished item is. It never bothered me much even if I had to throw the finished item (read : all that time and whatever materials) away. Part of the process, I thought. Oh, sure, I'd try to salvage it, but if it was trashward bound, so be it.

I was happily humming away at altering the DCPB pattern when it hit me. Sewing gives me something to truly be frustrated and even angry at. I can curse and rant and rail about a bad pattern, crap fabric, chintzy thread, microscopic hems that shift, doll manufacturers who release only-one-outfit-ever dolls, on and on. It doesn't hurt anyone's feelings if I'm cheesed at something doll or sewing related, gives me a safe vent. And it's an actual bonus when I end up with something I can keep - double that if I'm proud of it. Pattern doesn't fit the doll ? Challenge !! And I love it !

So, go figure. I was sort of wondering why I keep making doll clothes when each of my dolls have more outfits and shoes than I do. But it's an idle sort of rumination that normally only makes an appearance to my oft-vacant head when I'm in the middle of another outfit. Now I know. And that's probably why I was so dicey yesterday - I had a semi-frustrating day, and it'd been over a week since I made something to truly vent, sweat, and groan over. Once I made a semi-crappy dress-blouse, I felt a lot better. 

And I'm gonna do it again. Might get back to Fashion Doll Clothes sometime this week. Right now, though, I'm gonna do simple stuff that won't take a lot of time. As you could guess, the holiday weekend trashed our place, and I've been neglectful of cleaning up much besides wrapping paper. I think we're out of clean spoons again, too. 

But who knows ? Maybe now that I know this, I'll try more complicated projects. I mean, if I'm gonna get bent outta shape over a sleeve, it might as well be a really hard sleeve, right ?  :)

Posted by dorriebelle at 2:54 PM CST

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