Mood:  caffeinated

And this time, I got the collar mostly right !  You can see Rick's new shirt on the Home page of the main site. You'd think I wouldn't bother with a pattern from the same author a second time, when it didn't go right the first. But there were about six more of his/her Ken shirt patterns in the Bundle o' eBay ones, and I noted that another had directions. I'd kind of ignored 'em on the first shirt, because shirt construction is pretty basic.

Well, not always. The pattern designer had an unusual way of doing sleeves - the seam is at the top of the arm, instead of under - and the side seams were pretty wonky. But done the writer's way, it fit. I unnecessarily lengthened the sleeves, only to have them too long. Rick's new shirt actually has cuffs, but they're tucked under. I may take it apart later and fix it. Compared to the first shirt's pattern, the second's a bit bigger, but not much. Whether the shirt fits Jem or Ken, it's all in how I sew it.

The collar actually made sense this time, but it's still big and floppy. Given the photo that came with the pattern, it was the fashion at the time. I'm glad those times are past - that paisley shirt with the striped tie is something I don't want to study for long ! It's made from more of that yard-sale wrecked shirt, because I like it. And I got to use those tiny buttons I bought months ago. While I'm not a huge scrapbooker - I did that back in the 80s, guess it's been worn out of me - I do love the great buttons and things in the Scrapbooking aisles !

Tomorrow, I'll probably make Synergy a skirt to go with her new shirt. Since I don't know of any Jem size patterns, I'll need to measure her for DSD. With Jem, and Rio to sew for, I'll use it frequently.

I also fixed a doll blouse that tore, and took apart another bra. I'm not sure why I keep taking used bras apart, I have plenty of elastic in dozens of colors, probably over 50 doll belt buckles, and endless hooks and eyes. But if there's bras at a yard sale, and they're cheap and unusual enough, I'll buy 'em for parts every time. I think I wore out the old seam ripper, it was kinda tough to push it through tonight.

So I had a busy day. Too bad I didn't get any housework done ! I'm real upset about it, too...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  celebratory

And it was a comedy of errors ! But it was fun, and even the inevitable mistakes and problems were just something else to laugh at and get around. Man, have I missed this ! I'm not finished yet - if you look, you can see the pins holding things together until I can get snaps sewn - but I wanted to share what I did get done with you !

I wanted to make a complete outfit - shirt and pants - for Rick Hunter, like I planned yesterday. So I started on the pants, using a pair of Beloved Hubby's old...umm, one of his discarded garments, let's put it that way. Ahem.

Sometimes, the main problem with 'kitchen-table' patterns is that details are left off. On today's set, the author didn't say whether the dart in the pants should be cut out during the fabric cutting, or marked on the fabric and sewn directly on the marked lines. As you can imagine, there's a huge difference. And I chose wrong. No way would those pants fit a doll if the dart wedge was cut. So I took 'em apart and cut new pieces, drawing the wedge. Much better ! Fit is a bit snug, and the pants are shorter than I like (why are Ken pants always high-water ?!), but I can make adjustments to the next pair. While you can't see, these open to the front, not a real fly, but an overlap. I'd never done that kind before, so for a first attempt, I'm happy with 'em.

The shirt...(sigh) It's a shame it doesn't fit a single Ken I own, because it's fairly simple (except for the collar, more on that later) and went together easily. It was shown on a Mod Hair Ken in the directions, but it didn't fit Rick, Malibu Ken, Cali Guy Ken, or Painted Hair #2 Ken. It did, however, fit a member of the Jem doll family. Modeling the shirt for us today is 'Synergy', the manifestation of Jem's supercomputer. I found her nude at a thrift store several years ago, and just loved her unusual skin tone. As you can see, the shirt fits her fairly well, so I'll just erase 'Ken' from the pattern and add 'Jem'. The dropped sleeve seam also screams "80'S !!", so it's an added bonus.

Mostly it didn't fit the Kens because the sleeves were not only too tight, but they were too short.  And I'd gone short on the sleeve hems (about half the 1/4" allowance) because Rick's arms looked long. I knew as soon as I sewed that first underarm seam, but decided to keep going anyway. Practice is always good - and I still suck at collars, that's coming up - and there was a chance some doll could use it. It was made from the non-wrecked part of a shirt I got at a yard sale, so it wasn't a big loss if I ended up tossing it.

Again, non-commercial patterns often leave steps off. Sewing the collar sides, then turning it to the right side got left off here, and I'm not sure how the collar and neck is supposed to fit. The directions were pretty good, but I seem to always have problems with one-piece collars. Not sure what I did right or wrong here, but it looks good enough to save. Until I get better ! One fine day, I'll find collar directions that make sense to me, and angelic choirs will sing. Until then, I'll just keep trying !

So that was this evening. Beloved Hubby went back to the doctor this morning, only to find out that the earlier prescriptions given by two different doctors didn't really work on what he has. (heaving, slightly angry sigh) He got three new ones - thank Everything for Mal-Wart's $4. generic scripts !- and here's hoping for his health.

I hope for yours, too ! Hope your Monday was happy and productive !

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:35 PM CDT

Updated: Saturday, 30 April 2011 6:39 PM CDT

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Mood:  d'oh

Well, I did it. All my backed-up patterns are back on the new computer, where I can access them easily. You'd think I'd have done that the day after we bought the thing, but I think I've been scared. If the back-ups were faulty, I'd have lost all that data. Since the patterns span five CDs, it'd be a serious tragedy for me. Something I didn't want to think about. I mean, we're talking 3GB of patterns here ! If my back-up installation screwed up the computer, it'd be a disaster for all of us. Again something that doesn't bear thinking about. And once I had all my patterns back where I could easily use them, I'd be out of excuses.

I think the last one was the biggest. I've gotten scared again, because it's been so long. Sure, I was sick, and Beloved Hubby still is, if you want the truth, but it's not like what few skills I have will atrophy away in three or four months. But I tend to think that they will. For some reason, I tend to lose my nerve in sewing if I don't do it every day. I'm not sure why.

Once I've had a success, though, I'm darn near unstoppable. I'll try darn near any new technique, experiment again with the fabric that drove me crazy two months ago, and start crowing like a confused chicken. Maybe I'm more screwed up that even I thought !

Anyway. The patterns all came through fine, as far as some spot-checking has shown, although I didn't organize them very well during back-up. I was more concerned about getting the most patterns on the fewest CDs, so most were stored as a short name file, with no ‘Barbie' or ‘Elphie' arrangement. Finding out which patterns were whose was kind of a guessing game, as all I had to go on was ‘Simplicity 1234'. But it was fun to look at them all (Vista does have a nice file preview function), see what I had, make a few mental plans, and get them organized. I even had a nice surprise. I thought all my doll photos were gone, but as it turned out, I had them backed up to fill up that fifth CD. At least, all the doll photos I'd taken since December 16, 2006. So I'm not missing many. I thought the ones on my site were all that remained, and heck, I was glad to have those !

I also had another nice surprise. I was thinking of taking up where I left off, on the home page. My Lisa Hayes (Robotech) doll was the last to get something new. I was planning on working up something for her beloved Rick Hunter (also Robotech, I'm a big fan of keeping most media/doll couples together) when the move happened. So I pick up Rick, and the pants he's wearing don't fit for squat. I mean, they don't close whether he's sitting or standing.

Here's an opportunity, I thought, to get him measured for Doll Shop Deluxe, since he doesn't fit Ken clothes. He really needs pants that fit. But then I thought again. Those olive drab green pants looked suspiciously like GI Joe fatigues. And now I know that Ken and Joe are far from the same size, something I probably didn't know when I squeezed Rick into ‘em. I probably got those pants in a doll clothes lot, and didn't think about it at the time. It was the work of an instant to have him into a nice pair of dark blue cotton Ken pants, and they fit great. Yaaay ! Rick wears Ken clothes, he was already wearing a Ken shirt I had three duplicates of. That means...I can use a Ken pattern !

Prowled around the ones I have. There's not that many options for Ken, either when he was a beanpole Ivy Leaguer back in the day, or even now, when he's a buff beach boy. Fortunately, men's styles aren't as subject to radical change, and as long as you have a good-fitting pants pattern and a decent one for shirts, you're about covered. You can make just about any current fashion for men from just those two basics. My problem's been finding the teeny-tiny Hawaiia prints I'd like to sew !

Found a set I liked, but it's from the ‘Bundle o' eBay Patterns' - I bought a licensed pattern, and the seller thoughtfully enclosed a bunch of kitchen table-type ones as a bonus. There was a scattering of them, some indicated pages that weren't included, and some photocopies, possibly from a book. I've used bits and pieces from the Bundle before, you can see ‘em on the Home page. I used a different set for Inaba's clothes and another from a Kelly group for Inaba and Shinobu's son Michio. Just wish I could give credit and maybe toss some sales their way...but there's no name or address on any of the pages. Just ‘Ken 2' and one page labeled ‘Kelly Friends'. Oh, well. Wrote the directions on the pattern pieces - I'm too cheap to print out instructions ! - and off we went to...(dramatic music swelling)...the Studio !

Only to have Beloved Hubby ask me, en route, if I could help him finish a job that's due to be picked up Monday. He's still dragging and wheezing, so what was I to say ? Spent some time with him in the Shop, sanding and dusting, and we got most of the job done. We're in for dinner right now.  I have darn near all the time in the world tomorrow, and my Hubby needs me today.

Besides, this way, I can mentally plan the fabric better. I had no idea what material to use for Rick when I was en route - now I can take a look and think of what I want to do while I'm on Sanding, Part 2. So close, but yet so far...still, tomorrow's not far off at all ! :)

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:26 PM CDT

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Mood:  accident prone

...but when I went to hit 'post' on Friday's entry, we lost power. Had to retype most of that entry from memory. Man, I'm having the worst luck with weather this year.

But it wasn't all bad. When the outage stretched past an hour, we went out for a quick bite, and we'd all just settled down after our living-room picnic with various books (mine was Barbie Doll Fashion, Vol. 3, by Sarah Sink Eames) by candlelight and waning sun when the ceiling fan twitched. It was fixed. Very happy I got that living room cleaned yesterday !

The kitchen is mostly done, and the dining room table's surface is visible again, but I didn't get to the linoleum floors. Gotta do the 'Cinderella act' (hands and knees with a scrub-brush) on 'em Sunday. Not exactly looking forward to it, but it has to be done about every month, and it hasn't been done since April. Besides, Friday and today's housework got me into a good sweat, might as well make it my exercise. I'm hoping that my next appointment with the surgeon is good, and I can start going skating again ! Right now, it's too great a risk.

It's kind of funny. Before the power went out, I was more or less sitting, wondering what to do next. And, of course, once we were without electricity, I could think of a thousand fun activities...that all required power. Now I'm kind of sitting again, because it's getting late and everything I can think of would have me up a bit longer than I wanna be. So I'm probably just going to iron out the ribbon I got from the trim bag at Hancock's earlier this week, get it stored, and tidy up a bit in the studio. Maybe change Gracie and Casey's clothes - they've been in the same outfits for months.

Aylene, my Susie doll, has been in the computer room/office for some time. Not sure why she's not with the other dolls, but here she is. I've had her hair up in a simple low ponytail since her last photos, so I took it down today. The elastic gave her hair a nice 'bend', so I'm thinking of doing some 'non Mattel dolls in Fashion Fever outfits' photos tomorrow.

I should also get her measured for Doll Shop Deluxe - her body is even more petite than a standard Barbie's. I almost hate to do that though, because I have an almost 50/50% mix of Barbies/Not Barbies, and each has his/her own body style. I kinda want to keep it to 'one size fits most, sometimes requiring a bit of tweak'. It was a bit of a break for me to do so many Leia clothes, but she needed 'em. And I was keeping a promise I'd made to both Leia and me when I was a kid. I'd just hate to have a box for Leia's clothes, a box for Fuu's, a box for Cutey Honey's, one for Jem's, another box for Aylene...I just don't have the space !

Think I'll reinstall all my backed-up patterns tomorrow morning, so they're available for the afternoon, when my work's done. Shoot. I think I'm actually starting to achieve the ever-elusive 'balance' ! It's pretty nice.

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:21 PM CDT

Updated: Saturday, 23 June 2007 8:48 PM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Not much 'doll' stuff today. Dug into the 'repair' box today for a short project. Not enough time to sew today. Fixed the table Beloved Hubby made Elphie (it's pictured on her page). One leg broke during the move. At least it was a clean break, just needed glue and some pressure to set for a few minutes. It's as good as new now. Doesn't even wobble. I may use it for a photo soon, but I still seem to be dragging my rear.

Not that there's much time. Hubby's still sick and needs me, and the house went to total h#ll when I was ill. Spent two hours today cleaning the living room, and I can tell you, it was desperation time in there. Same for the dishes and laundry - those always pile up fast. I'm hoping that, once I get the home & hearth whipped back into shape, I can do some 'me' stuff again. Of course, the only thing stopping me from doing the fun stuff is that, when we have to step over drifting piles of laundry and iceberg-like formations of dirty dishes to get to the Studio, I feel vaguely guilty.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the rest of the kitchen and the floors done. Then I can settle back into everyday housework - and that leaves me some time to have fun. If I don't squander it all on the computer !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  chillin'

Beloved Hubby, while improving by the day, runs out of cough surpressants tomorrow. So, while Dearest Son was in school, I got to make a supply run. Just an hour prior, I'd gotten the latest Hancock Fabrics flyer by e-mail, so I hit them, too.

I love their $1. pattern sales. I have waaaay too many patterns because of it. I should be shot for even looking at more, but there I was, at butterickpatterns.com, seeing if there was anything I wanted because they were so cheap. Heck, where else can you get $34. worth of anything for $2. ? I also scored a 'trim grab bag' (leftover ribbon) for 25c, down from their usual (outrageous, IMhO !) $2.

I don't often mess with their grab-bags anymore. They used to put 'em in shopping sacks you could at least see partway through, but our local one now uses completely solid ones, so you really have no clue what you're getting. Now, for 25c, I'll take a flier on one, but for $2., it's too expensive. I mean, for $2., I can usually get something I've picked out that I like. The $1. fabric remnant ones have just about vanished. A buck for five or ten bits of material I could go for ! But it's not like I need either fabric or trim anymore.

That said, the grab-bag I bought has two nice jacquard ribbons that'll make elegant obis for kimonos. I've been meaning to remake those for both the Barbie-size and Crissy ones I've made. They're both white, one has a rose design, another has a diamond grid one. There was also a length of white with gold seam binding, a super-stiff 1" wide grossgrain,  and a green wired ribbon with purple flowers printed on it. I've been known to de-wire ribbon when I need to... So, for a quarter, it was a pretty good deal. For $2., I'd feel rather ripped off.

I bought two patterns, but they were both 'me' patterns. I either have or don't want any of their doll patterns. Heck, 90% of doll patterns out there now are for American Girl and clone dolls. There's a 99c Simplicity pattern sale coming up, but I've already hit simplicity.com, and there's no doll or 'me' patterns I want there either. So I won't have to go next week ! Unless I get bored...Hopefully, we won't have money enough for me to get bored !

Also got the household supplies we needed - including a Lunchables for Son (I think he wants the cheesy Transformer toy more than the pepperoni pizza - or at least, it's a dead heat between 'em), and a package of my long-wanted rice crackers. Yup, the grocery next to Hancock's had 'em, and I've already consumed the whole package. Aaaaahhhhhh...

I also (sigh) bought a fabric remnant. Just an 8" wide strip that I think will make a nice Fiyero (Matt O'Neill, Tonner) shirt. It was only 69c ! If it gets me off my butt and into the studio, it's cheap at thrice the price. I need to make something, bad and soon. I'm starting to linger at the Barbie aisle lately...And while I don't make Fashion Fever cutting-edge clothes, I do like what I make, and at least I'll finish my edges (most of the time) ! Especially now that Aylene (Susie) has enough shoes for a while, it's time for me to switch back from 'consumer' to 'creator' !

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:57 PM CDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Before I forget - Lindsay, there's a reply to your message below. Darn, but I didn't know she'd removed the pattern. I never got a chance to try it out ! Oh, well. I wish her luck with eBay !

Things are going better at Chez Insanity. I'm on my third (of five) loads of neglected laundry washing, and Beloved Hubby slept about six hours last night. It's the most rest he's had in over a week, closer to two. I got a decent night's rest, too, and was so energetic, I decided to try LivingSoft's advice about getting Doll Shop Deluxe to work. They wrote me over two weeks ago, but I've barely checked my mail since Hubby got sick - I knew the message was there, just didn't have time to do anything with it. And you know how your mind fuzzes and won't make sense of words sometimes, when you're tired ? That, too.

Turns out that my Install Shield had a quirk, and that's what was halting the DSD install. A quick fix was enclosed, and now DSD works better than ever. I was really impressed and happy they'd researched the problem for me - let's face it, I didn't, and it really wasn't their problem ! - and solved it. I kinda feel bad about being such a brat about it. I should have researched it myself, but I just *knew* it was their issue. This is me, feeling very, very small...

Now I just have to reload about 12 dolls' measurements. Luckily I print 'em off when I get a good fit, so it's not like I have to do all those measurements again. It takes over an hour to measure a doll, and that doesn't include fittings, remeasurings, and adjustments. But I really need to get sewing again, before I get all nervous about it. Gosh knows I got plenty of everything sitting around waiting for me !

But right now, it's the laundry that has priority. It's embarassing how long some of it's been waiting to be washed. At least it isn't as bad as the dishes were !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:42 PM CDT

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Mood:  lucky

Ready for some irony in your diet ? Finally got out for some 'me' time today, while Dearest Son was attending Summer School (more like 'happy fun time school' to him !) and Beloved Hubby was resting. He's doing much better ! :)

Anyway, here's yer daily dose of irony. Ever since I got out of the hospital, I've craved rice crackers. Albertson's has 'em in their 'Oriental' section (no joke, that's the way the aisle reads) and they are so tasty. But Alb's kind of out-of-the-way for us, so if I wanted rice crackers, it'd be up to me to get 'em. Well, today was the day ! And - wait for it ! - they were completely sold out. At both stores. All that was there both times were shelf pricing labels mocking me, saying 'If we had 'em, they'd be right there.' I did find other rice crackers, for twice as much, so I bought 'em. They taste like crap. About the only good thing about 'em is that I can probably get a few cute joke photos of some dolls remarking how large the sushi is. So stay tuned.

It's been a while since I went 'me' shopping. So I thought that maybe the places I hit - Dollar Tree, Dollar General, a thrift store or two - might have new stuff in since the first of May. Nope. It was like time and stock stood still everywhere. Only rice crackers have sold. The Goodwill has managed to get junky *and* expensive at the same time, and their store's so packed fulla crap, it's difficult to walk around in there. No dolls of any type, of course.

They did have a Barbie-size doll house for $20., but it was in sad shape. It looked sort of like this -> http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_11/602-6061645-7465437?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000AQD69G , but had a broken curved plastic roof, and some structural pieces were lying around on the various 'floors', couldn't  really tell where they were supposed to go. Maybe it had an elevator, but I still think that one metal pole in the bedroom wasn't there for transportation. Possibly entertainment, but not movement beyond that. I gave it a close look, but it was too damaged and confusing for me to buy. Decor colors were rather garish for me, too. I already have a Mattel castle to repaint that I only paid $5. for - I don't need to shell out $20. for another project right now.

So I came home and put my few grocery purchases away, and started picking elastic off a yard-sale bra while waiting for Dearest Son's bus. Maybe this weekend I'll jaunt to that junk shop - I still want a Malibu Barbie to reroot as a brunette - and prowl amidst their scattered, but plentiful, offerings.

Since there isn't much else going on, I think I'll poke around the patterns, maybe reinstall my backed-up ones, or rescan the three that were lost when the computer bit it in March. It's 90 degrees out in 89% humidity, so as long as I don't have to do it outside, it doesn't matter much what I do !

Man, I am soooo spoiled...

Posted by dorriebelle at 1:29 PM CDT

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Mood:  smelly

Beloved Hubby's still not well, but he saw a doctor and has new prescriptions. Hopefully, these new ones will work better for him. He's been able to sleep a bit already, so my fingers are crossed. It feels so weird to be the *healthy* one around here...

Unfortunately, that's been the highlight of the day. I did get to prowl the Barbie aisle, but there's not much there. Have you see the new Birthstone dolls ? They use the classic - and my favorite - Steffie mold, and they're quite pretty in pictures. I'm hoping to see a 'live' one in the harsh light of retail soon. While it's definitely the Steffie head, it looks sort of 'My Scene/Bratz' style to me. So I really need to see one close-up before I decide to buy. Too bad I've only seen 'em on doll store and eBay pages so far.

Oh, and I did get the Midge and Barbie cases hung up. Two hooks support the bottom, and a cup-holder-type hook holds the handle. This way, they're supported without stress on any one area. I really like the way it looks. Still saving for that white version of the Pepto-pink 1968 case I had as a kid. After that, I'll probably have enough Studio 'decor' to last me for  a while !

Maybe eventually I'll actually go in there and *sew* something !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  lazy

I have to admit, the Dad of our house, Beloved Hubby, wasn't well today. Still, he pushed himself through some work today, and is hopefully asleep. I'd join him, but one of my prescripts requires me to be upright for 30min after taking it.

It was a quiet Father's Day 'round here. Much as Mother's Day kinda got neglected because I was sick, so too was Dad's Day. I mostly cleaned the beyond unhealthy kitchen while he worked and got the piles of neglected dishes washed. Found out that, when I selected that 10lb bag of potatoes, I somehow got Pirates of the Caribbean spuds. Yup, there was a cartoon image of Capt. Jack Sparrow on the bag, along with a lame recipe featuring Goofy, and a food pyramid illustration with Mickey Mouse. Never heard of 'Disney Garden' vegetables, but clearly, they exist. At least the tubers didn't taste like Mouse...although I might not have minded a buttered, cheesy bite of Depp...

Looked around for some more freebie patterns, but didn't find any. Gonna have to roll up my sleeves later this week and dig. There are still some Vogue and McCall's patterns in print out there, and if you live near a Hancock Fabrics or Joanne's, or any other pattern-bearing craft store, it's a good idea to get on their mailing lists. It's how most of my $18. patterns only cost $4.75 or 99c. Also, most crafters know about the 99c sales. So those $20. McCall's rarely get above $3. plus shipping on eBay. All pattern companies have online catalogs, so you can see if there's anything you like before hunting in earnest for the best price.

All that said, I'm still gonna see what freebies I can find again. I swear, our old computer got taken out three months ago, and I still stumble over a loss from it every few days. Still haven't gotten Doll Shop Deluxe to even load on the new Vista-based computer, although Livingsoft says it should. (sigh) Even after I told them precisely what problem I'm having, and their own site doesn't mention Vista at all...

Well, I'm getting sleepy - warm ham on sourdough toast sandwich will do that to a girl ! - so I'm out. Hope your day was warm and wonderful !

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:36 PM CDT

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