Lovely, quiet day...
Now Playing: Dearest Son, trying to open a slightly stale and sticky Tootsie Roll...
 

Current Mood : Cheerful

 

Current Image Notes : Elphie's new nightshirt ! Got it in a lot a few yard sales ago - it's the kind that comes with a girl's matching nightgown. I've come across several, and oddly, most of ‘em were too big for Barbie, but they fit Elphie just great !

 

The morning light was so pretty on her, I didn't care that the Barbie graphics didn't really show up in the photo.

 

Not a lot to chat about - I took most of today to clean the Lab. Seems like I'm constantly cleaning it, but it gets messy at the drop of a doll hat ! Kittens knock stuff over, Dearest Son drags in Lego, Beloved Hubby leaves soda cans...and that's not even covering the mess I make cutting fabrics, dragging in new stuff to be stored, trying new patterns, sorting through a parsec or two of fabric looking for one eighth of a yard of one very specific design...then getting distracted by what I wanted to do with this half-yard when I bought it, two years ago...

 

Add in the ‘snacks at the computer' and ‘unfinished ideas', and you got a small space with a lot packed in, so it's easy for it to go from sparkling to squalid in less than an hour. I got Little Princess doll clothes everywhere, new fabric waiting for its place, artworks never hung, and new dolls that I have no idea where to show ‘em off. So today, I got behind the cubby - kittens knocked over a doll shoe box - and under the computer desk, over by the artworks, and in that ‘dead space' of stuff in one corner. Got all the ribbon I bought this week put away, and got doll shoes sorted, picked up a few props and sewing tidbits, and gathered an unused pattern I still wanna try. Took three hours, and I'm still not quite done, but a vacuum and dusting, and I will be. You can almost walk in here !

 

Unfortunately, the Lab ate up all my time today, so I didn't get much with my dolls. Tomorrow, I hope to sew another pair of shoes, so I can at least get something on Jasmine and Mulan's feet. Sadly, I haven't found many second-hand shoes that fit them. Most of what I have is what they came in. Glad I'll be able to change that soon !

 

Swapped out some plastic tubs around the house. Cleaned one from the Shop for Dearest's Thomas toys - amazingly, they all fit in there, and the lid even closed. I need to sneak in there next week and sort out some of the toys. All his toyboxes are overflowing, just like mine ! Exchanged a small toy box for a larger one used to store shoes, and that's better for both. I'm limiting Dearest to one toy box in the living room, so we kinda need a deep one !

 

The bag of ribbon the lady from the yard sale gave me also had about a dozen barrette ‘blanks' - metal thingies just waiting for decorations. I dumped ‘em in the ‘Doll Hair' box and added that to the ‘projects to learn' list. It grows longer by the day...

I made a SHOE !
Now Playing: local radio...still ranks.

 

Current Mood : Indolent

 

Current Image Notes : Princess Dorrie's wearing a spare ‘Interactive Belle' dress I got off a seriously bad ‘porcelain' doll from Community Thrift a few months back. Doesn't quite fit her, but it'll do until I eventually get off my lazy rear and make her something !

Besides one shoe, I mean.

 

Lazy day today. Got the plastic Rubbermaid bin from the Shop and cleaned it up outside. Once dry, I hope Dearest Son's Thomas stuff fits in there. He's good about picking it up off the floor at day's end, but right now, it's in a pile in front of the closet. Not good. At least I got the ‘Anakin's Shadow' framed puzzle/poster hung up in his room. Still can't believe I got that, frame and all, for a buck.

 

I've given up, finally, on the idea of adapting an existing pattern to fit the DPrincess dolls - namely, Princess Dorrie. I realized last night that DPs have the same ‘no real figure' body as the American Girl dolls and clones, just smaller, so it'd be simple to shrink those over-abundant patterns down. What you want divided by what you have, etc.

 

Well, that was before I did some research with the patterns I already have. One had potential - it was all princess dress variations - but I read the directions first. Doll's Dressmaker and basic knowledge that not all AG clones are the same prepared me well. The book said that the dolls they sewed for had wildly varying measurements, with the waists measuring anywhere from 9 to 12 inches. So they decided to go for the middle, and have their patterns meet an 11 1/2-inch waist. Um...wouldn't half of that be closer to 10 1/2 ? I realized I'd have to make major reconstruction alterations to get any of ‘em to fit, so abandoned that book. Well, that book's scan...yet another book I'm glad I didn't buy.

 

I got a good idea, though, from the over-elaborate Tudor dress, on how to do that ‘mock jumper' effect like on Timey Tell's issue dress. So that wasn't a complete waste of time.

 

So I went online. There's free patterns for AG crap online, I've seen ‘em. Tons. Problem was, most were either waaaay over-elaborate or were sacks with elastic necklines, or tube dresses with straps. I can do that already, thanks. Got it explained better on my own website, too.

 

Few years back, Bella Online - The Voice of Women­ (!) - needed an editor for its doll hobby section. I idly toyed with applying, but decided I didn't have the time. Now I wish I had. Woman running it now has done little with it in two years, and most of the new stuff up there is for a boring Raggedy Ann copy she ‘created'. <schnorfff> And even that wouldn't be too bad, but she's stumbled onto the idea that hand-sewing is couture sewing, so all her patterns and advice is for hand-sewing...so all the directions call for that, too. Don't know about you guys, but I don't have time to hand-sew.

 

Her ‘simple hemming with lace' was ridiculous. I thought it'd be like mine - sew lace to skirt's raw bottom edge, while it's still flat, right sides together, fold lace down, which tucks hem under - and either iron it or sew it down. Hemmed and laced, fast and simple, straight-line sewing. Hers involves lots of measuring and folding on a skirt already sewn up the back. I did get one good idea, on how to sew a lace insert into a skirt, like Barbie's Garden Party and Garden Tea Party dresses. It's about what I thought, but for some reason, the Aileen's Petite Fashions directions didn't explain it very well. Neither did Bella's site mod, but the photo was pretty clear.

 

By now, I'd been studying and brainstorming and daydreaming for a week over PDorrie's dress, and I was kinda tired of it all. I know I need to remeasure for Doll Shop Deluxe, and it didn't have near what I wanted, but, Sith and s#it, that seemed to be the best way to get something to fit...and maybe from there, I could adapt it to get what little I wanted. So I printed up a simple blouse pattern - and fell asleep in the computer chair.

 

After a two hour nap, I decided to sew. The book I'd been looking at was still up, so I looked again at the photos. Hmm. Shoes. They looked much like the ones the dolls came with...printed out that pattern. As expected, too big, but the instructions were simple and neat. So I traced PDorrie's foot in the smallest sole pattern, added a quarter inch to all sides, then a bit more, and nibbled off a bit from the uppers. Grabbed a fabric scrap...

 

And it worked ! Fit was snug and it wouldn't fall off. Could work with either foot, but look like it was shaped to either, specifically. Wow. It seemed a bit too snug, so I added a bit more...and it was much too big. Cut off all my additions and went back to the original - this time, scanning it.

 

By this time, I had a minor headache, and I didn't have enough of the striped fabric to make a second shoe. D'oh ! So I made a quick Word document of directions and notes to go with the pattern and saved it all off. Cool !

 

Hopefully, I'll have time to sew the blouse later this week. But I'm happy, ‘cause I sewed a shoe !

Fun day at home - and new dolls !
Now Playing: "The Search Is Over" - Survivor, on MP3

 

Current Mood : Whoo-hoo !

 

Helped Beloved Hubby in the Shop a bit, before Dearest Son came home, and he handed me a $20. Tempting. But with all the finds I'd already had, and with Dearest due home any time, I decided against going out for more yard sales. Occasionally, I can let someone else make the big finds. Besides, if I keep the cash wisely, there's that much more for me to go out with next weekend ! And I had plenty to do at home, and that was the truth !

 

Ran out for a few groceries, and when I got back, my Mulan and Cinderella dolls were on the doorstep ! Yaaay ! The search and the madness are over. I have all the Little Princess dolls. Alleluia !

 

Mulan's in great shape, although her shoes are missing. Her hair was fantastic and packaging threads still dangled from her dress. Sad to think I'll play with these dolls more than their original owner did. And I seriously believe that, at least with this doll line, the blonder they are, the harder they brush. After fighting with Auroras and Cinderellas, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine's hair was a dream to work with.

 

My third Cinderella is also darn near new. Hair is still in the factory set, and her dress is adorable. Seller also tossed in some books and a few small plastic Princess figurines, so most of these dolls have dolls of themselves. Cute !

 

Well, with all this new stuff coming in, the challenge was finding places for it all. The Teresa head went into the Donations bag, and I arranged my small collection of castles around the Belle head. That made the bureau look bad, so I got all the doll reference books in one place, and all the sewing ones and doll pattern books together, as well. My burgeoning collection of silly kid books - mostly DPrincess stuff - is now half a shelf in the bookcase, but it includes coloring books, so...

 

The cool Vegas sign went behind some framed photos. Within reach, but not obtrusive. And high enough so that the kittens aren't tempted by dangling cords. I'm constantly amazed at how high they can jump and climb. Christmas this year is gonna be interesting.

 

Took down the ‘Star Skater' doll's hair, and it's permanently kinked from the cute ponytail. Nothing a boil and brush won't fix ! She's currently drying, and it looks like I missed two strands, but I can always tuck those under.

Sin City, baby !
Now Playing: Dearest Son, wondering about Vegas...

 

Current Mood : Still jubilant !

 

Another great day of finds ! And another long-winded story...

 

Couple weeks ago, I bought a Teresa styling head, on a lark, for 50c. After brushing her hair, I didn't do much to her, and when the kittens knocked her over, I didn't bother picking her up. I kinda already knew I'd donate her. Y'see, I got her because there was a styling head I really wanted, but just couldn't bring myself to shell $20. for last Christmas. So I thought Teresa would do. (sigh)

 

Well, three guesses what I found at the yard sale when I returned ? Crazy Curls Belle, a really pretty bust with gorgeous brown hair and a lovely face. Yup. I wanted a DPrincess styling head, I was simply too cheap to buy what would amount to a room decoration back when they came out. But here she was, and just 25c ! Her curlers were attached, and rubber bands and a yellow ribbon still held her hair back. Mine ! I also found another lunchbox - always good to have a spare ! - and the seller pressed a bag of barrettes and ribbon on me. All right !

 

The Flea Market had a Garage Sale going on, but for all the vendors, there wasn't much there. I scored a metallic print on black Barbie jacket, a pair of Skipper-size black flat shoes, and a dark pair of Ken sneakers - I hardly have any that aren't white - and a 2002

‘Star Skater' Michelle Kwan Barbie. She still had on her outfit and tights, but her skates were missing. Oh, well. Very pretty doll, and I only paid $2. for everything, so I was happy.

 

And then I found something so amazing, so dedicatedly tacky, I just had to have it. I held my breath when an older couple looked at it, the lady wondering aloud who would buy such a piece of junk. She dropped it, rather rudely, back to the shelf, and once it hit, it was mine. Plugged it in, to see if it'd work, and cool ! It's a fiber optic lamp, always changing colors, and so amazingly awesome ! So now, although I never wanted one, I now have my own Las Vegas lamp. Florida Midge and the Happy Meal ‘Solo' toy pose for scale, and the mirrored platform I bought yesterday join in the photo. I already had a wider, but lower mirrored platform, and with them stacked and the lamp on top, I had a near-instant diorama ! The ideas are dizzying...and just $3. for them !

 

Whoo. Dollar Tree didn't have much for me - I'd just been there last week with Dearest Son - but I still got a set of party-favor tiaras on combs, and a set of ponytail holders -five colors of acrylic stars on elastic bands. I had some ideas for those two items !

 

But for the time being, I was hot and tired and wanted to come home, and at least get all the new acquisitions into the rooms where they belonged. Wow. I'd had an amazing haul this weekend, and it was still Friday ! And I still had $2. left ! Oh, yeah !

More second hand thrills !
Now Playing: me, humming.
 

Current Mood : Jubilant

 

Current Image Notes : Here's the title page of that LGB ! Get your votes in, so far I've got one vote for each ! If ‘Tom Tierney' sounds familiar, he's a big doll fan and illustrates tons of paper doll books.

 

Today. Was. Amazing. Dearest Son and I hit the sole Thursday yard sale today, and it was a jackpot ! I went out with $15., and got so much for our $7.50 !

 

Dearest found two cars he liked, and the lenticular image that Best Buy gave away as an incentive to pre-order Cars from them last year. I scored a free box of fabric - but insisted on paying her for, and she accepted a dollar ! - three shirts for Dearest, a cool Darth Vader softside lunchbox, a Betty Boop doll for DFIL, a small box of Valentine decorations like roses and ribbon, another baggie of pretty ribbons, a small mirrored display platform, a Happy Meal ‘Solo in the Spotlight' Barbie toy, a Disney Princess cosmetic box, a Cinderella doll identical to the ‘teen' one I already have, but with shoes, an Ariel hair barrette (also a HMeal toy), an outdated but still sexy Pin-Up calendar for Beloved, a box of nice white stationery, and a small Tinkerbell doll in a rubberized Cinderella dress. From a Polly Pocket type line, no doubt. As she was helping me load all the goodies, she discovered that she'd left a belly-dancing pattern and fabric in the box. Ooops. Could she take that back ? Certainly !

 

To make up for it - although she didn't have to - she gave me a huge Vogue pattern catalog, like the ones at fabric stores. I love those things ! I have outdated Simplicity, McCall's, and Stretch ‘n Sew ones, and even if they're old, they're great for ideas and just plain leaf-throughs. They're kinda hard to get, although you can buy ‘em directly from the pattern company...for about $30. each.

 

When I was a kid, I remember seeing pattern catalogs at fabric counters with womens' names and phone numbers inked along the spine. It was explained to me that the information was there in hopes that, when the catalog was outdated, the fabric counter would call and she'd pick the unwanted book up. Made sense to me, but it seemed greedy to me that one woman's name would be on every book in the place. It was like no one else got a chance.

 

But it doesn't always go that way. We had a few at home then, too, and there was always some other woman's information on it. The ones I have were from fabric stores and Mal-Wart - I was just there at the right time. Curiously, not one has a name and phone number on it...well, no one wants to leave that information lying around these days.

 

Anyway, it took me quite a while to go through all the fabric in the box and enjoy it... then divvy it up into ‘keep' and ‘donate' piles. There's just no way I could use it all, and I had no idea what I'd do with the ‘blue furry Mastodon' pieces. Or the tiny quilt pieces. So I bundled it all up, and after DFIL picked up Dearest for a weekend visit - and he loved his doll ! - tossed it into Molly and headed for the thrifts !

 

Outreach didn't have anything I wanted, but I dumped the fabric and some discarded Dearest toys there, mostly Happy Meal junk. They'd repriced the Cinderella doll, for just $3., but I've already got that dress - and the shoes ! - headed my way, so I sure don't need another. What I do need is hair dye, so I can transform her into Naru/Molly, my next DPrincess creation. Maybe next week.

 

Decided to hit GoodWill and Dollar Tree Friday, and head for home. I was hot and already tired...and I was thinking of hitting that yard sale again, this time without Dearest...it was right on the way to GoodWill...

Ah, youth...
Now Playing: Beloved Hubby - cooking dinner ! Wheeee !

Current Mood : Whimsical 

 

It may be summer doldrums, it may be his own youth beckoning, but today, Dearest Son announced that he wanted to play with his old Thomas the Tank Engine toys. I'd bagged ‘em up in March, I think, and stuffed ‘em into the garage, awaiting Craigslist or donation. He'd announced that Thomas was baby stuff, if you remember.

 

Well, who am I to say that he can't play with that stuff anymore ? I mean, shoot, I play with Barbies. So Beloved Hubby dug the bags out of the garage and Dearest had a fine evening, making a city and running the trains through. It really wasn't Thomas he wanted. Just the trains and train track. And I've seen some cars on the track, so... In any case, we have some old plastic storage boxes at the Shop that Beloved doesn't use, so I'll hose one out and use it for the Thomas stuff. I just hope Dearest is grateful that his momma is so darn lazy she hadn't already ditched it all...

 

But heck, I still got doll stuff riding around in the trunk. I'm still doing acne treatment on Charmin' Cathy's face. The marks are fading, very , very slowly. There's about three bags of donations in the bedroom, and stacks of fabric awaiting me. And I'm still dawdling around.

 

For once, I'm glad my lazy tendencies worked in our favor !

 

And, with an hour to go, someone else bid on the Mulan/ Cinderella doll lot. He/She got to within 18c of my high bid, then stopped. And I won ! Still, it always seems suspicious when someone else's bid gets that close, but they don't try again for a quarter or something. Anyway, they're already on their way, and I may have ‘em Saturday ! Whoo-hoo !

 

That said, I still checked TRU. Most of the stuff in that Barbie brochure I posted earlier this month is coming to stores in the first two weeks of August, and some's already in stock ! I was considering the ‘I Can Be a TV Chef' set, but decided against it. I'm rethinking my whole ‘doll house' thing, which I'm sure to discuss here later - once I've decided, that is ! 

Midge and not much else going on...
Now Playing: midnight traffic, always a surprise.

 Current Mood : Oddly anticipatory

Current Image Notes : I don't own this, but I was so happy to see Midge had her own gift set that I snagged the image. Yaaay ! 

 

Well, I gave it an overnight of thought, and put in a bid for the Mulan lot. I doubt I'll win it - it closes tomorrow - and while I'm the only bidder, the rarer ones do attract attention. In some ways, it does my heart good to see someone else want these dolls, even if they do end up outbidding me ! I can't help but wonder if the others are buying for kids, or for themselves !

 

After waaaay too much thought, I realized that I really want the Mulan, and I'd bid the same for the lot with or without the Cinderella. So, we'll see. Beloved Hubby said he'd be glad once I got ‘em all, because I promised to stick to the ones I got from yard sales and thrift stores, once I had the whole set. But, if I do get a used Mulan, it'll mean only two of these were purchased new. The Belle that started it all and Alice in Wonderland.

 

You'd think I'd get to sewing, with all these dolls, but I'm still perusing books and planning. I can plan and visualize for months ! What I really need to do is figure out how to make shoes ! Tink, Jasmine, and both Cinderellas all came my way without ‘em. Oh, and two of the Auroras were barefoot, but one had shoes. Ariel, as far as I can tell, wasn't sold with shoes, except as a ballerina. The ones that did arrive shod had on cheap, simple slippers that can't be too hard to reproduce - I just hate taking one apart for a pattern !

 

And only Jasmine arrived nude. Poor thing !

 

I confess, I'm kind of excited. I'd really like to be done with ‘the collection', long as I can do so by not over-spending ! So far, I've spent less on each used doll than the doll was originally, even including shipping. Not sure why I'm proud of that, but I am. 

Lea and a Lilly
Now Playing: 'The Sandlot', Dearest Son's new fave

 

Current Mood : Fun with decisions...

Current Image Notes : Here's a lovely Lea doll, courtesy of BarbiePink on In The Pink, with some gorgeous stargazer lillies Beloved Hubby brought home. (happy sigh)

 

Well, that was an interesting yesterday. Well, what was supposed to happen was that ya'll saw that getting-old image of PDorrie with a pretty star fireworks display. It showed up for about ten minutes, then poof ! Nothing since. I emailed Slide.com, only to find out that their stuff just flat doesn't work with Tripod Blog. (sigh) So glad I'm paying for this...

 

Boils down to, there's no real HTML editor on this thing. The one that's here edits stuff even if you cut/paste it directly, so all my efforts were for nothing. Seriously, I gave myself a headache and actually overwrote the blog directory, so for a while, when you looked up the site here, all you got was PDorrie fireworks. Still not sure how I did that, just glad Beloved Hubby could fix it.

 

Anyway, if you click on the "View Fun Pix" button, you can see it. Click on ‘dorriebelle' on the Slide page, and you can see a couple slide shows I put together. Not sure if I'll spend much more time there - I can't use most of their stuff anywhere on my site. PITA, if you ask me, and I refuse to get a Facebook/My Space page just to display that stuff.

 

And I'm pretty much a sad sack. Of the ten Little Princess dolls Playmates makes, only one isn't represented in my sudden whirlwind collection. And a Playmates rep told me that a ‘Sun and Fun' Mulan would be in toy stores in the next month or two. Yet I still haunt eBay, looking for ‘Mulan doll', ‘Playmates doll', and ‘Playmates dolls'. Believe it or not, I get different results with each search. At least now, I can look at ‘newly listed' instead of all the search results.

 

I mean, seriously. Six months ago, I was happy having Belle and Ariel and a Cinderella I liked better. I can't find anything I wrote about ‘em even three months ago. Now, I'm darn near obsessed with the last one, and even knowing I can get a new one in a month or two, I'm still hunting, still searching. I am insane. And selfish.

 

That said, I found one that ends Wednesday. She comes with a Cinderella, identical to the one at Community Thrift, but this one has her shoes. I'm kinda ticked at Community. They bag all their dolls, so it's too bad if you just want this one for, say $3., you gotta take the bagload with two other dolls for $9. Of course, there's numerous rules about not opening bags at thrifts, and I've always respected them. Once I bought a bag of small toys because I tore it trying to see if one item was what I hoped. It wasn't, but I broke it = I bought it.

 

But last time I went in, someone had opened every last doll bag, and scattered the contents. I told the cashier, and helped her gather everything up. There was no time for me to have done that - I go in, and beeline straight back to Toys ! - and she already said she knew it was a mess back there. I mentioned, while handing her the Cindy doll (I don't have that particular dress) that I collect those. Before I could finish the sentence with, "but I already have two of her, I'd only want her dress", the cashier interrupted me with , "Sorry, you can't buy it, SOMEONE opened the bags !", while holding out her hand for the one I held. Now I know I didn't, and she should know I didn't, I greeted her when I came in. There's also cameras back there. So maybe I'm over-reacting, but I kinda resent the implication that I broke their rules to wrangle a better deal. Shoot, the darn doll's $17. new - if I wanted one that badly, I'd just buy one with shoes and props ! If there's one of these that's over-produced, it's Cinderella, by a wide margin ! Every last line, every single adaptation has had her in it, always.

 

So now, I'm trying to decide if I want to bid on Mulan - and if I do, is it because I want to get this insane obsession over with early, or because I'm impatient and can't wait for a new one ? Or am I really buying the better-shape Cinderella that Community Thrift seems determined not to sell to me ?

 

(sigh) If this keeps up much longer, someone's gonna call the Whaaaaambulance and shovel me into it !

Test
blog problem, test post.  Figuring it out

Because 'The Doll's Jump-Off Silhouettes' doesn't sound as good...
Now Playing: local radio's Saturday Night Disco show

 

Current Mood : Snitty, without real cause.

 

Well, any day after one like yesterday is bound to be a bit of a downer. But today was kinda difficult, too. Thank Everything I didn't buy The Dolls Dressmaker, but more on that later.

 

The book sale was...not good. If your library saved all its discards for sale, and then saved all the stuff that didn't sell for a couple years, then trotted it all back out at a ‘King of Rejects' sale, you'd about have what I went to this morning. Few books had library bindings, though. About all I found was a replacement Disney storybook for Dearest Son - he wore the back cover off his original. At least he was happy to have a new one, and he asked me to put his old, worn one away. I kinda think he likes the book more than the Jedi Starfighter I got him from the thrift Thursday.

 

On the way back, I hit a yard sale. Got a new ruler for the desk - it's accurate, I checked ! - and a pretty dragonfly print cotton blouse in my size. Seller drew my attention to a quarter-inch tear on the back of the right sleeve, but that was fixable. For 50c, I was not about to complain, and the blouse was sooooo soft, but it was a designer name, so I assumed more pricey blouses were made of nicer stuff.

 

Once home, I tried it on. Decent fit, I thought, as I tugged it down...and the entire right button placket tore, from hem to my belly button (well, where my navel was, thanks to all that surgery last year, I don't have one anymore). (sigh) It didn't so much tear as it just completely gave way. Um, designer doesn't equal better, softer fabric. Ultra-soft fabric, however, does equal darn near completely worn out, fragile fabric.

 

Ordinarily, I wouldn't bother telling you this, but it figures later in today's narrative. Cool, it's later. Grumpily, I decided I might as well get something out of that 50c, so I cut the Doll's Dressmaker A-line dress pieces for Princess Dorrie from the blouse's left front side. Bad idea. I should have just salvaged the buttons and cut the rest for rags. It was hyper-fragile, and very difficult to work with. Fray-Check rippled the edges.  If the thread snagged, it tore holes in the material, and the seams pulled at the thin fabric even when there was no stress. But the material wasn't the only issue with this supposedly-simple trial. When I sewed the side seams, they didn't match. Even the pattern didn't match when you held the front and side pieces together. Not good.

 

Kept going anyway, but I never finished it. The armholes were much too tight, and it's maybe about a quarter-inch too wide in the front, so it doesn't lie flat, like it should. I tried to adjust the pattern, enlarge the arm holes. But that threw off the shoulder seam. Altering that changed the neckline, and it was still a quarter-inch too wide. (sigh) At this point, I'd be saving time just to draft the blasted thing m'self. So, tomorrow, I'm going out for cat food and paper towels. I may use the basic shape, but as far as I'm concerned, if I'm gonna use Doll's Dressmaker, I may as well draft from scratch. That's about what I'm doing anyway, and if it's mine, I can share it without copyright issues.

 

I couldn't understand the Amazon.com rave reviews for this book. So I went hunting for directions. Ah ! My mistake. What I'm supposed to do is cut the book's pattern from cheap fabric or muslin, pin-fit it to the doll, then use the muslin as a pattern. Oookay... doesn't this kinda get back to the ‘I'm making my own pattern' thing I screeched about earlier ? I also used basic ‘flat first' construction techniques - sew the shoulder seams, then hem the neckline and armholes, sew side seams, etc. In short, you sew everything you possibly can before you sew actual seams, it's easier. Nope. Shouldn'ta done that either. Nope, I'm to sew the shoulder seams, then the side seams - then hem the neckline and hand-sew the armhole hem. Yeah. No wonder the side seams didn't match.

 

It just seems like this book is determined to do everything the hard way. I shouldn't be surprised, nearly every doll modeling is a reproduction porcelain of a super-expensive antique doll. The rest are either playline from the 30s, one-of-a-kind dolls from kits, or Sasha dolls. All collectable, all expensive. The one plastic doll I saw was a rather generic baby in a super-blah outfit. I realize that my doll didn't exist in 1991, when the book first saw print. But don't tell me ‘this fits every doll ever made !' if I'm the one making the patterns from basic shapes. Shoot, by their way of thinking, I can make Elphie clothes from Simplicity patterns for girls in the 70s, I just have to cut the pieces and make all the changes m'self.

 

Anyway. I can't really blame Doll's Dressmaker when I did things my way. But I had no idea these weren't patterns, more like ‘serving suggestions'. And that TV dinner never looks as good as it does on the box it came in. Same here. That book shouldn't have the word ‘patterns' anywhere on it - instead, it should say ‘shape guidelines' or ‘silhouette starting points'. To me, a pattern is something you use, not something you use to make another pattern ! I'm not rising to the challenge very well, am I ? (smile)

 

So anyway, that was my day. Despite the paragraph above, I'm not sure if I'm gonna mess with Doll's Dressmaker again, or if I'll just measure for Doll Shop Deluxe instead. At least I know how that works ! Plus, I stand a good chance at having something to keep in less than four hours ! And I'm sorry, but a half-inch seam allowance on doll clothes is a major PITA, especially when the completed shoulder is less than a half-inch wide. If I'm gonna hafta make my own patterns, I'm using the usual quarter-inch. At least I can set DSD for that and not have to futz with a ruler. Or completely change how I sew.

 

Well...maybe I'll use some stuff, like sleeves or a bodice here or there. But here's some fun - and another reason I'm glad I didn't buy this book. Under the ‘how to fix problems' chapter, the author advises bulking up a doll with an underwear vest or stuffing if a bodice is too big. The rest of her ‘fix it' advice I've figured out myself, so it wasn't much help. I'm starting to think the whole book is that way.

 

Or maybe I'm too big a fan of the ‘quick and fun' methods I've learned to try ‘long, drawn-out, complicated and fussy' techniques. After all, I'm not making heirloom garments for priceless dolls. Looking over her other books, that seems to be her milieu.  I just wanna make some stuff for a buncha vinyl dolls I got at yard sales. Long dresses with endless details - not my thing.

 

PS - don't forget to let me know if you want The Big Splash or the 70s Barbie catalog next in the images ! I'm also open to other suggestions, anytime !