OK, who ordered the Princess MegaLoad ?

 

Current Mood : Miffed and anxious

 

Happy Valentine's Day ! Hope yours is going well !

 

Unfortunately for me, Beloved Hubby has to work, so I'm puttering. Downloaded at least another 40 free embroidery designs, and my butt is aching from me sitting on it so long. Since we didn't eat the thawed Christmas ham leftovers for dinner - thanks for a great dinner to DFIL ! - I'm having ham steaks for lunch. Yum !

 

Another ‘win' on eBay I had to track down - I ‘won' the darn thing on the 5^th, paid Priority shipping, had cash in PayPal... and don't have it yet. Recently, I sold something, she won Sunday, and had it Wednesday, and she was further away than my seller. So I wrote and asked when it'd been sent... and they promised me it'd be mailed off today. Aaargh. This is why I hate eBay. I can make sure I have all my crap together, but the other end can just blow me off for over a week. We had flippin' tornadoes this week, they haven't even had heavy rain, and they didn't bother to tell me there'd be a delay or anything. I wonder if I hadn't bothered them if they'd have stirred enough to mail it. Did they think I just tossed money at ‘em for fun ? And have they sent me the tracking number ? Nope. Negative feedback, coming up.

 

I'm thinking of listing something else to sell - boy, machine embroidery is an expensive hobby ! - so I was checking current auctions when I saw something interesting. A box of velvets and brocades, lots of yummy scraps. There's only one problem with buying a random shipment of scrap fabric - by the time shipping's added in, you've spent enough to buy some really, really nice material. That you chose. Another cotton scrap box that had my attention contained some luxe, gorgeous fabrics, and the bid was good. Too bad it cost $20. to ship ! Most fabric lots are like that. For $30., I can pick and choose some good stuff on my own.

 

It's like that with machine embroidery designs, too. While a single design can run $25., a group or set might cost $10. for five or even 20 designs. Problem is, of those 20, there may be five you like. There's CD sets available, with insane numbers, like 500,000 designs for less than $50. A lot of money, sure, but it's just fractions of a penny per design. Problem is, you don't get to see the actual designs until after you buy it, cataloging it all is up to you, and it's probably safe to figure that ya won't use 499,872 of them. You'd have to use nearly 70 a day for twenty years to use ‘em all. So it's probably best to get what you want, specifically.

 

And there's loads of free stuff - or $1. and $3. designs - to snag. After this week's little downloading spree, I'm calling a moratorium on getting more until after the new machine's here. Doesn't do me much good to spend all my time looking and creating new folders if the designs don't work with it. But it looks like I'm all ready to start gaining some experience with it !

 

Just call me 'Dorrie Download' !

 

Current Mood : Still bedazzled by possibilities

 

(sigh) Yeah, guess what I spent 90% of the day doing ? Yup, downloading free embroidery designs. I probably have about 40 already, with a heavy lean towards stars and cats. (embarrassed) Fifteen stars and eight cats. I have found so much I love while getting ‘em all ! You can best believe this one is on the ‘fast track' -

 

http://www.secretsof.com/content/2357

 

Scroll down a bit to FSL Doll Shoes. Yup. I can make lacy doll shoes, and it looks like they might stretch a bit for some of my non-Barbie girls ! The hats are nice, but I'd be likely to stick a stick in ‘em and use them as umbrellas. And the bigger shoes are cool, but I don't know if they'd fit any of my dolls. (sigh) I still need to write up ‘how to make doll shoes' for the site, too...

 

But I'm trying to not spend right now. I mean, the machine was quite a few pretty pennies ! And sooner or later, we'll need to invest in embroidery software - you know we want to customize our stuff ! Once the machine arrives (scheduled for 2/23 !), we'll try out some of the free ones, but I have a feeling that, for what Beloved Hubby wants to do, we'll end up shelling for Embird or PeDesign. $$$ !

 

And for now, I'm gonna shelve 'Best Buy Friday'. With everything else going on, I just haven't found time for photos. I'll pick it up again, though, because I still like the idea, even if my execution ranks ! 

 

In other news, Dearest Son came home loaded on sugar and Valentines. I separated the two - most of the cards had candy attached - and stored the cards in a bag for him. As I did so, I mentioned who gave them to him. Evidently the party took up so much time, they didn't get to open them at school. The ones from the girls got a little kiss before going into the bag ! The ones from the boys earned me an explanation of who was friends with whom, and which kids had been in trouble recently.

 

For me, it was nice to see that there were kids with worse handwriting than Dearest's ! I know I'm petty, but at least I can be petty in the bubble of my own living room, so it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

Before we knew it, DFIL picked up Dearest, so it was just me and Beloved. And we enjoyed the time together, looking at AirSoft stuff (his) and embroidery designs (mine). And chattering. DFIL works at a restaurant, and brought us dinner to go, which was very sweet - he said he wanted to celebrate our anniversary, too ! DMIL called, and I offered her my Kenmore / Janome, if she wanted to take up sewing again. I'd keep it, everyone on various embroidery web sites says to do so, but it'll lock up if it sits around, and I don't really have the space for two machines. And her machine is down. She's thinking about it. I can store it in the Lab closet for now, maybe take it for a spin every month or so.

 

Gosh, the next thing I sew may be the last thing I sew on it. I feel sad about that, excited as I am about the new one. This should tell you something - there's a flea market today and tomorrow at the Fairgrounds, and I am not at all interested in going. I am, however, all jazzed at Beloved's promise to take me to Hancock Fabrics Sunday !

Dazed and enthused...

 

Current Mood : Durrrrrrr....

 

I still can't believe it ! I'm overwhelmed - and stunned. Wow.

 

Well, here's what's going on. Beloved Hubby and I were chatting at lunch - he was in another city, so he often calls for company - and he quite casually mentions that he'd like me to do some research today. Ok, that's fine, I love doing that, what does he need ? Paint suppliers ? Decking material quotes ? Car parts for Molly-car, hopefully ?

 

Well, yes to Molly's parts next week (yaaaaay !!), but for now, he's more interested in making patches and such. And for that we'd need... an embroidery sewing machine ! Could I look up prices and functions and such ?

 

Could I ? Oh, now there was a choice assignment ! I signed up for trial membership at PatternReview.com, and dug around on Google. Learned quite a bit about embroidery patterns, embroidery design formats, free embroidery design downloads, design pattern software, sites that sell designs, what FSL is (Free Standing Lace, more later), how proprietary some formats and entertainment companies are (Disney, I'm lookin' at you !), how appliqué works with embroidery machines, that electronic combo embroidery / sewing machines are drastically cheaper than embroidery-only ones, and significantly, that all-electronic combo machines aren't much more than standard mechanical ones. In fact, some are only about $100. more than what we paid for my current Kenmore / Janome. And some embroidery-only machines cost more than a new car - but they're still listed as ‘home' machines, not ‘your own embroidery business' ones. 

 

I soon found two that were quite reasonably priced, yet feature-full. One had a USB port to enable downloaded designs to be used on the machine, long as you didn't need to edit them, the other was an identical machine, same stitches and presets - hundreds ! - without the USB. About $100. cheaper, too, but it meant you'd have to buy a $70. card to do the same thing, and the cards are actually kinda hard to obtain. As you can tell, buying the machine was far from the last thing you'd buy for this enterprise !

 

Beloved came home, and I was all astir ! I probably didn't make much sense, because to explain why this was important, I needed to define that. And ‘that' is only on these machines, and if it isn't you have to buy the other. But he asked some good questions, and soon, between the two of us, we had a good idea of what we wanted, and what the theoretical machine would be used for, and some of the future possibilities. And purchases.

 

It was then he handed me the ATM card, and told me to order the one we'd studied the most. Whaaaa ? I thought I was doing the ground work for something we might be able to afford this summer or something ! Nope - he said he wanted to get me something I'd be excited about, with our anniversary and Valentine's Day coming up, not to mention our somewhat lean Christmas. OMG !!

 

So, believe it or not, I have an embroidery sewing machine coming. Wanna see it ? Of all places, the only way to get it - we were NOT going through eBay ! - was through Home Shopping Network.

 

http://crafts-sewing.hsn.com/brother-embroidery-and-sewing-machine-with-usb-port_p-4279542_xp.aspx?web_id=4279542&ocm=sekw

 

There's even a video of it from just before Christmas, when it aired. It's so amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on it !

 

Please forgive me if I'm a bit dazed. I'm darn near delirious !

Little bit of everything...

 

Current Mood : Capricious

 

A rather quiet day today. I took some photos of Shinobu's sewing room - they came out OK, but since it was for a contest I didn't win, I want to re-take them for the site. But I'll probably put them up anyway. I really need to break it down so I can sew, but my motivation unit is damaged beyond repair. I just can't seem to access any motivation at all lately !

 

I got Jenny's issue outfit repaired while waiting for Dearest Son's bus. It's amazing how much stuff frays when the edges aren't treated with Fray-Check or cheap-serged. Jenny's little riding coat that makes everyone look British (the proper term is probably ‘dressage jacket') is actually fairly well-made, just not finished well.

 

I'm thinking of keeping the big Baby Sitter's Club doll - Kristy - that I got from the junk shop last weekend. She's pretty, and her joints don't squeak. I had two before, purchased from a flea market, and they flopped and creaked. So I stripped ‘em, gave their clothes and shoes to Crissy (they fit her perfectly !), redressed and donated them. I tell ya, Jenny doesn't know how lucky she is, since I usually find it very easy to donate most blonde dolls that cross my path !

 

We had to venture forth for sustenance and stuff for Dearest Son's school party Friday, and Mal-Wart was a zoo. Luckily, he immediately decided on the Lego Racers cards - they had sticker puzzles on ‘em ! No teacher cards, though, so I got one of the big ones from the three Disney Princess sets I have. Dearest said she'd like that much better than the cars ! He also got new shoes, which he needs like clockwork every six months. He's very hard on shoes - only a couple pair from his earliest years were fit enough to donate, and I kept one pair for the My Size Barbie girls !

 

PS to Manda - That's so sweet of  you ! I think I may have one, let me waft through the Barbie dresses first, though. Thanks !

 

PS to Rachel - Sorry I took so long - it's been nutz around here ! The site is 

http://www.streetrat.net/princess-jasmine%E2%80%99s-dresses-the-ultimate-list 

- and the whole site is fulla Disney cool. Enjoy ! Love to see photos when you're done !

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

 

Current Mood : Stormy ! 

 

Interesting weather today - we're on a tornado watch. And Beloved Hubby's working outside. Called him with the update, hopefully he's inside now, or on his way home.

 

Today I did more housework than doll work, since my guys were running out of socks ! Got four loads done, including Dearest Son's favorite jacket that's almost always dirty. I barely get it dry before he has it on, and it needs a wash again ! Got the new fabrics - the bandannas and the neo-retro TV-print - washed, along with Jenny's issue clothes. Her pants came mostly clean, so that was good news. Just have to reattach a coat sleeve button. She came in a riding costume. I'm thinking her original owner liked horses, since I bought three pair of riding boots separately, including the ones Jenny came in.

 

And I remembered why I never bought a knit-picker, even though they're cheap. I have large-eye needles that are even cheaper, and can do the same thing. I just thread the snag, or part of it, through the eye, and pull it to the other side. One less tool to store and keep up with. That said, I really like my bodkin, even though a safety pin works as well. I can usually find the bodkin a lot faster, too ! I just can't resist 80% off sewing gadgets...

 

We've had clouds and on-off rain all day, and every one of my photos has looked terrible. I think I'll bag it for today and just enjoy the drama. There's lightning now ! So I'd best power down while I still have a computer. Hope your weather is more pleasant !

 

Update - the worst of it has passed, and about all that happened was that we have a front yard littered with large tree limbs and we finally did home-made pizza for dinner. Winds are so fast and hard, they whistle ! Our relative, who delivers pizza for a living, is about to get run off his tires - evidently the worse the weather, the busier the delivery biz ! Hope everyone tips well for this ! 

Monday with Jenny...

 

Current Mood : Enjoying completing stuff

 

Jenny's hair came out quite nicely. Not much of a curl to it, not even with the curling iron, but it still looks good. The bangs are lying down and forward better, and she looks darn cute with her shorter hair. It's about shoulder length now - plenty of length to style for fun. Guess she's an OOAK now !

 

Finished the Barbie v. 2.0 shirtwaist dress, finally. I had the snaps on Friday, but the sleeves still didn't hang right, and needed the seam allowances tacked down. Pushing a doll's arm through the sleeve pushed the cuff out of shape, but that's taken care of now. Also sewed the snap in the neck of the Heart Family dark pink dress.

 

That cleaned off the sewing table, and now that Jenny was dry, I could dress her in something new while her issue clothes went through laundry and repairs. I sorted through the doll clothes, wishing I could get the jumper started - when my eyes snagged the denim underpants I'd taken off an infant skirt to get it to fit the My Size Barbie girls. Last week, I'd taken the seams apart and gotten it down to component pieces. Today, I re-hemmed the leg seams in pink thread, made a ribbon casing from the piece that attached to the crotch, hemmed the raw edge, and added Velcro to the back. Jenny now has a denim halter top ! From the butt-half of the denim panties ! Took maybe ten minutes, and the pink thread looks so cute ! Fished out the skirt from one of the two decade-old Mal-Wart outfits, and she looked adorable.

 

Here's hoping I can fix the snags on her equestrienne pants and the buttons on her blue jacket. I'm seriously considering purchasing a knit-picker when I go to Hancock Fabrics sometime this coming-up weekend - 99c pattern sales, guys ! If I understand ‘em correctly, about all a knit-pick does is help pull snags to the opposite side. It's like a tiny latch-hook. They're cheap enough, usually less than $2. or so, but like a bodkin, I never see fit to buy one unless it's on markdown or I really really need one !

 

It's kind of funny. I always figured I'd end up with an Our Generation one, but the Fibre-Craft ‘Springfield Collection' dolls were also possibilities. Those are even cheaper than the Target dolls, and almost giveaway priced with one of Hobby Lobby's frequent 40% off coupons. But heck, Jenny was opportunity knocking. Actually buying a new doll that size wasn't really ever on the agenda, no matter how cheap she was.

 

While helping Beloved Hubby load up the Diesel for work this morning, I'd found a strip of thin wood, possibly cedar, cutaway from a project. Mine ! It's now the wood flooring under Shinobu's sewing room. Looks so much better than the grey cutting surface with the yellow grid ! I'm hoping to take photos tomorrow. Including a couple ‘Best Buy Friday's !

 

I'm just playin'....

 

Current Mood : Happy.

 

Ya'll are gonna giggle at me, but I spent a good chunk of today playin' with Jenny. Her hair dried beautifully, and while it looks to be mostly Saran and partially the cheap stuff, it all came out quite pretty. She's currently resting after her boil perm - I shaped it into the often-seen pageboy I tend to use for my dolls, but really, it's about all I can do for her. A shorter style will hide the straggly parts, and bring out her eyes more.

 

Some research showed a Target doll just like her, in the same outfit - but she had braids where Jenny's hair has been snipped. No bangs. I think my doll's braids got snipped, and what I think are bangs are actually the snipped ends of the braids. It takes a bit of combing to hide the small bald patches, but the rubber bands holding the cut bits down should fix it.

 

Printed out an American Girl-size pattern for a simple, sleeveless jumper. May get to sew it tomorrow. Right now, Jenny's soaked, so I can't do fittings and trials. So far, the only complaints I have about her are the ones I knew about before buying her - the mixed-media body (vinyl limbs and head, stuffed torso), and the near-split her legs have to be rotated into for her to ‘sit'. I have no idea why so many chairs are made for these dolls, they can't sit down, really. Well, the AG dolls aren't as bad, but poor Jenny...

 

Pulled out a few slightly altered and not-at-all-altered AG clone clothes I had around. Purchased cheaply from yard sales and such. Some fit Timey Tell and Hi, Dottie, including two outfits I got from Mal-wart for $4.88, about ten years ago. Once Jenny's dry, I'll get her dressed. Her original equestrienne outfit needs washing and slight repairs.

 

Dearest Son fell in love with Yuki-san, the Fur Real Friends kitty-bot I got yesterday. In some ways, Yuki can help him interact with DC and Jack better, since the toy cat reacts positively to him, and can't hurt him. He dug out his old shopping cart, put Yuki in it, and tooled him around the house, introducing him to other toy cats and real ones, the Wii, his school backpack, and his Stuart Little stuffed animal. Yuki meowed and purred at intervals. It's safe to say Dearest is entranced. He already knows that Yuki is an indoor-only kitty.

 

Still setting up the ‘Shinobu's Sewing Room' diorama. Printed out tiny patterns, dug out a chair and some props. The boom box that came in yesterday's box of doll furniture fit perfectly with the theme, and about all I still need to do is paper the Island Princess room screen, and the box the window's sitting on. I've printed up a ‘clock', a calendar, a bulletin board with her name and some flowers on it, and a great pair of scissors. Miniatures are such fun ! I started out looking through Jim's Printable Minis, but ended up hunting down stuff I could get to the correct scale m'self. Hope to get some photos later this week - it's on my cutting table, so I kinda need the space back !

 

After relaxing all day and enjoying my new dolls and goodies, I decided against calling the thrift store manager over Friday's unfortunate incident. She won't care, probably backs her workers, and won't even miss me or my donations, I'm just one customer. But I know this - I chatted with someone else at GWill who also got caught up in it, and she was mightily pizzed off, too. Not the best way to keep customers, dear...

 

What a glorious Saturday !

 

Spent on dolls and accessories : $11.80

Spent on toys in general : $3.

Spent on fabric : $1.

 

I had the most wonderful day ! There was a big flea market at the Fairgrounds I'd been looking forward to for weeks, and we got to go to the junk shop ! You won't believe what I scored...

 

The big flea market is actually a nonprofit groups' fundraiser. About twice a year, City of gives them use of the Fairgrounds, and any group who wants to show up with stuff to dump and an agenda to advance does so. I've missed it the last couple go ‘rounds, because whoever does the website doesn't update it often. But I got to go this year !

 

Not surprisingly, it wasn't as good as my memories of the previous sales. Fewer groups showed, with less stuff, but the buyers were out in force. Kids were running around and slamming into folks (Yup, same kid hurtled at me three times, and twice I was able to side-step him - have no idea where his parental unit(s) hid), and the press of buyers made it difficult to see anything. Still, I did well ! Scored a mid-size box of random Barbie furniture for $2., a bag of Barbie clothes for 50c, a bag of doll shoes for $1.50, some Halloween bandannas for fabric for $1., and a Lego video for Dearest Son for 50c.

 

And then, it happened. I knew it was inevitable - I already had their patterns and shoes, and even a car. I guess I always knew that one day, I'd end up with an American Girl clone doll. And it happened today. This one was a challenge, and such an inexpensive one, I couldn't refuse.

 

Ya'll know how I am - if something intrigues me, I'll research it. And I love to research toys, delve into what they say about us as a society, what creative forces they channel and release, and try to figure out why this toy appeals yet this one repels, even though each uses the same basic idea. American Girl dolls attracted me. While I wasn't much for the toothy faces, the idea behind them was intriguing. Although, I admit the accessories sold the doll more than the other way around, at least for me. I knew I'd end up with a clone, because the original AGs are actually worth more used, if they're old enough !

 

And during my research into the 18-inch doll/AG phenomena, I learned much about the originals and the clones. Battat, the company who makes the ‘Our Generation' dolls for Target, came up frequently as an acceptable AG substitute - with one caveat. ‘Once their hair goes snarly, ‘ one mother warned, ‘it never goes back. You may as well toss the whole doll and buy another, they're cheap enough'.

 

Well. No sentimentality there, huh ? I understand, though, from a purely pragmatic viewpoint - Mom probably doesn't have much time to detangle doll hair, and when the dressed doll was only about $20. to start with, why not just get a new one, with new accessories and clothes, to boot ? But I am sentimental, and I played with my childhood dolls, bald, broken, and damaged, because I loved them, and because there would be no replacements unless it was birthday or Christmas time. Plus, my mother didn't much like dolls, so buying them was low on the priority list, even at gift-giving time. Besides, the same things are said for Barbie, and that's biting Mattel in the butt right now. Barbie is still viewed as a ‘cheap doll to pacify a kid', not a rare, precious commodity amongst adult doll hobbyists. Neither Barbie nor clones get any sort of respect, unless they're rare vintage models - it's hard to escape the ‘cheap' toy label ghetto.

 

Anyway. Here was a pretty Battat ‘Our Generation' doll, with numerous strikes against her. Snarled hair in dreads. Blonde with blue eyes. In a rather ugly, worn outfit that just barely fit her - and that's the outfit she was sold in ! I should have snorted and walked away. But I didn't. The little tag on her lapel read ‘$1.' with some initials. Well, I couldn't walk away. She needed my help, and I sort of wanted a challenge. And I have patterns and shoes for her size already. So now, after it all, I'm the owner of an AG clone. I guess it was inevitable. I think that head mold is called ‘Jenny', so that's her name. I also have a beautiful blonde, blue eyed cousin named Jenny, so it fits !

 

The other score wasn't doll-related, but was still pretty amazing. While shifting the box of Barbie furniture, and the ‘Jenny' doll on my hip, something meowed. I saw paw-shaped white fur, and pulled. This toy cat stared at me, blinked, and meowed again. It then began to purr, and closed its eyes as I stroked his back, completely without thinking. I had found a Hasbro FurEverFriends Kitty Cat.

 

http://host.exemplum.com/hasbro/frf-kitty-cat-video/frf-kitty-cat-video.html

 

That's the commercial, and yes, mine does all of that. His fur was a bit dingy, and he has some wild whiskers, but otherwise, he's near-perfect. I remember him from 2007, or maybe '06, I thought it was a really neat toy at the time, but for nearly $50., too much. Yet here he was, purring as I tried to balance doll, furniture, shoes, and him, and get it all to the checkout without crashing into the crowd or dropping anything. For $3., he was all mine.

 

Beloved Hubby was snickering at me - and I don't know which amused him more, the fact that I was absently stroking the cat's back without even being aware of it, or my avowal that I just wanted to fix up Jenny, it's not like I wanted a real AG, ya know. In any case, he remembered that the junk shop I liked to visit had something he wanted last time, so why not go now ? Oh, yeah ! We stashed my stuff and headed out.

 

And got there an hour before the store opened. Oh, well. Neither of us had breakfast, so we ended up with very tasty sandwiches from a truck stop Subway, munched in the parking lot. I discovered that Kitty Cat had an on/off/try me switch, and it was still on ‘try me'. That would explain the frequent meowing, which was starting to get on my nerves a bit. I also found out that he shares another true-life function with real cats - the front of my blouse had synthetic cat hair all over it. Darned toy sheds !

 

The junk shop was fulla goodies. Beloved got what he was after, and a few other finds besides, and I could pretty much have whatever I wanted. Last time I was there, I'd reluctantly put back a large Baby Sitter's Club doll - a pretty brown-eyed brunette. Normally, I snag those quickly, as their clothes and shoes fit Crissy perfectly. If only this one - Kristy - had her shoes, I'd have bought her last time. But she was still here, so I put her in the basket. I still liked her outfit, shoes or no.

 

Digging deeper in the boxes revealed nude Donny and Marie Osmond dolls. While I was never a fan of the Osmonds or their TV show, the dolls had a certain 70s appeal - and for a buck each, I decided to bring them home, too. Beloved showed me a neat miniature folding beach chair, and said he could duplicate it, so it got selected, too. We were checking out when I found a small baggie of tiny sushi glued to magnets. With the magnets removed, some dolls could enjoy the exotic, so those went into the bag, too. We'd also found a nice PT Cruiser car for Dearest Son. What a haul, huh ?

 

Once home, I dug through it all. The box of Barbie furniture turned out to be several doll-sized shelves, and about 90% of The Princess and the Pauper Wedding & Vanity Playset. About all that's missing is a gold butterfly, a bell, the cake server, one set of wedding rings, and the tiara for one of the toy cats. Luckily, the leaflet was included, too, so I could figure out how the mirror/cake table worked. It's pretty clever - the mirror can be pushed down, and the platter and cake have slots to accommodate the part of the mirror that pushes through the table. Not bad for $2. !

 

I then got to work on Jenny. Hairbrushes weren't even gonna work on her tangled hair. And it looked cut, too. So I washed her hair, and applied a pea-sized dot of conditioner. That stuff came with the hair dye from Casey's customization, and it'll last forever if I only use it on dolls ! A thorough rinsing, and the tangles began to work out. She got to sit in the sun to let her hair dry. About an hour later, her pretty blonde hair was free and flowing. Looks like it was rooted for two braids or ponytails, and her bangs were pushed up into her hairline. There are so many lengths, I'll probably cut it short. But as for ‘once the hair's tangled, toss the doll' - no. Five minutes with a conditioner and a bathroom sink will soon have the hair straightened out. An hour or so in the sun, and she's ready for more play. Hmpft.

 

While I'm sure American Girl dolls have better quality hair - and at $95., it should be ! - the Battat/Our Generation dolls aren't disposable trash, either. Shoot, now I want to keep Jenny, so no one will make fun of her ! Good think Doll Shop Deluxe has patterns for her already...

Thrift store travails...

 

Current Mood : Happy, but slightly miffed. 

Spent on dolls and accessories : $3.78

 

Well, at least now I don't have to worry that I'm missing some good find at Community Thrift - I won't be going back there again. My donations will be going elsewhere, too. I still can't believe how rude they were...

 

As you can imagine, it's quite difficult to get Beloved Hubby shopping, much less shopping at a thrift store. Too many bad previous experiences. And today was the cherry on the crap sundae for him. He wanted to go today, to hunt for a specific item, so once Dearest Son was home, we headed out. And, guess what, they've changed the hours again, so we only had 20 minutes before the store closed. Well, that's plenty of time for Beloved to find out if the store had what he wanted, and the same for Dearest. Beloved soon had what he wanted over his arm - we're talking three minutes, tops ! - and Dearest was deciding, when >poof<. No lights. Power outage ?

 

No. With twelve minutes still on their own store clock, the two teenagers running the place had decided to douse every light in the store, and turn off the register. WTH ? Dearest was already amping up - remember, he's autistic, and some things trigger him, sudden total darkness in a back room at 4:50pm is one of ‘em - and Beloved is furious. Did they announce the imminent closing ? No. Did they flicker lights or some other clue that it's time to go ? No. With over ten minutes before store closing, they decide it's out the door, so sorry, goodbye now.

 

Beloved threw his stuff on the counter, asked what was going on. Store's closed, bye. Come again ! Um, I don't think so. Dearest is now beginning a meltdown, he's confused and upset, because he can't have the car we just said we'd get for him. They're not being held up or anything, it's just that they've decided they're done for the day.

 

We were not the only ones upset by this. But, too bad. It's Friday, we wanna leave, so, sorry. We left. Since I'd spent half of December hearing from the owner how bad sales were, how no one was contributing and no one was shopping, I was really confused. I know Beloved left $30. worth of stuff on the counter, and again, we weren't the only ones hustled out the door. Unbelievable. I don't expect ‘the customer is king' crap, but I do expect to be treated like a customer - with the register open until closing time !

 

By now, Dearest is in full meltdown - he'd also had a rough day at school, and this was also a cherry on the sundae of his day - and we're on our way to GoodWill. So much for Community. As it turned out, GWill had a similar vehicle that was even bigger than Community's, so Dearest soon cheered up. And Beloved even found what he wanted, and it was cheaper there ! We were very lucky.

 

I was lucky, too. Target must've just dropped off a buncha stuff, because there were bins full of it. I snagged a set of Disney's Camp Rock dolls for $3. - a guy and girl set. I figured, for that little, just stripping their clothes would be worth it. But I kinda like the girl doll, even if she's using a Hannah Montana mold. So she's probably staying. He looks really goofy.

 

They're made by PlayAlong, and in some ways, they are chintzier than Mattel. The box trumpets ‘Includes 22 Pieces' ! I counted. Only if you tally the shoes and her earrings separately can you possibly arrive at that number. They list three bracelets - one of which is a length of string looped around her wrist twice, then knotted and cut. My, with such production values, I'm amazed they can keep them on shelves. The set had an original price tag of $25., surprisingly.

 

 I also scored a wicker Barbie chair - I always buy those, can't resist ‘em - for 50c and a children's book called ‘Princess School : If The Shoe Fits', for the same price. I'd intended to donate it to Dearest's classroom (they've called for books) and this one was brand-new, but I read it first. Clever retellings of classic fairy tales. I rather enjoyed it. It'll still go to school, but I want to read the rest of the series. Luckily, the library has ‘em all.

 

I'm seriously considering calling Community Sunday - they're closed Saturday - and letting them know they've lost customers and a contributor, but they probably don't care. And if that's the case, well, I shouldn't either.

Ninja image-switching !

 

Current Mood : Miffed - it's just been one of *those* nights...

 

Sorry about the pink/red stripes that occasionally appear on my images. They're not on the original scanned items, and the scanner doesn't do that to everything. I think the stripes are a form of copy protection, since it only seems to show up when I'm trying to use licensed paper products as images. Like a watermark.

 

You may also have noticed some of the February images have changed. That's ‘cause I scanned the other two DP V-day sets I had - 90% off markdowns last year ! - and one set says ‘Valentine' or ‘Valentine's Day' on every card. Since I have enough images for all of February (minus Best Buy Fridays, of course), I figured I'd best use the holiday specific ones first. Of course, those are the ones with ‘Flashy Foil' on ‘em, so I have to add color to the parts that scanned black. Wheee !

 

Well, after fussing and futzing with both shirtwaist dresses, I've figured out what's wrong. They both bag a bit in the bust, it's just not as obvious in the stiffer muslin one. The original one is closer fitting, and I couldn't figure out why mine looked so saggy. I mean, I followed every dart precisely, was very careful with the seams, ironed it and tried to adapt... and still it bags.

 

Quick study of the source material - both the original 1965 dress and 2007's reproduction - shows a side dart, not a waist one. If you're unfamiliar with the terms, a side dart comes in at the side seam, a waist one, well, you know. A side dart would easily eliminate any bagginess, and a waist dart can easily be eliminated in the pattern with a simple redraw. So, yes, the fact that Aileen's Patterns has once again completely ignored the original to do it ‘her way' - but doesn't show that, just the Mattel original - bothers me.

 

The original doesn't open in the front, either, but with the poor directions, it was the only conclusion I could possibly reach, so we're looking at major design changes that are not reflected in the directions or on a completed item image at all. That's frustrating. If I wanted a unique design, that's fine and fantastic - but don't sell your pattern as a copy if it barely has a nodding acquaintance with the original !

 

You'd think that, if I could tell where the darts were from eBay auction pages, the pattern creator could tell from the actual garment she has photographed as part of the pattern package. And, yeah, I know these are only supposed to be representations of the originals, but you'd think she'd at least attempt to be fairly close to those originals !

 

But here's where I'm conflicted. I had two gorgeous shirtwaist dresses back in my just-out-of-University days. They saw more interviews than a just-out-of-rehab pop star. I loved them, they flowed and rippled when I walked and in the slightest breeze, so I felt so feminine and pretty in them. And neither had darts of any kind in the bodice, and they did unbutton completely in front. So, while the APF pattern is pretty far from the Lunchtime / Barbie Learns to Cook goal, it's pretty darn close to the dresses I loved, and was sort of recreating. Talk about your double-edges ! I hate the pattern because it's not like what it says it is - but I love it because it's very close to what I had. Aaarrrgh.

 

Anyway... I got two new doll dresses I made, and they both look decent, so I'm happy. And the doll case I won - yup, the one that drove me nutz about the free shipping - arrived today, and I'm happy about that, too. Can't wait to use it in photos !

One thing, though - the photo did not show how wrecked the mirror was. It's a good thing I didn't really want it, huh ? The adhesive from the mirror was all over that wall of the case, and on the ‘vanity' surface. A real mess. I popped off the mirror, and used baby oil to remove the adhesive residue. Couldn't use Goo Gone - that stuff'll take the paint right off the vinyl ! It's nice and clean now. I'm going to make a bulletin board to go in the spot where the mirror was, for Shinobu's patterns, notes, and sketches. It's not a vanity any more, it's a sewing table !

 

The worst of the mirror damage was where the folding ‘vanity' touched it, so I'm starting to think it was a reaction. Some dolls, like Miss Barbie, have heads that react to the vinyl of the wig caps. Other dolls react to vintage brittle furniture, like the Suzy Goose stuff, leaving melt marks in the furniture and melts and stains to their bodies. I seriously think that's what happened, which would indicate it's been folded up for some time. I don't think it happened in the week it took between taking the eBay photo and shipping it to me.

 

Otherwise, it's in good shape, just some fading and scratches on the outside, nothing major. I'm quite happy with it, but that mirror bugged me at first. I wonder if I should put out a warning. ‘Don't let Barbie anything touch anything else Barbie'. That should about cover it.

 

Silly Discovery #628 - the dress form /mannequin that comes on the Fashion Fever jewelry box also comes right off. I have no idea why I never tried to detach it before ! It's just pegged in there. Since that's the best-looking of my Barbie dress forms, it's going in Shinobu's sewing room. I have no idea what to do with the jewelry box...

 

And, while waiting for Dearest Son's bus, I finished up the fasteners on the 2.0 shirtwaist and fixed a damaged Mrs. Heart dress. It's the "New Arrival Set" one, dark pink with the white lace overlay. Originally, it came with a larger tunic to wear over the dress, to simulate ‘Mom' being pregnant. While I think I already have this dress, I've never had the tunic ! This one came in a thrift store lot, in great shape but for some picks on the nylon bodice. Luckily, there's a ribbon bow decoration at the neck, so I angled the tails of it over the picks and sewed it down with tiny stitches along the ribbon's slightly rippled edges. You can hardly see the thread. Sometimes I get the biggest kick fixing something most doll folks would throw away - or save for a donated doll !