Easy, fun Sunday...

 

Current Mood : Sleepy

Time on Wii Fit : 35 minutes

 

Spun around the house most of the day, finishing up projects. Dug out a 25c yard sale frame and got the ‘I Still Play' piece framed and hung up in the Lab. It's done on some of the last of the leftover unbleached muslin from the dining area curtains - I have maybe enough for four more small stitch-outs left, and that's it. It's a great fabric to embroider on, easy to handle, nice neutral background for nearly any color or design. And at only $2./yd all day long at Mal-Wart, no coupon or sale required, it meets that criteria, too.

 

Also used the snap-and-grommet pliers to attach a small hanging-hole grommet to the clear vinyl green fairy effort, so it's now hanging up, too. I went for the bedroom window this time, using a green silk ribbon to match.

 

After a hearty lunch of McD's - the Angus burgers are good, but taste like quarter-pounders, and a third pounder is just too much for me - I decided to get the spray adhesive and try sewing on cardstock. I'd watched a tutorial on Embroidery Library (www.emblibrary.com) Friday, and had been wanting to try it, with some of the stuff I already had around here. I have an untouched box of blank wedding card stock -  nothing frilly, and at 50c with envelopes I couldn't refuse - and small card remnants. Those were a grab bag, $3. at M-W in the Scrapbooking section, bought months ago when I was making tons of little origami boxes. I'd hoped to use them for that, but it was kinda thick and hard to fold, so I put them in a Disney Princess yard sale lunchbox and stuffed ‘em with Crafts.

 

Brody was still threaded with black from the Barbie experiment yesterday, so I chose a mottled beige card that was conveniently 4 by 4 inches. Embroidery Library's tutorial expressly said I should only use their made-for-cardstock designs, but you can already guess how I felt about that. I even looked, and all they had were Christmas and Hanukkah designs, and most of them were for bigger hoops than Brody has. Which is funny, because the tutorial shows a nice, simple ‘Thinking of You' design that they don't have for sale anywhere.

 

Hooped up some old cutaway (i.e., dryer sheet) scraps and sprayed the back of the card with the adhesive. Didn't stick. Sprayed it again, and it only partially stuck. Hm. Pressed it down harder, and let it ‘dry' for a bit. Seemed to be in there well enough to sew on. Chose a simple flower design from Brody's built-in memory, and it worked ! Well, mostly. The first few stitches pulled out. So, before I pulled the hoop off Brody, I decided to stitch a second pass of the same design, right on top of the first. Again, the initial six or seven stitches didn't ‘take' but the rest was excellent ! No tearing or anything, not even where the first ones weren't. Fixed it with a hand-needle and some cutaway thread.

 

Seriously, I was not real impressed with that spray adhesive. I'm thinking of trying the same thing again, but secure the card to the stabilizer with masking tape along the edges. Long as the tape's nowhere near the needle, it should be fine. Maybe the spray doesn't like the dryer sheets, but it's what I'm using, so if it doesn't work with it, well, it's time to explore other - much cheaper ! - options.

 

And so far as ‘only use made-for-cardstock designs', feh. I think, as long as it's a simple design that doesn't use hundreds of tiny stitches, it'll probably sew fine on cardstock. I'm thinking of using my larger hoop to sew on a greeting-size card - since I've barely used that hoop for anything, and my standard-issue one will bend the edges permanently. I can always iron it, but you can't iron out deep creases on paper. Ask me how I know...

 

After that, I sort of goofed the evening away. Thirty-five minutes of Wii Fit and a few games of Wii pinball, a bit of Lab tidy-work, read a bit, napped a while. Brats on the grill and tater tots in the oven for dinner. Yeah. It was a really nice day. Hope yours was, too.

Big Barbie Project - completed !

 

Current Mood : Fat and happy - but my eyes hurt. 

 

After blogging about it for the millionth time yesterday, I finally decided that today was the day for the big Barbie-themed embroidery experiment. I admit, I wasn't feeling too confident, especially after screwing up that frame Wednesday. So I futzed around endlessly, fussing with color choices, printing out the elements both together and separately, agonizing over which element would get stitched first, arranging my threads on the ‘organ' (thread rack), ironing the fabric, going through the yard-sale frame collection... anything that would have me loosely involved, but not really stitching yet.

 

But after lunch, it was time to get going. Everything was prepared, and it was all in its place. An hour and fifteen minutes later, the Barbie part was done - along with a short million jump threads to cut - six over the face ! How annoying. The next part was very difficult - align ‘I still / play with' with the doll figure, but keeping the grain of the fabric absolutely straight, and get it so it'll work with the angled ‘Barbie' logo that goes in afterwards.

 

I screwed up. Took me about ten tries to keep it straight, and by the time that was done, I had it up a bit higher than I wanted. About a half inch. So I adjusted the ‘Barbie' angle a bit so it looks like I did it that way on purpose. Originally, the ‘I still' was even with the doll's head. It's still up too high, though.

 

And then, while cutting anchored jump threads (aaarghh !) I pulled out a row of stitches on the ‘a' in ‘Barbie'. So I fixed it with a hand needle. So it's not bad - and it's straight ! - it's not without its rough edged charm. I may repeat this on a sweatshirt for winter. Once I adjust my measurements so the next one's not up so high !

 

Believe it or not, that was most of the afternoon. The endless preparations took time, The doll figure took over an hour, and the ‘I still' part took a half hour to stitch, after about a half-hour of hooping attempts. The ‘Barbie' part also took longer than expected, mostly because I loaded the wrong logo into Brody ! Had to erase it and install the right one, since the wrong one wasn't outlined, and the pink would fade into the unbleached muslin fabric. Yes, I actually have two machine embroidery ‘Barbie' logos. And I had the angling and hooping issues again. But at least  I know how to use the thin plastic overlay ‘grid' that came with Brody's hoop now - it even has a cutout circle in it, designed to help lift it out. But for me, it isolates a bit of the fabric so I can better check the grain, to make sure it's straight. Funny, how Brother included something so useful, that I never needed until now.

 

And we're having a nice dinner, watching National Treasure on this lovely holiday. We have natural fireworks - thunderstorm - so I doubt our town's gonna run the usual combustible ones. Hope your Saturday had some fun and new experiences, too !

So sick of that site, I don't even want Chinese food for dinner...

 

Current Mood : Sleepily happy

 

Current Image Notes : Here's most of the 70s-era furniture I got during yesterday's thrift store haul. Kind of fun to contrast that with the frilly ballerina stuff on shelves now. 

 

Whew ! Three more loads of laundry, and it's all done ! I'm wiped out, and Beloved Hubby's home, so I guess my "I'll put it away today if it kills me" vow is shot. Gonna hafta put it all away tomorrow, it takes up too much space otherwise !

 

Well, it took me a week, but I went through all 1079 pages of that Chinese free downloadable embroidery design site. The person who published the link, for some reason, linked page 930, so I thought that was the end. Imagine my surprise when it kept going, and going, and going...  At 28 designs per page, that means I looked at 30,184 designs total. Downloaded eighteen. Out of over thirty thousand, I only wanted eighteen. While it's true I already had a few of the exact same designs from another Chinese site - most of the cars for Dearest Son and fencers for Beloved Hubby, and a couple of stars - even if I had snagged ‘em again, it just means I would have downloaded 29 total. Not a huge difference. I'm not sure if this low number indicates that I'm over-picky, or overloaded.

 

Well, probably not overloaded. When someone on the SiCK forum wanted to find a free embossed design to experiment with, I found a pageload of freebies, and happily snagged nine. And let the forum know where to find the page. So it's not that I don't want to score a freebie here and again, it's that I already have sooo much, it's hard to get excited about generic Christmas bells and weird-eyed women. But if it's something I like, I go for it with gusto - and WinZip !

 

Lest you think I've sat around looking at bizarre flowers and other oddities in thread all day, I wanted to add that I did my Wii Fit today - 25 minutes of yoga and strength training, and six minutes of games, like Hula Hoop and Step. And all that laundry carrying and ferrying was tiring, too. But we had a fun evening. I was studying up on embroidering on cardstock - the next big experiment after the Barbie-themed one - when Beloved decided he wanted to hit Hobby Lobby, while art sets were on sale. So, off we went.

 

I got the black China markers I wanted - those always come in handy, especially in the kitchen, for dating leftovers and marking freezer bags - and a set of pretty glittery star buttons, and he snagged some new pencils and the watercolor set he wanted. Evidently while I disappeared to the bathroom, he added a can of spray adhesive to the cart ! I didn't see it until we checked out. He said he knew I was fighting getting a can, but the cardstock would probably require it. So just take the darn thing, or he'd call it a birthday present and buy a bow for it. So, now I have a can of it. Jeez, that stuff's expensive. If I ever use all this, I'll wait for a coupon or sale to buy more. At the register, the young lady cashier asked where we'd found it, her grandmother needed some. Like her, I'd thought it was over by the other spray adhesives in the glue section, but Beloved said it was on the sewing notions wall, under the quilting supplies.

 

So, since there's no flea market and darn few yard sales in evidence this weekend, I'll probably stay in and get that Barbie design done, and hopefully the laundry. I like to make plans - it amuses the Powers That Be in the Universe.

I checked out of 'Hotel for Dogs' - but ended up checking right back in ! The things we do for love...

Current Mood : Sleepy but happy

Spent on doll stuff : $5.65

 

After the sheer, wonderful laziness of yesterday, I knew I had to get off my burgeoning butt today. Started things of briskly with the Wii Fit. About time I got back up with that.  Did 31 minutes, and was soaked with sweat. I'm not gonna tell ya'll how much weight I've gained since the last time I used it - which was last September, if I remember correctly. When I had that asthma attack that landed me in the ER, I was put on total rest for a week. Guess I overdid it !

 

But it felt sooo good to get back to it. I've been promising m'self for weeks to do so, and when the Wii was believed broken, I got even lazier. So I'm kind of proud of me today.

 

Also got going on the much-neglected laundry. Seems like I wash just enough socks, shirts, underwear, and pants to keep us going for another week, without ever getting ahead. Well, tomorrow's laundry day, too, so I hope to get it caught up, or at least hung up and put away this time ! Six loads today, the rest tomorrow. And I'm putting it away if it lays me out flat for the entire weekend !

 

I also toured more of that Chinese free embroidery design page - I'm on page 675 of 930. And I've downloaded less than ten designs. As predicted, I am currently mired in the Endless Floral Landscape, and hope to escape to more interesting stuff later.

 

Beloved was home a bit early, so I ran errands solo. Even got to hit a thrift. Came home with a remote control toy dog for Dearest Son, an AC/battery-powered radio/tape player for Beloved's Salon, and some doll stuff for me. The orange plastic sofa set was still there, so I snagged it - mostly for that one ‘s' shaped chair. Thinking of spray-painting the sofa, and adding some upholstery. Also got the ballerina shoe cabinet from the Twelve Dancing Princesses line. Numerous dolls, none interesting. Mostly peg-feet Bratz.

 

And, while returning the Redbox copy of Hotel For Dogs, I noticed it was available as a used copy for $7. So I went ahead and got it. Yes, I'm sick unto death of it, but Dearest is still fully enamored, so I can deal. Plus, if it gets to be too much, there's the Lab, plenty of housework, and the MP3 player, any of which will drown it out. I needed a bit of 'time away', so it was nice that I got it today ! 

Even doll cakes melt in this heat !

Current Mood  : Sugar buzzed

 

Well, ya'll know me - cake doesn't sit around long ! We attacked poor Belle tonight, and her skirt was actually a three layer cake ! Delicious. Of course, the figurine stops at waist level, and was attached to a clear plastic post that anchored the bust into the cake. On closer examination, the post detached, and I found a curled-up bit of paper inside. Stickers ! I got a rose, a crown, and a Cinderella shoe. How cute !

 

But before that, I was about as lazy as you can get and still breathe. I'd bought a DVD of Kentucky Fried Movie during the grocery run, since my twenty-year-old $8. VHS copy was showing signs of degrading. In a slight irony, the  DVD was only $7.50. Watched that, and listened to the MP3 player during yet another Hotel For Dogs run. I am truly getting sick of that movie... Also, if it's such a ‘kids' movie, why is the lead theme song "Let's Get Lucky (Let's Go All The Way)" ? Did the producers watch the animated Chipmunk Adventure first ?

 

Beloved Hubby was having a rough day, so I decided to use the frame I found Monday and the designs I bought with my SiCK points last week to make him a special place for his certification. Did the math and everything... but it's not right. One corner isn't straight with the other, and the fabric I thought was enough wasn't. It came out OK, but not my best work. Beloved appreciated it though, but couldn't quite figure out why I made him that. I told him I had a design I wanted to use, and a technique to try. Actually, I just wanted to make him something. You get that photo tomorrow.

 

I've seen rain and sun...together !

Current Mood : Weird

 

Not much going on today, except we had a weird rainstorm - while the sun shone ! It was so weird - I heard thunder, and looked outside to our usual bright and sunny late afternoon. But I pulled Molly-car into the garage anyway. Just in case.

 

She'd had a busy day, although about all I got done was groceries. It really ranks to shop in this heat. Got what we needed, and did the banking, and came home. Dearest Son took a short eternity, with several second-guess returns to the Lego aisle, to decide on a small set. Oh, he knows which of the $60. to $90. sets he wants, but the $20. and under are kinda hard for him to choose. He ended up selecting a set of two racecars that came with a fold-away track. It's actually pretty neat.

 

He's currently enamored with Hotel For Dogs, a kid-fantasy from Nickelodeon studios. It's cute enough, I suppose, but I just have a disconnect with the fact that Big City has no problem with electronics genius boy and Miley Cyrus-hair girl stealing power and water in an abandoned hotel that's full of saleable props in fantastic shape. Also that these dogs live better than 99% of humans. If the hotel property was so fabulous, why was it abandoned ? And why are only dogs living there ? I know, I know - kid movie. But still... just ‘cause it's for the younger set doesn't excuse the writers from plugging up their massive plot holes. Dearest has his own take - he plays the good guys all morning, and the bad guys after lunch.

 

Found another Chinese site with tons of freebie embroidery designs. I'm on page 68 of 930. Each page has around 20 designs. Most are bad holiday or odd religious interpretations, but I know I'll be hip-deep in Endless Floral soon. There's a few copyright violations - who knew Bozo had this many designs, and that there's a girl Bozo character ? I guess it's inevitable that there's also a Bozo baby... I snagged a few small designs and a Hello Kitty or three, m'self. Of course, some of the SiCK folk are just morally outraged at those copyright dodgers - OMG, we should all boycott the whole site because of them ! Never mind that the whole thing's in Chinese, we couldn't support any ads on the page if we wanted to.

 

I also got my birthday cake - a bit early, but since there's no way to know if they'd have a Belle figurine cake when I'd actually need it - and you'll see it tomorrow. It kinda melted and slid a bit on the way home, that's how hot it's been.

 

Finally got off my butt and did the dishes. It took a while, but it's done, and the kitchen smells much better ! Oh, and the Alphabet XPress folks finally answered ! Too bad it wasn't my question. I asked, "Can I sell or give away designs I make with your program using your fonts ?". They answered, "Yes this is fine if you are combining lettering with a design you already have, we see no problem with this. " Cut/Paste quote, exactly. (sigh) I give up - and I'll be giving away my s#it snowflake on the SiCK boards, appropriately enough, next week. Tired of it all.

Pinball and flat surfaces

 

Current Mood : Increasing sleepiness

 

Learned a lot from yesterday's experimental ‘sew at the computer desk' trial. It's great to know that I can, and I'll have to keep it tidy ! And that the most comfy seat in the house is the best one to sew on. And that the cuticle scissors I'm using for embroidery are great for doll clothes, too. It's often hard to clip the corners and curves of Barbie-size clothes with regular huge scissors - because it's so easy to cut beyond the stitches or seam by accident. Tiny embroidery/cuticle scissors have a lot more control. Still gotta be careful, ‘cause the tips on those are super-sharp, but I could control them much better than my usual dressmaker-size Fiskars sewing scissors.

 

I also learned that a piece of random fabric draped over the monitor makes a great backdrop for photos, and one of the Mad stands fits perfectly in a desk drawer, too. Wow. My computer desk is fast becoming my nearly all-purpose surface !

 

The material for yesterday's Belle t-shirt came from my Lab cleaning efforts - I cut one of the bad Wall-e "Eve" stitch-outs away and had enough material for two shirts. So you may see another soon. That's the thing about machine embroidery - if the smallest embroidery space is 4 x 4", most digititzers feel they have to fill every centimeter. Doll-size designs are actually difficult to come by ! I've been hoarding ‘em like a miser when I find them. I like the 1 x 1" designs when I can find ‘em, but more often, it's 1 x 1.5 or 2".

 

Oh, and the Mystery of the Suddenly Rusty Iron was solved yesterday, while I was sewing. Beloved Hubby remarked on the embroidered fabric's rust marks, and I told him that I was very lucky that most of the damage was to the wrong side. I need to remember to check from now on ! He cringed, and said it was his fault - remember when he used the iron a few weeks ago, to steam the brim of a favorite hat ? He thought he'd emptied the steam chambers, but it may have been wet when he put it away, he didn't pay much attention to anything other than it was cold enough to store. Whew ! No biggie, I told him, I'd just wondered how a almost-always dry iron - I never use the steam part, since few of my craft applications call for it  - suddenly developed rust !

 

And we got the Wii pinball game I wanted - GameStop had it used, and I love it. Pinball Hall of Fame : The Williams Collection is so much fun ! I got the high score on two tables, and Beloved Hubby got one, too. I played Black Knight, Funhouse, Pinbot, Space Shuttle, and the vintage classic Jive Time. I had no idea that I was giving the tables some ‘English' when I jerked my hands to spring the flippers ! Figured it out when I saw the large red ‘TILT !' on the screen.

 

Tomorrow's gonna be busy. Got grocery shopping, video returns, book returns, rent to pay, and a rebate to mail off. And I'm hoping to vacuum. Wish me luck ! And thanks, Manda - I'm hoping to sew some more later this week !

At least I didn't forget the title today !

 

Current Mood : Happy

Spent on embroidery designs : $10. (well, it was a great sale !)

 

Managed to store eleven reams - it was a bonus case ! - of paper in the file cabinet in Beloved Hubby's Parlor (gonna call it that from now on), once I moved the Huge Box of Yard Sale Envelopes that was in there. Cleaned out the Bill Drawer in my desk, which made space for nearly all them. I'm glad it worked out that way, since I kinda hated rummaging around in the file cabinet for envelopes. Between the box and the cabinet, it was always a struggle. Much easier to buy envelopes at Dollar Tree and keep them in my desk. Now they stand a chance at actually being used.

 

Although I've used about half the box already. Couple years ago, I hit a yard sale that was evidently run by a family that used to have a stationery store. There were boxes of papers, envelopes, stationery available, and display racks were stationed all over the driveway. Guess they wanted to ditch it all, because prices were super-cheap. I got a large boot-box full of all sizes of envelopes for a buck - mostly business sized green ones, but a lot of holiday and plain ones, too. It's been worth the buck, for sure. The rest of the envelopes went to the Stationery Drawer. And I found a forgotten frame I can use soon !

 

The twelfth ream got stored mostly on the paper rack under the printer, and the rest is under the desk, out of the way but nearby. Not sure what Beloved has planned for the box, but a good copy-paper box is so versatile ! Since it takes us about a year or so to use a ream, we're stocked for a while.

 

And I learned to always check the iron before I use it. I wanted to stitch up that silver thread heart I stitched during my experiments, but after I picked out most of the bad silver stitching around it, it needed to be ironed up a bit. Luckily, I was ironing on the wrong side, otherwise the fabric and stitching would have been wrecked. There was rust on almost the whole soleplate ! I have no idea why, it's been stored there for years. Got it cleaned up, but now I know to check it first.

 

After all that, there's not much I can do with the fabric. It's too close to the edge to be much good. May end up making a small patch out of it. Darn. Oh, and ironing thick, embroidered-on plastic doesn't help smooth it out much. About all I can do with the pretty fairy I embroidered on it is make a ripply window ornament. At least I have plenty of grommets and a set of snap/grommet pliers for the hanging cord !

 

With that silver heart still in mind, I wondered if I could clear my computer desk and sew with KJ, my mechanical sewing machine, right there, without having to drag everything over to the kitchen table - where I have a bad habit of just leaving everything ‘til ‘later'. If I sewed on my desk, I'd have to put him away as soon as I was done, so I could use the computer ! That was an idea...

 

And that's where today's image comes from. I used an old pattern from a doll magazine, and still messed up - it's supposed to be a pullover T-shirt, but mine's split and Velcro'ed up the back. Those old patterns don't like for ya to put in hems. Took about an hour, but I think it came out well. And I just used Stitch Witchery to attach the heart patch to the shirt, after edging it in Fray-Check. I've been wanting to doll-sew for a bit, just hated dragging everything around. But with the wireless keyboard and mouse, long as I keep the desktop clean, I can move the computer stuff to the side, sew, then use the monitor as a backdrop for photos - I taped some whale fabric to it for today's image - once KJ's put away. Only downside is, KJ's cord isn't quite long enough, so it doesn't lie completely on the floor, so it's a trip hazard. I may have to put a power strip aside for KJ, and Brody, when he's getting new designs, so I don't have to worry about my guys taking a gainer off a power cord.

 

So I had a great Sunday.  Hope your weekend was fun, too !

 

Current Mood : Whiny

Spent on crappy doll magazines :  $8.25

 

Stuck to my word of ‘no yard sales' this weekend, but it was easy - Beloved Hubby was home, I slept late, and there's darn few because it's so hot so early. Found some more fabric that needed storing and downloaded a few more designs... what more could I want, much less find, in someone's yard ?

 

Helped Beloved print out an online hobby book he likes, mostly by babysitting the printer. We soon ran out of paper, because it was a 243 page book. I thought we had another ream, but we didn't, so we headed to Home Depot. I was kind of excited, since I love office supplies. Doesn't everyone ? We'd also planned a trip to Target and a few other places, then have a late lunch. Well, we barely got the paper and ink picked out when his phone rang. Dearest Son had forgotten to pack the power cable to his laptop, so DFIL would be there to pick it up on the way home from work. Well, shoot. He hung up - and wouldn't answer his phone - so we busted butt to get back home... and he never showed. So much for my fun afternoon with Beloved. At least we got the book printed.

 

We did go out later, and I got the latest issue of IHatethese Dolls, oops, I mean, Haute Doll, but it was mostly out of frustration. I really wanted the afternoon we had planned. At least there's a couple of patterns in there I can use. More rail-thin ‘female' dolls that look like drag performers, and more doll manufacturers complaining that they can't make the $$$ dolls anymore, so they have to slum and make the $ or $$ ones the hoi polloi are actually buying these days (heavy sigh). Just because you name your dolls an unholy mix of French and Japanese, it doesn't mean it's worth any more than a Playline Barbie, so deal with it.

 

And more paper-doll and Space Force Adventures filler, which I'm sure somebody somewhere enjoys. I kinda regret buying this thing, but Beloved had something to read, and I wanted something new, too. I really am a whiny, spoiled brat 90% of the time.

 

Once home, we got a call - Beloved's friend wanted to visit, so that was my day. We did have a little time together, since Friend wisely packed it in early for once. Yes Man is actually a funny, cute movie. We both enjoyed it, and laughed. And while it's hack as all h#ll, based on the included preview, I kinda want to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past when it comes out.

 

So I had a good day, just not what I'd really hoped for, and I know I sound like the biggest spoiled princess there is. Wish me luck finding space to store our brand-new 11.75 reams of paper tomorrow !

An Uncommon Mind...

 

Current Mood : Jubilant ! 

 

I may have figured out something really important, I'm just not sure yet. And from what I can tell, no one's figured it out before. But then again, I'm reminded of an old Calvin and Hobbes strip, wherein Hobbes voices his belief that, if all man needed to fly were paper feathers taped to clothing, someone would have thought of it before. Calvin calmly replies, ‘It takes an uncommon mind to think of these things, Hobbes'. He has to agree.

 

Well, here's the current fruit of my uncommon mind. Fairly frequently, when you have a 4 x4" (100mm x 100mm) maximum embroidery area, you find designs that are either a tenth of an inch or three inches too big. Of course, you really really like these designs, and they're not available in your size. This is especially unique for me, since I'm not used to being too small for anything. Or having anything too big for me ! Besides my mouth.

 

So, when I got a link to download a free resizer, I was thrilled. Resizing software is often pretty pricey. You may remember that fight as part and parcel of the ‘Sew Red for Women' debacle. That, however, ended well when I got Explorations Resizer to download, install, and work. Only one problem with it - it says all my .pes designs are inferior artwork, and resizing them by more than 10% will probably cause problems. Of course, I'm not sure what more than 10% of the design would be. Sure, taking a design from 4.2 inches down to 3.95 is probably within specs, but most designs are set up for 5 x 7" or even 6 x 10" ! And is that 10% width plus height, or overall ?

 

After yet another round of ‘darn, too big' designs on a freebie page, I pulled up Resizer again. And this time, I paid attention to the warning message. Hm. Apparently, this program likes the .art format - not as popular as my usual .pes, but it's usually available. Brody can't use .art, but what if I downloaded some oversized goodie in .art, reduced it to 4x4, then saved it as a Brody-ready .pes ?

 

Well, no time like the present. The SiCK site offers hourly freebies, and coincidentally, when I was ready to try, there was a simple redwork (one color line art) design that was 5 x 5". Nothing I really wanted, but it'd be perfect for my... experiments...

 

Aaaand, it worked. It didn't nag me about ‘inferior art', it resized it as I wanted, and I'm fairly certain taking a 5 x 5" design down to a bit under 4 x 4" is more than 10% - if I use square inches, going from 5x5 (25) to 4x4 (16) is actually about 37%. No warning, no cautions, and it saved like I didn't do a thing to it. It stitched out beautifully in Ambassador's simulation, too. I always wondered, if a design stitches out well in Ambassador, is it a near-guarantee Brody will also do well with it ? Provided I use standard hooping, thread, needles, etc ?

 

Well, you've already seen the answer - the rag doll above was the next SiCK freebie. Originally, she was 6.67 inches tall and 5.05 inches wide, using 6240 stitches in her makeup. Few minutes with Resizer, and she was 3.54 inches tall and 3.8 inches wide, and now she only needed 5855 stitches. Smooth as silk, no nagging, no flaws in Ambassador's virtual stitch-out. Deep breath. Almost time to make it happen.

 

After a quick dinner, I realized I had several firsts going on with this project. First stitch-out of a redwork design. First stitch-out of a resized design. First time I've added new designs to Brody since we moved all the furniture around. On the latter, it's much easier to move him now, and get to outlets. So I like the change even more.

 

I wasn't really worried about redwork. It's one of the simpler forms, but I'd never done it before. Lemme tell ya, it's fun ! Since it's all pretty much one continuous line of stitching, you never know where it's going next. And when you've altered it as much as I have, you don't really know for certain if it's gonna come around and finish that leg, or put in that piece of hair. But now I know. It can be done, because I DID IT !! It's a darn near perfect copy of the original. Just smaller. Whoo-hoo !

 

Eventually, I'll get back to that Barbie design...