Mood:  a-ok

Seems like I have to keep starting these with apologies. Sorry I vanished again. I guess I hit a slump. Seemed like nothing was fun or important all week. Made a simple Leia skirt that screwed up - it's now a simple Barbie-size skirt - and I think that was a signal for me to take a break for a bit.

But I came back yesterday, made the skirt again. Still not happy with the hem, yet it fits, so I'm just gonna go with it. When I make the matching blouse, I'll post a photo. I'm thinking seriously of giving Leia her own page. It's kinda not fair to the Barbie-scale dolls, since they can't really wear her stuff.

Once that was done, I still had most of a day, so I slumped around a bit, bored. There's this basket on top of my milk-crate fabric storage towers that holds 'recent uncompleted project'. Kind of a misnomer, as the project in it had sat untouched and unbegun since April. Just a couple yards of fabric I liked from a Mart discount table, and a never-used pattern for a shirt (also two other shirts and pants/shorts) in my size. Back in April, I was gonna try this new pattern, as the one I'd used twice before was OK, but I wanted better. And there it sat ever since.

Until yesterday. It'd be simple to say I started at 11am and finished at 9pm, but there was a lot in between ! Dearest Son's school and therapy, my extended lunch and computer time-waste, an hour's worth of housework and some more wasted time on the terminal, dinner, time with Beloved Hubby, etc. I estimate that solid work-time, from layout to final hem, was about three hours. Lotsa narrow doubled hems. It's much better than the one I worked before, and the fit's better, too.

I'm still not entirely sure what got me off my burgeoning butt. I need new clothes, and if I can find fabric I like at a good price, it's actually cheaper to make my clothes. My size isn't the easiest to find. Heck, I can spend more time trying to find my size than I'd use to make something. 

Few days ago, I was checking the Mart 'dollar table' (some Marts do have a fabric section wherein all you see's a buck a yard !) and found two lovely Asian-inspired fabrics. Inexpensive woven cotton, but very pretty. I prefer woven fabric to knits, as I tend to 'show through' knit blouses, and it's embarassing. One had more browns and a bolder design, the other one was green with a gingko leaf and luna moth design. Ended up buying some yardage of each, and got 'em cheap-serged and washed. Afterwards, I realized - I'd bought the *pants* yardage, not the blouse's !

Well, darn. Print's too big for doll clothes, and I hate to have a spare yard sitting around. So I planned on going back the next day to get blouse fabric, and make sets ! Yup. I love matching pants and blouses, wear 'em all the time. Why not make 'em ? I have before.

Beloved Hubby saw them drying on the rack, and really liked the green one. He asked if there was more of it - he knows I often buy remnants -  I said there was...and he asked me to buy the bolt ! Seems he wants a floor-length men's kimono. Kind of like the Happi Coat I made Fiyero, but longer. That's doable. I even have a set of 'no pattern' directions. So, I trotted back to the Mart, and soon had the one blouse yardage and 8 2/3 yards of the green - the first time I've ever gotten to say, "And that one, I'll just take the whole bolt.". When half a yard is an entire doll wardrobe, buying a bolt is a seldom thing !  

So it's all washed and dried, ready to go whenever he is. Y'see, he wants to make it himself ! That's fine with me. I have enough to make my sets, and I finally got the April blouse made, so I'm ready to make more. Making clothes for myself is more fun than I thought. I feel a kinship to everyone who ever laid fabric out on the bed, Simplicity pattern in one hand, scissors in the other, pins gripped between lips. Or out on the floor in the hallway, I've done that, too. It's a real accomplishment, to have fabric in the morning and a blouse at night, while the rest of the country seems to gasp, 'Somebody still sews ?!!'. I hope to again, soon ! 

Just not today. Dearest Son has a bad cold, and he's home today. Just not gonna have the time. Maybe next week. I have lots of fabric sitting around here... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:42 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

(happy sigh) My Beloved Hubby is the greatest ! We visited the local comics shop this morning, and bought two new manga (Japanese comics) volumes, and rented three anime (Japanese animation) DVDs. I also found the adorable 'Goth' Hello Kitty keychain that Elphie's shown holding at the top of  the main site's home page. It's so cute ! Normally, I don't like Hello Kitty much - the 'no mouth' thing kinda freaks me out, and she's so darn pink !  But this bad girl has a glittery black tutu, with gloves and lace-tie shoes to match, with an attitude-laden saucy bow. But what sold me were the tiny felt wings ! You can barely see them in the photo, but they're so cute !

From there, we travelled to a Japanese steak house he wanted to try, and we had the most delicious lunch ! We had sushi for the first time - and it's OK, but I preferred my beef teriyaki bento box. I just had a California roll, something most gaijin like, but Hubby had a cucumber roll as well. The presentation was beautiful. Almost hated to eat it, but it smelled wonderful. We also had miso soup, with tofu, onions, and seaweed, something else new. It tasted a lot like chicken soup to me, but not quite. Very tasty. 

It was amazing how full you got from eating so little. I don't normally like seaweed or cucumbers, but happily found myself eating both, especially with a little ginger. Wow, is ginger spicy ! My previous experience with it was ginger snap cookies ! I didn't go near the wasabi, as I hate things like horseradish. But sushi isn't bad at all...still, I enjoyed my teriyaki more. Found another sushi place, so we may be going there soon.

Came home and watched our anime DVDs. We'd been reading Ai Yori Aoshi - translated, of course - but I saw a clip of it on YouTube.com yesterday. Had no idea it'd been animated. It really is beautiful. With so much focus on 'battling trading card' kid shows, I'd about forgotten that there is more adult-themed animation out there. AYA is far from x-rated (it's not even R, save for some airbrushed nudity, much like a nude Barbie in appearance), but it's not a kids' show. It's more of a relationship series. And it's very sweet. 

Found two pair of old doll shoes in a yard sale this morning. Took a chance - hey, for 50c, why not ? - and they fit the Disney Princess dolls perfectly. I think they were made for porcelain dolls, but it's not like that matters now ! The comic shop also had some Hello Kitty sneaker keychains that would probably fit Crissy - high-tops with cool patterns - but it'd be $14. for a pair of 'em. Kinda expensive...maybe later.

I've about cleaned out our local Dollar Tree's supply of those tiny brads - you can see 'em in use in Leia's latest outfit, on the Barbie page - so I hit the one in the next town. Theirs hadn't sold at all, so I bought out all the black ones they had, scored two more packages of white and one silver. That should do me for quite some time ! Beloved Hubby told me what I'd need to do to custom-paint 'em for special outfits, so I think I'm all set !

Right now, we're in the middle of a rainstorm. And it's nearly Dearest Son's bedtime, he had such a great day with Granny and Grand-dad. I'm pretty tired m'self, and I didn't do much. Hope your day was fun, too ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:11 PM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Late again -man, my social calendar books up fast when school's in session !

Had some time this morning, and tried the polo/golf shirt again. Seems I misread the directions - when they said 'follow the 'sew line' down and back up again, making a small slit', I did just that. The slit was about an eighth of an inch wide, and v-shaped.  So today, I used the 1/4" seam allowance on the 'sew line', and it worked better, but didn't leave enough for the placket extention.

So I ripped it out and cut another front and facing. Instead of using the marked 'sew line' on the facing, I used the line next to it. Worked much better, but as a consequence, mine has a button placket that goes down much further than the pattern photo indicates. And I still have to work on getting my collars even, but on the whole, it's not too bad.

Here's a comparison photo of today's finished item and the pattern. As you can see, the pattern image is on the left.

The pattern is by Tamara, of 'DesignsByJude', and it's called 'Resort Getaway'. Here's a link to it, it's available via eBay - 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=

9512610190&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Or just do a search for "Resort Getaway for Matt O'Neill", it'll come up. 

The fit is great, and while I still need some practice, it isn't at all difficult to sew up. Especially if you read the directions correctly !  The collar webbing I used on yesterday's and today's efforts came from discarded Dearest Son shirts, so it might work up better for me if I used new stuff. 

On the whole, I'm pretty pleased with this pattern, and I'll definitely work it up again. There's a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and swim trunks included, and I wanna try them, too. A darn good value for $10. plus shipping - it's not like you can find a Matt O'Neill pattern on sale at Hancock Fabrics or Joann's for 99c this month ! She ships fast - I think I paid for mine on a Monday and had it in my hands Wednesday. I've been sitting on this pattern for over a month !  

For some reason, I'll get all excited about getting a new pattern, and once I have it, I don't use it, often for quite some time. Doesn't make sense, does it ? I have some Barbie patterns I've never used, but I was happily clutching 'em to me when I bought 'em. And I'll be honest, once it looked like today's efforts would work, and I'd have a Fiyero-wearable shirt, my hands got all wonky and shaky. I was that excited. I guess I don't want to ruin the excitement with experience ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:42 AM CDT

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Mood:  bright

Having a little more trouble connecting to the Blog Builder - nothing like earlier this week, but it's still a bit of a pain. So let me get this done quick, before there's more problems !

Tried the Fiyero (Matt O'Neill) polo/golf shirt pattern today. I completely messed up the collar and the extentions all by myself. Not the pattern's fault, and I know where I bit it. Here's the proof -

Shirt body itself fits great. Sleeves are good, and the shirt goes together well. I didn't do the collar right - I misunderstood some directions, and by the time I understood, and resewed it, the fabric had torn and become unstable. I also didn't quite have the front opening extensions right when I sewed 'em, so that's something else to work on !

Luckily, I got lotsa fabric, even if it looks like Fiyero here's short on patience ! This particular bit was from a box of rags. One of the joys of my hubby's job - he gets these rag boxes on occasion, and I plow through all twelve pounds within, looking for the occasional treasure. They're mostly ripped t-shirts, but I often find lace, elastic, designer labels, and nice material.  This wasn't as nice, but it was polo/golf shirt fabric, so I decided to give it a go.

My fledgling PaintShopPro skills are hiding a bit of an oil spot on the front I didn't see during cutting. But it's not like I'm gonna keep this one - it's not even hemmed. I'll work it again tomorrow, and once I get it right, I'll be glad to share the creator's name - since the error on this one is mine, not hers, I don't want to put her good name on my bad sewing.  

I like this pattern. And I can't wait to get it right !  Wish me luck tomorrow !

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:20 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:41 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

It's still kind of funny to me. Spent the last two weeks, if not all of August, getting ready for Dearest Son's return to school. It's already over, and I'm the one wandering around wondering what to do next !

Well, today, I sewed. But in order to do that, I had to organize and store all the patterns I've used - I knew I already had a Leia Pants pattern, but darn if I could find it. So I popped in an old MST3K tape (Castle of Fu Manchu) and got everything sorted and stored. That's a job I've put off for weeks. It's a lot more fun to print and sew and go - not much fun sorting all of it out ! 

I also got to use the tiny brads I bought from Dollar Tree. Those worked out great ! May go buy 'em out tomorrow, Leia's outfit used six and I only had 25 black ones ! Finished photo's on the Barbie page, but here's a close-up of the blouse...

Not too bad. Wanted to try a new 'Dr. Girlfriend' costume for Elphie, one that looked a bit closer to the real thing. Was playing with the lapels in Leia's size, and printed it out for reference. Out of boredom Tuesday, I went ahead and worked it up. Skipped the collar, and it's too short for a dress, but it's darn cute as a blouse, especially with matching slacks.

The brads were so much fun. I put one in at the top corner, then measured Leia's hand with a sliding ruler. Rounded it off, then measured down from the first one, marked it with a pin, made a small hole with the seam ripper, and treated it with Fray-Check - this fabric frays easily.

Once dry, I just inserted the brads, clipped the long ends, and folded 'em closed. Done. Since the blouse is supposed to have a lapel, the brad edges don't get near Leia's chest - there's two layers of fabric (the other side facing) between brad and...well, bust. Two hidden snaps keep it modestly closed.

Sure, it's not much like the costume. But I like the design anyway. It looks sort of futuristic !

I'm thinking of trying Fiyero's golf shirt tomorrow. Wish me luck !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 4:05 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:41 AM CDT

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Mood:  don't ask

Sorry again - this time it ain't my fault ! I've been trying since Sunday night to get in to write ! All the stuff I wrote in Word to transfer in here is so out of date, I won't waste your time with it.

But here's the rundown - Dearest Son started school. After wrestling with school admin and lunchboxes, everything went just fine. He's adjusting well, and the much-ballyhooed Cars lunchbox arrived today. Parking and pick-up/drop-off is a freak-out fest, but I'm getting acclimated. Long as I have a book and my $25. MP3 player, I'm fine. Why spend big bucks on an iPod ?

Printed out a pattern just for giggles - I mean, I had no intentions of actually *sewing* my Leia doll a Dr. Girlfriend costume. I was mostly playing with the lapels, so when I make Elphie's lavender one, I'd know a bit more how to get those right.

Well, today I sewed Leia a kelly-green Dr. Girlfriend outfit. What can I say, I love green, so there's tons of green fabric around here. It's a bit short, right at her hinder without the hem I haven't sewn yet, so it'll end up as a blouse. But it looks good, fits well, and I think she looks gorgeous. Still have to finish it up - hem, brads, snaps -  but that'll complete it, so I'll post a photo then.

Fact is, I'm still adjusting to Dearest Son being gone all day. Although we got on each other's nerves sometimes during the summer, it's awful quiet with him at school. I can barely get motivated to do much beyond watch old MST3K tapes, so sewing Leia's Dr. G costume today was a welcome change. I was thinking I might start back up with my old service project, dressing dolls for charities, but there doesn't seem to be much call for it now.

I'd go back to work, but since Beloved Hubby's started advertising his new business, and Son's in school, I'm on phone and chauffer duty. Guess that's work ! 

So's that kitchen, and it hasn't cleaned itself yet. Guess I'd better get on it. I'm so happy I finally got to Blog !! Missed you !

Posted by dorriebelle at 5:05 PM CDT

Updated: Tuesday, 22 August 2006 5:13 PM CDT

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Mood:  incredulous

I mean, it's beyond ! OK, so last night, Dearest Son's favorite ball merges with the infinite, and I promise to take him to replace it today. Off we go to the Mart. And...there it is. The elusive, impossible to find Cars lunch kit. The *exact* same one we ordered yesterday, the very one he wants ! What the heck, we'll have a spare ! It's the only one, too. 

So, joyfully, we get the ball and take the stuff to the scanner. Lunchbag won't scan. OK. So I take it to the CSM counter, and she checks it. And tells me that, yeah, it's only $5.88, but she can't sell it to me.

WHAT ?! What in the freaking - why not ? She doesn't know, just repeats that it can't be sold. I take it to the service desk, and get the same crap. Not one amongst 'em knows why, but there's a box of 'em in the back, and they can't sell a one.  Please remember, I've been trying to find lunch boxes for over a month, and aside from some dusty Superman ones, this is the first child-themed one I've seen. I've ordered the same exact one online not twelve hours prior - so what's wrong with it ?

If it can't be sold, then why is it on the sales floor ? And what's so horribly wrong with it that, if I buy it, something dire will happen ? If I put an egg salad sandwich in there, will the freakin' thing explode ? Or are there hidden lasers in the headlights, or tarantulas in the lining ? If something's been recalled, there's gotta be a reason !  Is it a threat to the Republic ? It is a mystery...

So, after dealing with an upset Son, we buy the stuff we're allowed to, and leave. I called back for the manufacturer's name - of course, they took it away as soon as they decided it was in my best interest that I not have the mysteriously dangerous thing - and call them directly. Of course, Zak Designs (www.zak.com) has no recalls. Their products are lead-free, always have been, and have been subject to numerous safety tests for the last 20 years. During the 2005 lunch-bag lead recalls, Zak's were consistently found to be safe and usable, and their products weren't amongst the ones cited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

I call the nice lady at the online company I ordered from. First she's heard of it, too, and her son's carrying the same lunchbag ! My order had already shipped, and she was down to her last few. So she calls her rep - who told her that, for some reason, the Mart decided not to carry any PVC lunchbags. So they have all these highly in demand lunch-carriers in the back, where no one can buy them, and nobody knows when or even if the Mart's gonna return them so they can be sold elsewhere.

Now, a quick aside. We DID buy a PVC lunch kit, at the Mart ! Had to have something until his Cars order arrived. It's made of the exact same stuff as the Cars one, and it's also bearing a 'Lead Safe' hangtag. The sales rep hypothesized that the Mart had some sort of whizzing contest over Zak Designs, and refused to sell their products, instead deciding to hold them until no one would buy 'em. I mean, how many lunch boxes does anyone buy in October ?

The Zak kits are also 'Lead Safe', and I believe Zak and my seller. It is ridiculous, but that's the Mart for you. I'm seriously considering shopping elsewhere from now on. I mean, we're poor, but why support a company who can keep product off the shelves just to make a rather random point ? If they're not gonna sell soft-sided PVC lined lunch kits, fine - but don't sell any of 'em ! It's bad enough they don't pay employees crap and expect distributers to starve so their stock goes up 2c this quarter - but refusing to sell things that are in stock, that people need, for no dangerous reason is beyond expectation. Maybe they should stop selling eggs - what if that horrible sharp shell gets into my eye when I'm making breakfast ? OMG !!!!!

Who'd have thought that a d@mn lunchbox would be such a difficult purchase ?  Or I'd have to play internet detective over such a darn mundane thing ? I mean, crap, I used to be a reporter, but this is stupid. What, is it Mart's policy to not tell their employees anything, so they can't be debated or answer questions ? It's just a *&%$ lunch bag ! 

Things to consider... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 3:59 PM CDT

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Mood:  irritated

Ever have one of those days - when the best thing you did all day was go into a room where no one could see you ? I swear, there's times...

The room thing was part of Dearest Son's therapy.  There's a two-way mirror between his therapy room and where I was, so I could observe without being seen. And, as expected, he did much better without me there. He wasn't as distracted, and didn't claim tiredness or that his finger hurt. He did as asked, and did very well. I'm proud of him, but sometimes it bothers you, as a parent, when your kid does a lot better without you... 

I may have touched on how hard it's been to find Son a darn lunch box (lunch bag, lunch kit, lunch whatever)  - geeze, all we had was hard plastic containers, all identical save for the laminated picture on the outside and the screen-printed matching Thermos on the inside.  Tonight, we surrendered and bought one from an online dealer. And the store we normally shop never had any lunch-whatevers in stock. I mean, none. I found two hard-box Superman ones, but that was all. 

Anyway, we finally ordered it, and it'll be here the day after school starts. Oh, sure we could have overnighted it - for $38. additional ! Forget it ! I couldn't help but wonder where all the 'kid' lunch-thingies were. All I could find were generic ones that teens or adults would carry. I couldn't find so much as a darn Dora one.

And I wondered if there was an eBay factor at work. One Mart worker said she knew a woman who came in and bought 36 soft-side Superman ones, saying they were for a birthday party. Wow. Lotta cash for goodie bags ! Kinda sucks if speculators cleaned out this whole darn town of lunch-totes just to make a few bucks.

I mean, there's tons of lunch-gizmos on eBay. Why aren't there any on store shelves ? Is this what we've come to - you have to buy everyday things from sellers halfway across the country because some yo-yo pirate wannabe bought all the ones in your local stores ? Yet another reason to avoid eBay, if that's what it's coming to ! 

And yes, after chasing around half of yesterday and part of today trying to find a lousy &%$#@ lunchbox, I haven't gone near the sewing machine.  It's hard to make it worse...but the person we were told would be Son's teacher, isn't. So this new woman is, and she didn't have time for us to discuss his issues with her, she was too concerned with chatting to talk to us. Every year, I come so (*%$#@ing close to home-schooling... but from what I saw myself in therapy, I know I'd be crappy at it.

But there's times I freakin' wonder - would I be any worse than the school system has already shown itself to be ?  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  accident prone

(sigh) Mondays. This morning, as Beloved Hubby vacated the terminal to get ready for work, the monitor suddenly lurched off the stand and hit the keyboard. The $70. Microsoft Natural keyboard. Sheared the little easel stands on the back of it right off - of the four pins, no two of them broke the same way. Nothing really damaged, though. Monitor's back on, more securely this time, and the keyboard is still usable, if flat. In short, a typical Monday morning in Chez Insanity.

Posted the 'bra cup' jacket photo on the Barbie page, with Leia modeling. I'm seriously considering doing the 'Barbie and the Bra' page now. Just gotta find another bra to take apart on camera.

Hit another inertia bubble, and opted to trawl eBay instead of sew. I think I'm getting a little apprehensive, now that school's gonna start up soon. You gotta wonder about me, I spent most of summer wishing it'd hurry up already ! I worry about our Dearest Son, and what school will be like for him this year. I confess, I don't remember much of my younger years, which is probably a blessing. High school was only mildly kind to me - all us 'nerd girls' banded together after the misery that was Junior High. We weren't popular, but at least the hazing was at a minimum, as there were so many of us.  

Anyway, eBay. Hit one of my favorite auctions. The one where the doll is coyly posed with only arm showing, with the seller confiding that he or she knows 'next to nothing' about Barbie dolls. He or she does know, however, which type of Midge doll this is, that her swimsuit is the wrong color for her hair, that the toenail polish is mostly a memory, and that there's no  chews, missing hair plugs, green ear, or neck splits. And he/she's priced Midge at exactly what the current pricebook says she's worth. Wow. Imagine if the seller actually *knew* what he or she was selling !

I know, it's a ploy. Fully half the dolls up for new homes on any self-auction site are sold by completely ignorant folks who somehow manage to include the parlance of the collectable and offer it not at a yard-sale bargain-bin price, but what the going values are. That way, when someone buys it and finds that the doll lacks a left arm, the seller can say, "Honestly, I didn't know it didn't come like that from the factory. It's up to you to notice the arm's not there in the picture ! I don't know nothin' 'bout no Barbie dolls !" and try to get away with it.

Vocabulary word of the day : Baka. Japanese, means idiot. Baaa-kaaa, two syllables. It has a very satisfying bite in it when spoken. Baka baka baka.  

Got the grocery shopping done early today - still have to find DSon a lunchbox. I found what was probably the last Herbie: Fully Loaded toy in the county, a wide-body soft Herbie with plastic tires that revs and screeches  when the top is pressed. I wrestled with it a bit - yeah, Son would love it, but it was noisy, and do I really need to feed his Herbie addiction ? I sighed again, and into the cart it went. After all, I didn't need to feed my fabric addiction Saturday, but I did. Of course, he loves it, and has thanked us a few dozen times for 'new Herbie'. Yep. Worth it.

Not a lot else going on. I may do a new 'portrait Barbie' for Son's speech therapist. Long time ago, I gave him a Hasbro Maxie doll, but he's not interested. It kind of resembles her, I'd just have to cut her hair and make a custom t-shirt bearing the center's logo. Simple enough, scan the brochure we have, use some of the iron-on transfer sheets we have. It's a thought.  

I'm thinking of making something, now that dinner's over and evening approaches. Gonna start getting Son adjusted to school hours, not that he's been sleeping in much these last months. To get him to class on time, he'll have to be up at 6:30am, though. This is gonna be fun...

Sleep tight tonight.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 6:52 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 14 August 2006 6:54 PM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Sorry this one's late. Beloved  Hubby came home, got on the terminal, and stayed there ! Let's pretend it's still Sunday for a few minutes...

Kind of a busy day. Decided to get Leia's 'Poncho' pattern from the toysrgus.com site, line and bleach it for a new one. Went straight to 200% increase - it worked, was simple, and came out right, long as I studied the photo for seams. But the finished item was...not good. Looks like they used a stiffer felt for a reason. My cotton blend looks like something worn in those horrible Guantanamo Bay photos...and for everything that's holy, don't make it in white ! That hood is...evocative. Yikes.  

So, next time I'm out, I hope to score some felt. Needed some anyway, for the Monarch costume I want to make Fiyero (Venture Bros.). Hancock Fabrics sells it by the yard, although I'm hoping to avoid going over there for another week or two. 

After that, I was cleaning. Ugh. But cleaning the 'studio' is kinda fun, and this time it paid off a bit. Usually when I rend a yard-sale bra down to component elements, I toss the cups. There's not much fabric, and even when it's pretty, that particular area usually shows frequent wear and has pilled. During last month's 'Bra Fest', I took apart one lacy, odd-shade-of-fuschia brassiere - and for some reason, the cups didn't get tossed like normal. They ended up alongside the 'Scrap' bin. Played with one a bit, and before long, I made a cute lace jacket from one !

*Very* easy. Took me longer to wind a bobbin than it did to make the jacket.  Even had thread to match. It was from a cheap "20 Tiny Spools for $1." assortment that I got on sale for 69c (99c store going out of business), but that ten yards was more than enough. After re-sewing the hem (removed earlier to get at the elastic), I simply sewed a straight line two inches up from the bottom edge and an inch or so over. Done ! Leia's modeling on the Barbie page, if you wanna see front and back views. It fits a Barbie better, but I just can't refuse Leia these days !  

Just wish I knew what size that bra was. I imagine that a smaller size wouldn't work for a Barbie doll. One day, I really will have to do that 'Barbie & The Bra' page. Just for kicks. Did you know that Ruth Handler, the debatable inventor of the American Barbie, also created and marketed breast prostheses for mastectomy patients ? She would joke in interviews, when the reporters wanted to talk Babs, that breasts seemed to always be in the center of her life. Her products and designs, called 'Nearly Me', are still in production today.

And, after that, I leafed through an old Doll Reader magazine. I'd bought a good-size lot of 'em off eBay a while back. Found a subscription card with a color DR cover, so I made Elphie her own magazine. Cut the back - card wasn't big enough - from a doll ad response card. Looks pretty good, and the shiny tape gave the cover a glossy look. 

So, busy day. Still lots of cleaning for me to do tomorrow. Think I'll treat m'self to some Goldfish crackers... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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