Mood:  spacey

Continuing the 'finish stuff up before year's end' trend, I finally got off my rear and scanned that stack of doll magazines. 38 new patterns, all cleaned, filed, and ready to use. It'll be a while before I want any new ones ! If I use half of 'em, it'll be a wonder, but sometimes, it's just nice to browse through the wealth of 'em all.

Following that, I burned a back-up set on CDs. Took five of 'em. Well, four and a quarter, so I backed up some writings and the Doll Photos file, too. Wow. Any way you look at it, five disks of info's a lot !

Heck, all that scanning took about six hours. I'd planned to just do half today, but I got so far, I decided to finish. Mostly so I could get it backed up safely. Our poor hard-drive's getting the microns beaten out of it, and the chip's severely taxed, between my scanning and Beloved Hubby's growing video collections. We'll need to upgrade fairly soon, but I'm good. My world just rides a little easier on its axis when all that stuff's backed up and done. 

Amazingly, that stack of 'to be scanned' fit neatly in the space I had for it. Still have a four-inch-tall stack of doll magazines I need to figure out. I hate to donate 'em, from all indications, dolls aren't real popular for adults around here. And some of these old Doll World ones are a gold-mine for sewists. But it'll probably cost $15. to ship 'em, even via media mail. One or two magazines are light. A stack this big has some real weight ! 

Also scanned two more patterns from Fashion Doll Clothing. May have time later tonight to sew. Kinda tired of sitting at the computer ! I got the strapless bodice (called a 'corsage' for some reason in the book) and the simple slacks, mostly to compare the fit with other pants patterns I already have. 

Oh, remember when I was whining about Room With A View ? Well, the other black curtain thingie fell over. I didn't break this one, but it did fall apart, so I got a good look at it. No wonder it kept coming apart. The d@mn thing's held together with straight pins ! (sigh) Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying anything more for my dolls. From anybody. My stuff may be screwed up, but at least I'll know what was used to build/make it !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:12 PM CST

Updated: Saturday, 16 December 2006 3:34 PM CST

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Mood:  on fire

I know I'm rather early writing today's before noon, but I had such a great experience last night, I just had to share...as soon as I got photos, that is !

Finally had time to sew another of the Fashion Doll Clothing dresses late last night. Well, around here, 8pm is kinda late to be starting a doll project ! One of the main reasons I bought the book is because it had some new-to-me techniques I wanted to try, and while it's fine they were on dresses, it wasn't really the dresses I was after. It was the skill I wanted to learn ! I honestly thought there'd be more directions than zipper history discussions, but now that we've discarded that little notion in the harsh, broad light of truth, we can continue on. There's no education like hands-on fumbling around, so that's what last night was. 

I used out-of-scale but good quality cotton weave fabric that originated from a thrift store grab-bag marked to half-price. Didn't bother to center the design, and demonstrated a parallel lack of caring about changing the thread from where I repaired Dearest Son's jacket a few hours prior. I knew darn good and well this'd be a 'how in the h#ll do I do this ?' effort, no way was I keeping it. So I could be slapdash and careless. 

I had the most fun sewing this ugly thing than I've had in months ! True, I was frustrated and confused at first, because the pattern has no directions and is fairly confusing to look at, but once I got a better handle on things, it was a gas. It was so nice to just not care about everything matching, being even, measuring precisely, on and on. I swear, I must approach every project as though it was going into a museum, which is a really laughable notion. I wish I could show you the pattern I used for Elphie's Ugliest Dress Ever, but I think I'm already stretching 'fair use' by using their photo of it here, for comparison.

Oh, what the heck. I want you to see what I  had to work with. Imagine finding this pattern - with a gray cut-up sloper scanned under it, which I removed from my scan, I'm even parsimonious with printer ink - and no directions at all. Frankly, while the finished item is a trainwreck, I'm amazed it looks as good as it does. So, in a tiny square at the bottom is a representation of the pattern. Can you figure it out ? Could be that I'm dense, it took me fifteen minutes to figure out how she got the yellow dress out of that pattern ! Here 'tis :

Yeah, in comparison, Elphie's dress doesn't look near as good as the author's. But I used a muslin, looks like she used a knit or wool. And I ended up with 'points' on each end of that curve that I ended up matching by folding 'em to meet and sewing a dinky button on top, to cover it up. I still haven't completely figured out how Mrs. Ionker did hers, but I guess that's why she's haute couture author and I'm a McRib and sweatpants. 

I think that's what's ticking me off the most about this book. Of the info Amazon.com has on it, 90% is what I wrote, and it's hard for anyone to justify whether or not to spend $17. plus shipping when they have no idea what they're getting. Mrs. Ionker takes two pages to reassure us of her couture pedigree, but I could have used some directions on some of the more detailed, involved outfits. I got more directions on how to sew pants, and anyone who's sewn more than one pair of doll slacks has about got that challenge met already. I know she's high-class sewing. I know I'm probably still a beginner compared to her. But I can't really recommend this book when she's left me hangin' in the breeze, trying to figure out stuff when she doesn't even have her own d@mn pattern marked correctly. 

Am I supposed to gather that front seam ? I did, didn't know how else to do it. Her special 'gather here' mark's nowhere on this pattern. Of course, she doesn't have even a 'this means gather from here to here' key, but I guess the couture don't need amateur hour stuff like that.

Of course, what I'm trying to figure out is this : If you have to be 'this skilled' to use this book, then you're skilled enough to not need it. The advanced among us could do this pattern drafting stuff themselves without Mrs. Ionker laying it out for 'em. Fashion Doll Clothing is simply too advanced for beginners to understand, and too basic for the truly advanced. And it leaves everyone else out, too, if you fall in between these extremes. Mrs. Ionker seems to believe that everyone either has her skill level or hasn't sewn a seam in their lives. So I have no idea who the h#ll this book is for. 

Probably me, as I like to get good and frustrated every so often. Something tells me I'm in for a wild ride as I try the next pattern ! 

PS - the photo of Elphie was taken with our new camera ! First image I've posted from it -doesn't she look amazing, even in her cruddy dress ? I love our camera..... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 11:06 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:49 AM CDT

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Mood:  cool

Yup. His left eye-tooth came out tonight, with a little help from Beloved Hubby. They were both sooo brave. And Son is so cute with his now gap-toothed grin. He can't wait to show off to his friends at school tomorrow. He's already had a visit from the Tooth Fairy, who left a Fabulous Hudson Hawk (Cars character) under his pillow. 

The silver Fashion Doll Clothing dress has been repaired and is waiting for snaps to be added. Had to cut the sleeves, they tore getting pulled over Elphie's hands, even though I used the narrowest seam allowance I could. Pattern's just too tight. I also added scans of the real cover to the Amazon.com review site for it. Hoping to work on another pattern later today, maybe start my review. 

And the 1gig picture card arrived today ! Yaaay ! That's probably the last package of 2006 - I doubt we'll order anything before next year. I haven't bought any doll or sewing stuff at all this month, and I've made being 'doll self-sufficient' a goal for 2007. When I add up the stuff I bought and the stuff I got as gifts this year, it's a shade over $600. ! $50. or so a month, mostly a buck here, a big gift there. You'd think, for spending that much, I'd have a few dozen new dolls around, but really, there's only Mia and Aria. It's all doll stuff, patterns, and fabric !

Over 1/6 of that is that darn Room With A View. Only reason I haven't reviewed it is because I hate to say how badly I feel I got ripped off by it. It's made by a small company, and I know nothing I say affects what anybody buys, but... Two of the 'curtains' pieces arrived broken, another of the black flats never stood up straight, and came apart every time I touched it. One night it toppled over, I stepped on the thin, brittle plywood and broke it. For some reason, that made me d@mn happy. The fabric wall covering is fraying, and one wall is so bent, the cheap molding won't stay magnetically attached to it. I have to be careful photographing it, as it seems to be just barely over Elphie's head, and Fiyero has to be seated in any scene. On the whole, I'd have been better off buying a $15. foam-core triptych (presentation board) from Hobby Lobby and painting it m'self. If there was one regrettable purchase in '06, this was it. 

So I gotta not buy crap next year ! Gosh, I got enough to make darn near anything at this point ! 

Although I still love those little flats we got Aria ! :) 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Thursday, 14 December 2006 5:58 AM CST

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Mood:  happy

Stopped by the high-side of town Mart, and found the Fabulous Hudson Hawk Cars character. Whee ! Dearest Son only has a Doc Hudson Happy Meal car, and he loves this one's paint job. Score ! Still no Chick or King, but a quick peek at eBay shows the prices on 'em dropping rapidly. Last week, Chick went for as high as $30. plus shipping, now I find a selection of 'em for $5. with no bids. They want $10. to ship it though, idiots.

Still gonna try to find one local, but I'm not killing myself over it this time. For once, I'd like to see some eBay speculators get stuck with stuff they can't get their money for, unless they take it back to the store and get a refund ! There's a reason you can't find this stuff, and it's often due to eBay speculating...which strikes me as kind of sad when it's a child's $3.17 toy, this close to Christmas.

It occured to me that, if a family was so inclined, its members could go an entire day touching nothing but Cars licensed items. There's clothes and socks, toothbrushes, soap, towels, oven mitts, blankets, sheets, shower curtains, gloves, stationery, markers, pens, toys, on and on. I sometimes wish that I could see the $$$ numbers on licensing, not just the box-office receipts, on a film. 

Anyway...it's been a great day. Aria's shoes came in ! Everything fits, even though I ordered two sizes, 54mm and 58mm. The 54s were pairs of boots and sneakers, and they're wide on her, but the fit's fine. The 58s were ballerina flats, one pair white, the other black. I knew these would be narrower, so I went longer, and they fit absolutely perfectly.  What's kinda funny is, with these four, and the three pair of felt ones I made, she now has more shoes than several other dolls ! Those flats look soooo good, I find myself even more upset at Playmates for screwing her issue shoes up in the first place. 

She has all the basics now - and those dark brown boots are gonna look great with pants ! Can you believe I haven't made her a pair yet ? 

Also found out that Office Max is shipping our camera's 1 gigabyte photo memory card ! We ordered it back on the 24th of November, and I got word just today that it's shipping and we should have it by this time next week ! Wheee ! I'm really happy to not have to worry about that anymore ! 

Didn't get much doll stuff done today. Elphie came with while I did some minor shopping - I needed her to gauge where the snaps on her new green dress went. I tend to do the hand work while I wait for Dearest Son to get out of school. Tomorrow, I'll finish up the silver dress and start another, I wanna do my review for the site.

I don't even care who at Dollar Tree saw me with her or what they thought. I wasn't about to leave her in the car ! BTW, those larger tea sets that are more Tonner size are back in stock there. They had one pattern that tempted me - contemporary hearts in bold colors. But I don't use the floral one I bought a year ago. Still, it's just a buck... so I may return later this week.

Habitat for Humanity is doing a pick-up on Friday. So I'm going through all the toys in the house, especially mine. Disney Princess Cindy will hopefully find a nice new home, along with some clothes, and I'm ditching some more Barbie stuff. I should donate more, but I'm not giving up that 1972 FriendShip airplane without a fight ! Took me forever to find one with the grey-with-orange-stickers seats instead of the bright orange non-stickered ones. You know, like the one I had as a kid. I really should donate the castle - it spends most of its time here drying lingerie instead of being a play area. It's just that...it's a really good lingerie rack.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Wednesday, 13 December 2006 6:22 AM CST

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Mood:  a-ok

As the holidays grow nearer, it really does seem as though days get shorter. I'm all happy because I found two Cars Dearest Son doesn't yet have - Sheriff and Nitro-Ade Race Car - and I've about given up on finding The King and Chick Hicks. Guess I should have known when they were going for $20. each on eBay. Son already has a #43 Hot Wheels-type race car, and he uses that one all the time. Bonus - the red Play-Doh he wanted came in a pack with a great stocking-stuffer ! A little snowdome that will preserve a Play-Doh creation ! Cooool ! Man, four cans of Play-Doh and a neat toy for $1.67 ? I'm thrilled ! 

This Christmas, we're scaling back. The family's not exchanging gifts. We're gonna visit and eat and have fun together. Oh, Son has a decent haul awaiting him, but it's nowhere near what it was in years past, when he'd get tired of opening all his gifts with more still to go. I guess all parents end up facing the 'gimme monster', and this was our year. And as long as Cars makes Mattel and Pixar/Disney some money, I'm sure they'll still make the toys. His birthday's coming up, too.

Still, I do like it when I can do something neat for him. He got a Cars coloring book from his speech therapist (along with a Cars storybook and lots more treats !), and before he used it, I scanned the whole thing. Now we have a limitless coloring book ! You know, I think lots of parents must do that, especially when licensed coloring books are $5. for 64 pages ! Yikes. It didn't have stickers or watercolors attached, either. Just a regular coloring book about 1/3 the size of generic ones you'd find at Dollar Tree. Licensing...don't get me started. 

We did get our camera in, that Friday. At the time we ordered it, I was kinda titchy about the price, but now that I know some of what it can do, I think we got a real deal ! It's just amazing ! I'm still learning it, and I've only begun to scratch the depths of what it's capable of doing...but it's wonderful !! I've gotta sew something soon, just so I can post photos ! Just can't take many, because Office Max is taking for-darn-ever getting our photo memory card to us. &^%$.

Yeah, I haven't sewn much. For dolls, at least. Made Son a Cars pillow and pillowcase, fixed two shirts and a torn pair of sweatpants, hemmed a pair of slacks Aunt Sue gave me nearly three Christmasses ago. Got snaps sewn on everything but the two latest Fashion Doll Clothing book creations, even finished adapting that Harley Quinn costume so other dolls can wear it. Wasn't even that hard. Just had to do it all by hand. 

If there's one thing that approaching winter does to me, besides urging me to bake tons of cookies and stock the pantry to bursting, it's encouraging me to finish half-done projects. But it also leaves me too lacking in solar energy to start anything new !

I gotta get off my cold butt soon... 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  bright

The snowstorm - and all the resulting ice - is long-gone. Not sure how it knocked out our DSL, but it did, and at least that's working again. Unfortunately for me, Beloved Hubby bought some video editing software, and once the computer was back up he was at it ! So I haven't had much time here.

It's been a busy week-and-a-half. I got my copy of Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker in, sewed two dresses from it. I want to sew a few more before I do a full review for the site, but if you'd like my general impressions - and two photos of Elphie in her new clothes - I did a quick review for Amazon.com. Quick search for the book will take you right to the review. Hey, they asked. Nothing specific, but it was something I could do off-line until time and connections both went my way. 

I also got an offer to attend Toy Fair this year. (snort) Well, sort of. Some British toy manufacturer is under the impression I have lots of money and really want to invest it in them. And via e-mail, they want to give me every opportunity to do so. Spam, in other words. But they had my attention for a minute with that 'Please Join Us at Toy Fair 2007 !' subject line ! Naah, they just want my wallet to visit their booth. Still, the fantasy was fun for a few minutes ! 

The shoes I ordered for Aria aren't in yet. Ordered 'em 29 Nov., so I wrote. Turns out they've been closed since 24 Nov. for Thanksgiving, and just reopened. Too bad the site didn't say they were shut down for two of the busiest shopping weeks of the year ! Growlmutterb*tch... At least they're on their way, and it's not like Aria's been barefoot.

Speaking of Aria/Ariel, did you hear this one ? Some momma heard Shimmering Lights Ariel doll tell her daughter, 'You're a s!ut.".  Turns out, if the doll's speaking sequencer is pushed fast enough, the words garble, supposedly forming the charming accusation of the previous sentence.  ABC News bought one, and even knowing what I was supposed to hear failed to hear much beyond 'You're a <garbled burbled mess>.'

This happens every year. Just before Dearest Son was born, some righteous indignant heard a Po doll say 'f#ggot'. It was actually saying a word in Cantonese ("fi-dit", means 'faster') that the character had said and sung as part of the tubby lingo from the Teletubbies show for years without anyone noticing. 

But it happens every Christmas. Aside from the Barbie Liberation Organization's well known prank (switching voice boxes from Barbies and GI Joes and putting 'em back on shelves), it's a pretty safe bet Mattel and Hasbro and everybody else who makes toys wouldn't want this to deal with, and will do all it can to avoid a PR nightmare. And it's also obvious that people will always hear what they want to - and lots of us wanna be outraged about something.  

Here's a link to the ABC News story, and the video - so you can decide fer yerself - is linked on the left.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2714761&page=1

Well, it's almost suppertime ! See ya tomorrow !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 6:15 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 11 December 2006 6:18 PM CST

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Mood:  not sure

Today's been a comedy of errors. Woke up early to let Beloved Hubby sleep, and catch up on some solo computer time. Too bad the computer didn't work. I turned it on, it started to come up, then nothing. I figured our power supply's fried, which'd suck, with most roads still snow over solid ice.

So I sewed two more pair of felt Aria shoes. They look just like the white ones, only in tan and dark brown. I remember this felt, I bought it for a costume eleven years ago. Only used half of what I bought, and these pieces ended up in a craft box. Where they stayed until last month, when I went through and donated half of said craft box. Glad I kept the felt.

And there was a price sticker still on it. 'Michael's Crafts, 20c'. See, I knew that GoodWill down the street was overcharging for that stuff ! And I bet it wasn't nearly as old as mine, either ! :p

Hubby woke up, and he had the computer going in 5 minutes. I still don't know what he did that I didn't, but heck, we got our computer back. Despite sitting on the sofa for most of the day and never seeing the trash truck, they came and went before I could get our can out. (sigh)

And our camera, that was due to be delivered Wednesday, is still not here yet.  I have no idea what the hold-up is. I can understand yesterday, even though mail and UPS tooled down our road at their usual times. DHL has had our camera for three days now. Grr.

At least Dearest Son got to wear the snow boots I bought him last year. Amazingly, they still fit - we didn't get enough snow to even fish 'em out of the closet last year.  

So it's been 'one of those days' for me all day. Here's hoping the camera shows up today ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 2:30 PM CST

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Mood:  happy

Well, school's out and the roads are a mess. You'd think I'd have all day to sew, but with everyone home, I just never got to it. We watched old movies and ate all day.

I've already checked, and school's closed tomorrow, too. Help !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Mood:  accident prone

Sorry for not writing yesterday - absolutely nothing happened worth writing about ! I didn't even manage to go get Dearest Son's photos. We'll be up there Friday anyway...

After trying to find doll shoes for Aria on eBay, I decided to make them. After failing at the first pair (utilizing a book of patterns I bought last year and felt that's older than our marriage), I decided to look around at online stores. Much as I hated to pay $7. to ship about six ounces of shoe, I went ahead and ordered about what Aria will need - pairs of white and black flats, a pair of sneakers, a pair of brown lace-up boots. Satisfied, I tried the felt shoes again. Aria's pulled her skirt up a bit so you can see them...

Went better the second time. The first pair might have gone better if I'd actually followed any of the directions in the book (Lyn Alexander's Make Doll Shoes !, vol. I). I admit, I don't have much patience for letting glue dry for three days. I modified her pattern (scanned and reduced it via the printer), moved the uppers seam from the side to the back, and machine sewed felt soles to the uppers, eliminating three layers of cardboard. 

While even the good set doesn't look great, they're not that bad. After the modifications were complete, making a pair only took about a half-hour. May make another set or two out of the two shades of brown felt I have - which is also about eleven years old. There's also some sparkle felt I bought a few months back, and all that UltraSuede... Truthfully, though, I'm still sorta cheesed at Playmates for selling a doll that doesn't even come with shoes that fit her right.

But I don't regret shelling nearly $30. for the four pairs I bought. They're quite nice, and it'll be great to have stuff I don't have to futz with for Aria. These will probably become bedroom slippers or something when they get here. Still, now that I can make 'em in felt, I will probably try other fabrics while I wait for those to come in. With the Winter weather and holiday shipping crush, it'll be a few weeks for them to arrive. 

We were supposed to get our camera today, according to DHL, but we didn't. Darn it. Maybe tomorrow, but I doubt it - we're supposed to get around four inches of snow. i can hear sleet hit the windows as I type. So I may have plenty of time to sew tomorrow - because it's safer for Humanity in general if I stay my can't-drive-in-snow bottom at home in bad weather. From what I understand, most of the local grocers are about sold out of milk and bread...glad we already have a whole half-gallon and half a loaf of Rye.

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:54 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 9:49 AM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Almost zero doll time today - about all I did was sew snaps on the backs of some of the stuff I made this weekend. I save that part for the time I wait for  Dearest Son to get out of school. I have to be there early, or I'm waaaaay in the back of the line. So I can get there a half-hour early, or sit there for nearly an hour afterwards. Long as I have something to do - like sewing fasteners - I'm fine with the wait. At least by taking the 'early' option, I don't have to keep the engine running.

Today, it was one of the few times I got to sit down ! By the time I was done with helping Beloved Hubby and picking up groceries, it was time for lunch. A few household jobs later, pick-up time. Then it was time for therapy, and Hubby was home. I fell asleep on the sofa after dinner, and I wasn't even aware I was that tired ! 

My retiring friend loved the simple gift I made her. I think it was more that I remembered than it was the jar itself, those are really easy and not very time-consuming. It was nice to have something I made appreciated. But heck, if I found it at GoodWill in six months, I wouldn't be upset. A gift, once given, is gone.

Hubby got his Christmas gift today - the chair he's been wanting ! I'm so glad he got it. He's been wrestling with buying it the way I've been twisting around about that pattern book I want. The book which he now insists I get. :) He looks so comfy and happy in his chair. Wish I could describe it, but I'm not sure what it's called. So I just call it Hubby's Comfy Chair, and I'll leave it to your imagination what that probably looks like !

Family's decided we're just gonna gather and eat on Christmas. No gift exchange. Fine with us ! Son has a few more gifts coming, but it's not gonna be the blowout we've had in years past. Went through one box of toys - out of six ! - and eliminated a bucketload of broken cars, odd pieces, and the occasional still-fresh-looking McFrench Fry. One down, five to go.

Tomorrow's gonna be busy, too. I get to pick up Son's photos and get rid of soda cans and packing materials. I bought fabric to make new pillowcases for Son's bed, too. Yeah, I could just buy pillowcases, but these won't be identical to what he already has. And there's more toys to sort and a living room that's in chaos right now. But I'm hoping somewhere in there, I'll get to do something doll-related. Hope springs eternal, ya know ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 8:59 PM CST

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