Mood:  happy

Sorry - Beloved Hubby brought home the L&O season set, and I'm pretty much gone watching that. We haven't really seen it since we gave up TV three or four years ago, and it's such a blast !

Didn't do much doll stuff today, anyway. Flea market tomorrow, though. Well, there's another episode starting...see ya'll tomorrow !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  bright

Beloved Hubby listened to Dearest Son's excited descriptions of the next toy he so desperately wants - a Lightning McQueen figure that has ‘costume' changes. Kids can add different eyes, that flappin' tongue of his, new hood, etc. to the ‘Corvette' style body. Kind of a car-themed Mr. Potato Head, but all the pieces come from some part of the Cars movie. Hubby asked me this morning to please pick one up early, just in case. Y'see, Son has to earn larger (read : more than $10.) toys with tickets. And he only needs three more to get this desired object. Picked it up today, and looked around a bit more while Son was in school.

Nothing new since yesterday over in the Barbie aisle. I did see a brown/gold version of the hooded sparkly gold dress Velma's wearing in a photo a few days ago. Identical but for the fabric, and it can be yours for just $1.99. On the brown one, I could read the iron-on image - ‘Barbie Girl' curves above the large "8". Saw the brown ‘fur' shrug that also came with Gabrielle in the 99c single-item Fashion Fever packages. Ironically, Target had the Raquelle I wanted, outfit and all, but I prefer the one I have. It's just funny I spent so long looking for it, and it's probably been on that store's shelf for months.

Made a slight error in saying that the Enchanted princess dolls of Cinderella, Belle, and Co. were already on shelves. The Official Disney Princesses dolls are from Enchanted Tales, a new animated direct-to-video series. Has nothin' to do with the Enchanted movie, as far as I can tell, but those bright pink/purple boxes are about the same for both lines. Gee, does Disney and Mattel wanna confuse anyone ?

Also, the dollhouse I mentioned isn't licensed for/by the Only Hearts Club manufacturer (OHC LLC - yup, it's not ConGlomHugeCo, or if it is, they're hiding it well). It's a generic dollhouse in the ‘not Barbie or Bratz dolls' section, for any dolls 8 to 12 inches high. So it's good for Barbie and company. Can't help thinking, though, that some of the furniture marketed to go with the house is either too clunky or too small for fashion dolls of more...abundant figures than the pre-teen OHCers.

And I got a better look at that cool Bratz car. I knew I'd never remember the name after I tried to quick-memorize it twice. So I took a photo of it with the cell phone. Too bad it won't send the *&^% images to my ^%%$# ‘Album' website that the phone company itself set up. Growlmutterwhine. If I focus on it, it looks like it's the ‘Bratz the Movie RC Cruiser'. Just for giggles, if it does post the photos sometime, I'm gonna put it here. Hard to believe my phone has the same resolution as our first digital camera, the one that took about 90% of the photos on the main site. It probably does - if I can read all that on a 1 ¼ x 1 ½ -inch screen, the resolution has to be pretty darn good.

Snagged some chips and two packs of notebooks - ten notebooks each, one wide ruled, one college, for just a buck each. Yup - I got 20 70-sheet notebooks for $2. We can always use another notebook around here, and these were dirt cheap !

Once home and fed, I hid Lightning and started back on Rio's wardrobe. Now that I know which patterns to use for Agatha, I can work on over-delayed projects and come back to Aggie's stuff later. It's like the obsession has passed, so I can get back to where I was before. Cut out a pair of jeans for him using the pattern I adapted to fit his thicker-than-Ken's legs.

Let us pause for a moment to mark the passing of my first bottle of Fray-Check. It was purchased in 2002 on the recommendation of Carol - she of Perestroika.ca fame - but didn't reach its full potential and use until only recently. And then, it was all gone. The bottle is beyond empty, and a new one begins its career. That first bottle taught me much, and already Bottle #2 is easier to use, and faster. It went out on Rio's jeans, so I think it's happy about it, since I bought Rio and the bottle the same week. Live up to your predecessor, Bottle #2 ! And I will laud you with a short paragraph in a forgettable blog as well ! Excelsior !!

And now, back to the jeans. They fit OK, still a bit snug and a bit short, so I'll adapt and try again. But I'm keeping these. One of the front pleats is goin' the wrong way - it kept screwing up during sewing, and I ended up tacking it incorrectly - which leads to that odd shape in the front. But the fit is good, and I'm getting the hang of sewing ‘fly' front-closing patterns. Another effort or two, and I'll about have it. Not bad for a design completely in German !

There's also a shirt and vest in the pattern. Once those are sewn well, I'll post his and Jem's photo anew. Here he gets a bit of ‘belly wear' from an old Ken shirt - I have three of these. I didn't set out to have one, they just appear spontaneously in Ken & Barbie clothes lots. Once I get it correct, let me know if you need it. I can't very well sell the pattern. 1) I wouldn't want to, and 2) It's not completely original - it's adapted from someone else's design. But Rio had maybe four outfits including his issue clothes total, thank you very much Hasbro, and today, they'd all look ‘80s Bizarre'. Poor guy needs some clothes ! If you have a Rio and want the pattern, let me know. It just needs a bit more tweakin'. So give me a few more days and trials.

Busy day - but a fun one !

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:16 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:03 AM CDT

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Mood:  caffeinated

Almost went over to ‘the dark side' today. Nahh, I'm just kiddin'. But during a thrift store run, I chanced to run into an American Girl doll clone. In decent, if dirty, shape, inexpensive and well-designed, especially for a clone. In retrospect, I'd have never picked her up if she was a blue-eyed blonde. Some of the most beautiful dolls in the world - just like people ! - have the same coloration. It's simply not what I go for, ya know ?

Carried her around for about twenty minutes, considering. I already have AG-type doll patterns, and most of Timey and Dottie's shoes are AG clone footwear. There's tons of free resources for crafts and ideas for them - I know, because I've adapted some for my other-size dolls. Heck, I even have an AG-size car that I bought for Elphie. So it's not like I'd be spending much beyond the $4. to get the doll home. I must've looked so weird, studying the doll so closely...before putting her back down. Just nicely displayed, not all sprawled out like I found her.

In retrospect, I've had to beat myself back from buying numerous dolls, and about the only things they've had in common was the hair/eye thing. If a doll has medium to dark brown hair, there's a good chance she's come home with me. If she has green eyes to go with, well, she's about 90% probable to have a home in Chez Insanity. But I resisted, mostly because I don't have a place to put her !

And I kind of resent the near-total domination that size has in patterns. Really, go look ! For the last five or so years, almost every doll pattern by the Big Three (Simplicity, McCall's, Vogue) is for them. Look up ‘doll clothes pattern' on eBay or online, and there's a few thousand more. Barbie doesn't have this many. Of the current offerings from Simplicity, AG and clones have 19 patterns out of 34. Barbie has 5. The rest are baby and Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and clothes patterns. Now I know how other doll sewists must've felt when there were patterns for only Barbie available.

Of course, the closer I looked, the more ‘faults' the doll had, so it became easier to put her down. I then ventured to Tuesday Morning, where they had other clone dolls, brand new, for $10. If the fever still possesses me in a month, maybe. I was kind of impressed by Tuesday Morning, btw. They had the Suite Retreat Silkstone for $25., which is on the low end of what she's closing for on eBay. Her hair was messed up, but it wasn't a ‘Swimsuit' Barbie in Silkstone clothing. Doll ‘swaps' (i.e., theft) happen sometimes, especially if it's apparent store staff doesn't know the difference or even care.

They also had numerous dolls that are still on Mal-Wart shelves, like the Easy For Me dolls for $7. instead of $10. at M-W. Also 'Tooth Fairy' - the really elegant one - and several angels. About half the '12 Dancing Princesses' line. It's a good thing I didn't know about that place when I was just getting ‘into' Barbie ! None of the dolls they had were what I wanted - heck, I don't think I really want any dolls right now - but the low prices would have swayed a newbie me.

I promised Dearest Son we'd get him new shoes today, so he was off the bus and into Lightning Molly. I even had a drink waiting in his booster seat. He excitedly picked out light-up Transformer shoes and we winnowed the size down to ‘which one is more comfy ?'. He's clam-happy, and found three new toys to want. I got to look at dolls in a store I rarely go to, the cross-town SuperTarget, but didn't find anything interesting. Oh, the Only Hearts dolls have a gorgeous dollhouse that'd probably work for Barbies - nice and mostly pastel blue toned, not garish like similar structures I've seen - but $99. and ‘some assembly required' translates as ‘wait for the house Beloved Hubby said he'd build you for Christmas'. Some of the $15. furniture sets were really nice. Most were out of scale, but that one with the full-length mirror was tempting.

But I'd told Son that we weren't getting toys for anyone, and I stuck to it. They had more of the Enchanted line from Mattel & Disney - it's a movie due out next month or so. Animated princess Giselle gets pushed into the ‘real' world by an evil witch or something. Only reason I even know the name of this puerile production is because I want the Robert Phillips doll. Good-lookin' new head-mold male doll with real hair and great clothes for $25. suggested retail ? I'm in ! Saw photos from Toy Fair, so I've been waiting since February. ‘Robert' wasn't there either,  but I have seen the ‘Giselle' doll at M-W. Guess the familiar Disney Princess dolls were easier to produce, ‘cause they're everywhere.

Also looked at their AG clones - Our Generation - and didn't see anything overwhelming to want, but Son really loved their Vespa-type scooters. He also saw a really nice pearly white remote control Bratz car - $40., but he loves classic vehicle styling. It strongly resembles a mid-50s Mercedes-Benz 190SL. Don't be impressed, I just looked it up. While researching, I found that MGA sold the same car in red or white as the ‘Forever Diamondz' line last year. Completely different packaging from what I saw today. It's listed variably as ‘Bratz Movie Starz', ‘Bratz Movie Car' and ‘Bratz The Movie Remote Control Corvette' this year, but only in white. How parents keep up with this stuff - when they don't care about it like us ! - I'll never comprehend. Next time I go shopping, I'll actually *look* at the darn car and get its official title. All the photos I could find show it out of package. Which probably accounts for the name discrepancy. One review of the 2006 "FD" car showed a Barbie sitting in it. Hmmmm..... naah. Like I've said before, the studio floor already looks like a miniature used car lot.

I ended up getting a new-to-me blouse, a book, and a VHS copy of Dave at the thrift store (Beloved Hubby knows about my minor crush on Kevin Kline), but no dolls or fabric. Didn't have time to sew with all the runnin' around, either. But there's always tomorrow...

Posted by dorriebelle at 11:31 PM CDT

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Mood:  happy

Hey there, Honeys !

Kind of a joke - a weak one. Continuing with the ‘Agatha's Underwear' theme, I think we finally have a winning pattern. It's a bit loose on ‘Honey' here, but on a Barbie, that top is as ‘boobalicious' as Agatha's. I kind of messed up on the pants.  See that little pleat on the left side ? Makes the pants too tight for a Barbie, and there's not much of a way to fix it, so smaller-hipped Cutey Honey got this outfit. Simplicity 9334, view 8 for the top. Emby Quinn patterns ( see Links on the main site) for the knee-length pants.  

I got Honey almost by accident. When I was just ‘getting into' Barbie as an adult, I droooooled over the Ma-Ba Barbie dolls. They almost always have straight blonde hair and big blue anime eyes with friendly, closed-mouth smiles. Her almost uncountable friends had a variety of faces and eye/hair color and styles, and as is usual for me, I liked the ‘flotilla' better than the ‘flagship' ! Made by a partnership of Mattel and Bandai - basically Japan's Mattel - the Barbies and her friends were all so lovely. Want settled in, big time. My second-favorite activity in those days was cruisin' eBay for that undiscovered gem, that rare rough emerald everyone else thought was glass.

One day, I found this blonde doll, listed as MABA Barbie. I swooped in, and she was a cutie. Had no idea who she is, or what the heck she was wearing. It looked sort of like a blue and white mix of a bellhop uniform and a carhop waitress costume. Well, with less than an hour to go, with about $5. total for doll and shipping, I took the bait and chomped down with a bid. No one challenged. Mine !

Some after-win research showed me who she was. A 1997 Bandai Cutey Honey ! I'd heard of her series, and had seen episodes of both the vintage 1973 Cutey Honey and the then-new 1995 Cutey Honey Flash series. But Cutey was a short-haired redhead. I had no idea how this blonde was supposed to be her. Turns out that, as a robot, Cutey can appear any way she wants. She simply never appeared as a nurse in the shows I watched ! And that's precisely who she is, a Cutey Honey nurse. If you'd like to see her still in her box, check out eBay auction #290152225613.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. I have no idea why the seller had her listed as ‘MABA', her markings clearly read ‘Bandai', with no mention of Mattel. But once I had her, I could have cared less who she was supposed to be, or who made her. She was just so darn cute ! I'd never seen a doll with palms to the front ! Her slight figure means that most Barbie dresses sort of hang on her, but she wears the new Fashion Fever clothes beautifully !

That's what I love about having so many non-Mattel dolls. If it don't fit Barbie, it's gonna fit somebody around Chez Insanity !

Posted by dorriebelle at 3:02 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:03 AM CDT

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Mood:  irritated

If I were an oyster, I'd have created a twisted pearl choker from the frustration level I had this afternoon. Grrrraaarrrgh !

Dearest Son got off to school fine, although the bus was about 20 minutes late. Heck, last time he rode a bus, it was a half hour late on that first day, and I saw it circle the neighborhood 15 minutes later. School called me looking for that bus ! And today the school called - just a courtesy call, informing me that new-student Son had arrived safely and was quite an enthusiastic and handsome boy. His bus-driver told me he wished the whole bus was as good as Son. He had a new Lego car set waiting to reward such good behavior !

That's not what's irritating. Wasted a good chunk of the morning, but got bills paid and groceries home and stored, so it wasn't too much of a time-squander. After lunch - the turkey legs from Mal-Wart are sooo delicious ! - I found myself just sitting around. Now, I spent half of summer vacation whining that I didn't have the time and solitude to do anything. Well, now I had both, and I was burning it. That got me off my butt and into the Studio, with the pattern I printed yesterday. Looking at it, I kinda figured it wouldn't work for Agatha, but it would probably use up that orange/yellow scrap left from Baby Ariel's shorts set. Plus, I could use the wooden-spool orange thread, so I wouldn't have to change it to cheap-serge all the new fabric I bought this weekend, before I wash it. And it'd be fun. So, off we went.

That wasn't irritating either. What bugged me was the five fund-raising telemarketer calls I had to stop my project to answer. Five calls in less than two hours ! I had to re-cut a piece because I got distracted and cut the same one twice. Not really the telemarketer's fault, strictly, but I was good and steamin'. One called to thank me for the check I sent, and asked me to join the new campaign. WHAT ?! Only reason I pledged was to get them off the phone - I'd just taken pain pills from the surgery, and those bustards woke me up ! And here they are, asking for more ??! I politely refused, in a voice that was so brittle and icy the ‘marketer shivered audibly. Then they called back - that was the fifth call. I unloaded on this unfortunate soul, I'm ashamed to say. Maybe I ticked ‘em off enough to not call back. Hope springs eternal.

The other two were ‘cop calls', and I'm vicious with those. Police here have numerous perks from both the City and local interests, and if they can't put their kids through college with free rent, free gas for their personal vehicles, free whole-family medical/dental/burial insurance, preferred HUD status with lower interest rates, and being able to work privately while on the clock for the City - and keep both checks - well, me sending them more cash is the equivalent to throwing it down a hole, I think. I can easily come up with better things to do with our limited funds. I don't mean to insult any Police families, Cops do dangerous, thankless jobs and deserve their perks. But most of these fundraisers are scams. If the ‘tuition fund' gets 20% of what's raised, it's lucky. Most towns only put up with it because it's basically money from the sky. They don't have to pay the fundraisers, and four dollars out of a $20. bill's better than nothin'.

Now that was irritating. And it's funny that the calls only came while I was trying to sew. Just during that two-hour window. Haven't had one since.And Cali's new outfit came out great ! Doesn't it look like she's enjoying a summery afternoon, away from that nasty old flea market ?

Yeah, the shirt won't work as Agatha's underwear top, but it worked up pretty good ! This is Simplicity 8377, view 1 for the top and Simplicity 9334 for the shorts. The top is too tight to create the fake button-front I need for Agatha's outfit, so  I've already printed out another one to try tomorrow. Still, this one does look nice on Cali. I thought I had enough fabric to do three panels of the four needed for the shorts, but that's where I mis-cut. Darn telemarketers. Anyway, I think it looks nice as half denim/half print !  There's hardly any of that orange-yellow print left, so wave bye-bye to it !

Gonna go back to the Studio now and cheap-serge all the new stuff. Man, I get rid of a scrap and bring in two more yards ! J

Posted by dorriebelle at 4:05 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:02 AM CDT

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Mood:  lazy

Well, tomorrow's the big day for our Dearest Son - he starts first grade. I worry, as his tummy's been a bit upset all weekend. Could be the McD's we had last night, could be anxiety. Poor guy.

I'm a little down, not sure why. Just wasn't ‘into' doing much of anything today. Evidently Beloved Hubby wasn't either, because we sat around and watched DVDs most of the day. Found two patterns in the Studio catalog (yup, that's what I call the big pattern catalog/summer project now !) that might work well for Agatha's undies, so I cleaned and printed one off. But had no interest in sewing it, no matter how much caffeine I consumed.

Well, there's always tomorrow...especially since I'll have practically a whole day to m'self !

Found out that the Pony playset I bought to replace the castle tower is the ‘Frilly Frocks' one, and it originally came with a miniature sewing machine ! Darn, I'd have enjoyed having that ! Oh, well. It fits on the castle fine, but it'll take some slight modifications to fit on the missing tower's housing. Found three little-girl rings in the drawers. No horse, of course.

(yawn) Well, 5am comes early...see ya'll tomorrow ! Hope your weekend was wonderful !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  happy

We slept in - really late ! - so I didn't get out until after lunch. Got to hit a few yard sales before it started to rain. Didn't find anything, but that's not always the point ! Also got a parking space I was waiting for taken, and a woman who's time is clearly more valuable than mine saw me heading for a grocery store register and dashed in front of me. I had four things, she had a cartload. Ah, well. I prefer to let karma deal more with folks than getting mad at petty stuff like that these days. Not worth my time or limited energy. Let's face it, they and their gods know what they did. Not my place to say or do anything.

Hit the fabric store - after a near-orgy of touching and feeling fabric, I bought a stretch corduroy striped remnant, a green fat quarter with Japanese lettering, some blue glittery knit fabric, and some black cotton with a small grey-brown fan print. Also eight sets of markdown buttons. Most are stars, but two special ones will end up on the sewing machine cover. One says ‘I (heart) me' and the other reads ‘don't hate me Because i'm flawless'. The one that says ‘I have nothing to wear' will probably get sewn to a jacket.

My little splurge was less than $8. - not bad when each button set was originally $3.90 ! No way I'd have paid that much, so the 25c they were marked down to was more my speed ! Love those star buttons, too. I about bought all they had of ‘em.

Thrift stores yielded woodworking magazines for Beloved Hubby, brand-new underwear for Dearest Son, and some sort of My Little Pony miniature playset for me. You may remember that I have a huge Barbie castle I bought for near-pennies at a yard sale - it was missing a tower that turns. Ordinarily I'd just ignore it, but the housing shows and looks bad. I've had various plans to replace the tower, ranging from buying a replacement from Mattel ($20. ! Forget it !), to making one from a cardboard grits container (it fits perfectly). I was also considering getting a Rapunzel tower playset off eBay, but shipping scuttled that plan. About the only one that fit the budget was the grits can. Well, I saw the MLP playset and thought it was cute. It's shaped like a tower, not all pink, with a little seat inside. Hmmm...50c. Worth a shot ! And if it doesn't work - haven't had time to play with it yet - I still have that grits box to work with !

I've been watching a new anime series on YouTube, Princess Tutu. Now I wanna make ballet-like gowns and such. One of the characters had an interesting line - ‘There is happiness for those who accept their fate. There is glory for those who defy it'. Hmm. I wonder which I'm doing ! Probably ‘accepting', but glory is such a nebulous thing... I really enjoy being happy.

Tomorrow I hope to sew something. Not sure what yet !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:58 PM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Dearest Son's busily playing with old toys. I swear, he thinks I'll toss stuff out when school starts if I haven't seen it out of the toybox in a while ! Actually, I only ditch the broken stuff. I never know what he's gonna want next, so it doesn't do any good to toss toys until he gives them to me to donate. So I don't touch ‘em unless they're truly busted.

Got dishes and the kitchen cleaned, and did some laundry. In a few minutes, Son's gonna help me clean up the living room by moving all his toys back to his bedroom, and we'll get ready to go to Granny & Granddad's. Beloved Hubby's working late tonight, but we'll make time for ourselves when he gets home. We never did watch the DVD of Enemy Mine he got from the $5. bin at Mal-Wart last week.

Haven't decided what to do tomorrow. All the stuff I'd normally jump on doing tomorrow I can do any day of the week while Son's in school. Really feels weird. The idea of going to Hobby Lobby any time I want to...wow. I know it's only been a few months since school let out for summer, but it seems longer.  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  cool

The ‘get up offa yer butt' theme is continuing. Sometimes with humorously painful results. Was getting down to the Sound Cube when - owOW ! I'd managed to boogie on the sharp end of a pin on the Studio floor. It got pretty deep before it hurt ! Gave it some proper first aid, then restarted the song and checked the carpet before bouncin' around some more. Feels weird to have a band-aid on my foot, like I'm constantly stepping on paper.

Got my paper project done, too. This is gonna sound weird and uber-frugal, but I do it. Patterns I wanna try get printed out on regular copy paper - usually on the blank sides of sheets we've already used once. It's rare for me to use fresh paper, unless I plan to print pieces on both sides and it won't conflict. I usually end up with large paper scraps. Once I've got a pile of ‘em large enough to annoy me, I cut ‘em down to fit in the scratch paper box I got at a yard sale for a quarter. Yeah, I could easily just buy a pretty new one at Dollar Tree. Or use one of the dozen notebooks I bought beyond cheap during back-to-school sales recently. But for some reason, I get a kick out of reusing a sheet that had a soccer-team formation announcement from Dearest Son's school, printing a pattern on the obverse, sometimes twice with a Barbie pattern, and still having enough to cut a scrap paper sheet from. By the time most paper leaves our house, it's been well-used !

Cancelled XM Radio today. We're just not using it, and with winter coming, I may as well save the few bucks it cost. They were actually pleasant about it, I think it's the best cancellation call I've ever had. I'll miss it now that it's gone, but give me a month, and I'll be annoyed that the radio's still here.

Puttered around in the studio some, but didn't really get much done. Mostly just enjoyed being in there. Didn't do any housework either, so it all evens out ! I think, in my lazy, roundabout way, I'm trying to hold on to summer, since a new part of my life is beginning. Dearest Son will be at school all day, without me driving him. It feels so weird to know he's not as dependent on me - I'm happy about it, but a bit sad at the same time. He's excited ! I should be...give me a week or two.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Pretty much had to get off my butt today - ‘meet his teacher' night is tomorrow, and that's when most parents turn in the requested supplies. We had most of it, but not all, since we didn't know which school he'd be attending until Monday. Bought the wrong scissors, too. So it had to be done today, as tonight and tomorrow,  the ‘school supplies' aisles will be utter disaster. Parents who can't shop ‘til this weekend will be seriously shocked at how beaten up those aisles are.

Heck, it was pretty bad at 8:45 this morning. After I had to wait for a mom/daughter team to go through ever.single.folder.and.notebook for the ‘look' they wanted - and, of course, this takes the entire aisle, both sides, to accomplish -  I got almost everything he needs. But not the ‘ 4 blue, two pocket brad fastener folders'. Mal-Wart was sold completely out of all colors. Well, they had a few, but they looked as though they'd barely survived last year's tour of duty. Not enough, and not blue. So we got the groceries and hit Albertson's, which is now Homeland. They had ‘em. Cheap, too, just not quite as cheap as M-W.  I was so happy just to have it done, I would have paid double. But a buck for all four was nice.

Still, when you have to hit three or more stores to find the list stuff, it's a bit much. I don't mind getting what Dearest Son will need, it's not even that much money. I just get tired of every year having to hunt some items down like a bloodhound. Luckily my doll shopping has trained me well for this. It's just not as much fun.

Got home and proceeded to round my rump some more. This time, with chips ! But I knew I'd soon have the ‘cicada shell' feeling again if I didn't do something. Dishes and laundry were right out (grin), so I decided to download some music from Napster onto the MP3 and go clean the studio. With some new tunes flowing out of the Sound Cube, I got patterns sorted and stored, loose doll clothes put away, and the sewing table cleaned up.

I then went after the Fashion Fever sets. While I'd opened the one Gabrielle was in and one of the fashion sets, most of the clothes for those two and one other fashion-only set were still attached to the packaging. I hadn't even opened the red/white/blue/gold one. Not sure why I do that. Even when I'm pretty sure I'm keeping some new doll goodie, I often don't open it right away. Oh, well. At least they all got opened today ! Got it all stored, too. It felt really nice, like a gift all over again, to de-box everything.

There was one outfit from Gabrielle's set I really didn't like. Actually, I liked the minidress, but the open-back hood just didn't look right to me. I almost didn't buy that set because of it. It looked OK on a doll - I saw it on the Fashion Fever doll group - but I knew it wasn't anything I really wanted. So, when I deboxed, I put it aside with the purses that don't open. No kidding. One, a cute little gold and black box of a purse, even had a hinge and a clasp, but it was molded or glued shut. I normally stuff ‘em in a baggie and donate ‘em.

Went to pick up the dress along with the purse donation, but I looked at it a bit more. Yeah, I wasn't much on the big "8" on the front, and the curly script said ‘Barbie' and something, I couldn't read it. But the skirt was asymmetrical, and the fabric was really nice. I like asymmetrical stuff. I started to wonder...

Yup. Hood was sewn on separately, not part of a seam or hem. Well, in that case... The hood detached easily, but it was holding the hem down. Nothing a few hand-stitches won't fix. About ten minutes later, I had a dress I liked much better. It mostly fits my Scooby Doo ‘Velma', but it doesn't close all the way in the back. Not much of a surprise, it didn't close in the back in the packaging either. The little thin plastic body form was also too big for it. Velma's almost too big - and she has the 1997 Teen Skipper body !

Wasn't sure what to do with the hood. It had a seam already, and a hem. Too short for a scarf or even a good headband. On a whim, I sewed the new raw edges together, and folded it into a shape. Voila ! Coordinating hat. It's still mostly just an irregularly-shaped tube, so I can configure it differently later.

Velma's using the star on the door to the Studio as a photo backdrop. It's just a cardboard star box lid, spray-painted silver. Her hair's more red than this, too. Out of the package, Velma's hair is like concrete. A warm wash eliminated the heavy spray, but also some of the darker color. She actually looks more like a Molly Ringwald doll, but she's still Velma to me !

Posted by dorriebelle at 7:12 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:02 AM CDT

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