DracuLaura in a blue dress - again !

Current Mood : Doing better ! 

Effort #2
DracuLaura sends you a kiss !

One thing I learned today – when I get time to m’self, I have to start early to get anything fun done ! I’m also very glad that Dearest Son gets to spend time with his grandparents every Wednesday. We both do a little better when we have some time apart.

Got going early today with fresh hash browns from some going-fast potatoes. I finally got to break in that cheese grater – and now that I’ve used it, I’m seriously dedicated to getting a good one. Kinda hate to spend nearly ten bucks on one, but the $2. one ranks. It was so funny that, the day I bought it, I found one identical to it at a thrift store, cracked at the bottom, missing the rubber ‘foot’. Guess where mine just cracked, and it has the rubber strip ? Ah, well. At least the hash browns were good !

Since I’d already scanned it and it was hanging out on my desk, fluttering to the floor every day at least once, I decided to go ahead and stitch up my alterations to Toferet’s Empty Bobbin free blouse pattern, located here, and pictured and discussed here. It was…not good. Set-in sleeves at this size are a major pain, and if you ever tried Barbie versions, then you know what I’m talking about. Now, picture it about 2/3 that size. Set-in sleeves for MH arms are beyond my skills right now ! My alterations only gave the pattern a ¼-inch seam allowance in place of its current 1/8-inch one, but it was enough to seriously throw off the whole thing. Rats. Effort #1 – trash can fodder.

For Effort #2, I printed the pattern again, as it came off the website. I took my time with it, and still ripped out many, many stitches. Skipped the sleeves, and hemmed the armholes instead. Hemming armholes with a 1/8-inch seam allowance is nearly as much of a pain as sewing set-in sleeves ! It wouldn’t look so bad if I had thread that was a better match, and I’ll probably try it again with a print or something I can match. Still, once I got it, the fit was nice, and it made the simple gathered rectangle I sewed to it to make it a dress look much better than it is. I then got to have a great time digging in the MH shoe box to find something good for Dead Tired DracuLaura to wear with her new dress. It doesn’t look like much, but I really like it. It reminds me of the dress Midge is wearing on that doll case I have on my closet door !

Y’know, I may have to make another box. Oh, the shoes are well-contained in the one I have, it’s just that I’m running out of space for the other stuff I store in there. Hair decorations, hosiery, jewelry, glasses, small props. It’d be a lot easier to dig for shoes if I didn’t have to keep shifting that stuff out of the way. Hmmm…think I know what I’m doing next weekend ! Now, what fabric do I have 1 1/8 yard of…?