I have shrugged again !

Current Mood : Darn ruffle...

Yaay ! I did it ! I bought nothing today ! While we normally participate in ‘Buy Nothing Day’, we usually falter a bit and snag a soda or a suddenly-needed grocery item. But not this year – we actually succeeded in buying not one thing at all. I feel like I won the game, and I didn’t nearly get run over by someone driving a Range Rover, with a cell phone in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. True story. Happened BFriday 2006. I was in a marked cross-walk and had looked both ways, too. She blared her horn at me when I yelled, and, of course, not only didn’t she slow down, she was speeding up, and honked at other pedestrians in the same strip. Is it wrong that I don’t wish her the best of all holiday seasons this year, either ?

TRU seems to want the Obnoxious E-Mail Ad award this year. I got three of ‘em, all pushing the ‘today only’ 20% off coupon, at various times of the day. Then a fourth, inviting me to shop online for more specials. And then, a fifth, informing me of  Saturday’s specials. Overkill much ? There’s one place you’d have to bribe me to go to today ! From what I can tell, the MH dolls on special at various stores were sold out before fans got there, or just not in stock to begin with. So I’m doubly glad I parked my hinder at home ! And believe this or not, I’m kinda glad we’re broke.

Cracked open a fresh bottle of Fray-Check, my last one in the stash. After pushing the last few drops out of the old bottle for the last week, it was a pleasure to glide through a job with a full one ! I think that’s my fourth bottle since 2002. I’d go through at least one a year if I used it as often as I should !

Today, though, I didn’t have much choice. I know from experience – gained from lots of MH white collared guy shirts ! – that the inexpensive former shirt scraps I was sewing today frayed sitting still. But the bits from the box are getting so small, I wanted to use as much as possible. Pretty soon, I’ll only be able to use them as softie stuffing ! They’ll be too small for anything else.

But when I saw the heart-flower scrap, I knew I owed Robecca a shrug. It’d really set off the super-simple Shannanigan sheath I sewed earlier. There was just enough for the ruffle, with a postage-stamp size strip of cutaway. Here’s what’s funny. I used the exact same pattern – even the same piece of printout paper pattern – on today’s that I used for Ghoulia’s yesterday. Only difference was the ruffled collar and facing. Yet the one I sewed today darn near has to be pulled hard over the doll’s shoulders. If not, it resolutely hangs just off her shoulders. Somehow, the ruffle or my sewing of the ruffle, kinda pushes the shrug down the doll’s arms. Not sure how I’m doing that, but the last time I tried Simplicity #1955, view D, it did the same thing, and I thought I’d need to alter the pattern. View E shows that I don’t, but it’s possible I’m sewing the armscryes too tight, or too small.

So I’ll probably try again, with more stable fabric. I rather like the shrug, and think I can do a lot with it – vary the ruffle size and fabric, lengthen and shorten the sleeves, iron it down, on and on. Just wanna get it right first !