Saturday, January 12, 2013

Starving in a Giant Peach


Current Mood : Hungry. 

Current Image Notes : Click to embiggenate !



You’d think that, with all the new, licensed MH doll clothes I bought over the holidays last year – not to mention not-holidays all through the year ! – and the limited styles of patterns out there, I wouldn’t be much into sewing some weeks. While it’s true that there are some days I just know it’s not a good time to pick up a needle in any form, most days I’m eager to try a new technique, or I’ve been inspired by something that caught my ever-scanning eyes.


One thing I was averting my eyes from today was a viewing of James and the Giant Peach on Netflix. Read the story in grade school, didn’t like it. To me, it was one of those tales that meanders around for a while, characters have a weak sort of adventure, then it’s over, there’s no real point to it, and while the status quo may have changed, it’s not much. Oooh, neglected orphan kid is revealed to be virtually homeless. Does he really have a home at story’s end ? It just sort of…ended, without much resolution. Sorry, but I need to believe that a character I just spent two hours caring about isn’t gonna starve on the street now that the fantasy sequence is over. But that was Dearest Son’s choice, and since I’d already watched two Law & Order episodes, I couldn’t complain. Didn’t mean I had to watch it, though.


Anyway. About the only thing I remember from the story was that the boy and bugs decide to eat some of their peachy conveyance while they’re flying / sailing in it, because it was the only food source and they probably couldn’t eat enough to keep it from flying / floating. I remembered this while I was standing in front of the four plastic milk crates stuffed fulla fabric, about a foot away from two boxes of more, with yet another in the bedroom, concealed in a nightstand. I was trying to decide what to use for a new creation, bemoaning my lack of recent trips to fabric centers, when I realized it. I was standing in front of my own giant peach, but by refusing to use any of it for fear of screwing things up, was starving my creativity. And enthusiasm.  


No fabric in my ‘holdings’ is so rare, I can’t get more or something similar. In fact, 99.9% of it isn’t even sentimental, and less than a quarter of it I own simply because it’s got stars on it. And it’s not like I have a bunch of six-inch squares. Most of that’s a half-yard or more. Ya’ll know how many doll outfits you can make with a half yard of fabric ? Enough so that even your doll is tired of it ! And still have more to make duplicates of for sales or trades. Sure, some of the stash is difficult to work with, but I already know most of the tricks – or can easily look up any questions I have, both online and in books I can’t bear to be without. (sigh) I probably have a running surplus of sewing books, too…


In fact, one box is nothing but ‘spare’ fabric, which I decided to keep instead of donate, to use on first-drafts and experiments that can be wrecked and tossed without a care. It’s so ridiculous, it’s nearly obscene. I think of this comic and realize I’m making excuses, not new things. I’m wasting time instead of enjoying it.  


So don’t be surprised to read that I’ve heaved a box of ‘scrap’ fabric to a recycling/donation center soon, and you start seeing better ones in finished items, even as fails. I’m gonna eat some of this peach before it rolls over me !


Anyway. Here’s Operetta’s second Deluxe fashion, and I love it. While the prototype photos showed this as a much more subdued print, I rather like it this way. It’s hard to tell from photos, but the collar is purple metallic fabric, and is gorgeous. In fact, the little purple shrug actually took away from the dress by hiding the collar, so I ‘hung’ it up in the background. It’s a cute little thing, but it didn’t go with yesterday’s outfit and doesn’t work here, so it’ll probably turn up later.


The dress is inexpensive satin, but it shines and is really full and pretty. The swirly black design on the skirt is the same as her earrings and that awful mask-thing. As an abstract heart, it’s pretty, but swirled around too much and it looks like wrought iron. (giggle) Or rot-iron. In fact, if I had to compare, it’s like the single-pack fashions are more ‘Jem’ and the deluxe ones are more ‘Vintage Barbie’. The Deluxe fit is better, the style is more subdued, but classic, and they’re more elegant than edgy. However, the single packs have better shoes and wilder colors, so why not enjoy it all !


Her belt is OK, but like the shrug, I don’t see me using it much. The ‘dice’ motif is nearly as yawn-inducing to me as Ghoulia’s ‘drip’ one. What I really like is her purse strap. Sure, the purse looks more like a canteen than a handbag, but the strap easily detaches, and can be worn any way you like with just a bit of ribbon tying things up in the back, or a jump ring and chain if you wanna add some metal to it. Sure, it’s like Ghoulia’s issue belt, but no buckle, so you don’t hafta worry about this part being in front or anything. I really like how versatile it can be.


And Memphis had to get in the act as soon as Operetta sat down. Something about tuffets…

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