Current Mood : Tired
Today, I learned that it’ll
be a heckuva lot easier to make Timey Tell a separate blouse and jumper than it’ll
be to make them into a one-piece dress. I always thought it was a cost-saving
cop-out by most toy manufacturers, but the more I look at Timey’s original
dress, the more complicated sewing it seems to become ! Two pieces to her
outfit would have been much easier than hiring a skilled seamstress, and
probably cheaper in the long run !
It’s been so long since I
sewed inset sleeves of any size that sewing opposing curves has become somewhat
of a challenge again. I traced the ‘ faux blouse’ part straight from the ‘jumper’
bodice pattern I made Friday, and hit my first serious snag. I kept sewing in
tucks that I didn’t want. So I took a time out from the Timey Project and cut
up some scraps in various opposing curves and practiced. Read a few websites,
thought of doing stay-stitching lines and clipping the curves, see if that
helped – it did, somewhat. I probably should have stayed to my own knowledge,
because all the websites got me confused. I saw ‘use hundreds of pins’, ‘ use
no pins’, ‘ease in the pleats’, ‘don’t manipulate the fabric’, on and on. For
every technique, there were three others exactly the opposite. I tried most,
and the stay-stitch / notch-clip technique worked best – and with a minimum of
pins – so after a little more practice, I’ll try the neckline piece again. To
be truthful, I don’t know how they did it back then. It sure isn’t a one-seam
tube dress !
Really, though, I didn’t
spend much more than maybe two hours today on the Timey Project. Spent most of
my free time playing with Bloodgood and Nightmare ! I’ve gotta come up with a
first name for her – so far, I’m leaning toward Agnes, it just seems to ‘fit’,
but maybe not quite. I’m sure she’ll ‘tell’ me eventually. I deboxed them both
last night – six rubber bands on her, two on Nightmare, who was held in mostly
with twisted paper tied through black plastic bits in the back of the box
liner. She had one plastic tag around her waist, and two securing the head to
its plastic shell, so she was fairly easy to debox. A thin line of lip paint
was on the plastic window part, but her lips are still perfect. While I
appreciate that she can go headless (does that mean her neck is ‘going commando’
when she does that ?), I think she’ll
keep it on here at Chez Insanity. Most others lose their heads without it ever
leaving their necks ‘round here !
Both the saddle and bridle
are removable, and if you really want, the ‘skullette’ pieces can easily pop
free from the saddle. Nightmare’s hair is soft and beautifully curly, and I think
it’s about the right amount. Too much, and she’d look less MH and more MLP. Not to
mention, she’d probably have balance issues. As she is, she stands proud and
tall, and isn’t prone to tipping over, even with her favorite school admin on
her back. The saddle can accommodate side or astride rides. Agnes’ shimmery
black pants are nearly full length, and her sleeveless white blouse is
separate, perfectly tailored to her bustier figure, but not hemmed, or even
Fray-checked, at the bottom edge. Her overcoat is hemmed and has lots of ribbon
details, but is just a twitch too short in the sleeves. Ah, well. Her boots
were a bit difficult to get off her, but they’re soft and pliable, so it could be due to a long trip from overseas, followed
by a longer trip cross-country. Unlike many other MH dolls’ footwear, the boots are classic, very versatile, and will
go with many other clothes I want to make her. I’ll probably start off with a
long skirt with a row of gold buttons down the front… Mine has very loose knees,
meaning that they rotate at the knee socket very easily, they don’t bend unless
you need ‘em to. But half the time I look at her, she’s in some odd pigeon-toed
stance, kind of like how she is in that ‘Mine’ photo I posted yesterday.
Agnes fits some of my
stretchier creations, like the shirred sundresses – she’s wearing the yellow
one now. And I got her to wear some smaller Barbie outfits, including one very
familiar one. She also fit stretchy skirts and some pull-on pants. If you
decide to get your own Agnes, or have Nefera, you may wanna try late 90s Teen
Skipper – the one that’s maybe just slightly smaller than Barbie – High School Musical, 90s Mulan, or possibly even some vintage
Francie, apparel. I don’t have any vintage for her, but it seems garments made
for a slightly smaller-body Barbie will work.
Unfortunately, there’s no
brush or stand with this set. I can kind of understand why there’s no stand for
Nightmare – she stands very well on her own. But I don’t have a stand for Agnes,
the standard size is too small. I’ll have to try a boy stand tomorrow. Wish us
luck !
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