In fact, the more time I'm offline, the more productive I am, oddly enough.

I gotta stay off Facebook design seller groups, it’s getting as bad as the forum from that one company that put me off machine embroidery for two years. (sigh) I’ll keep it short – today, someone asked for machine buying advice, someone else called a machine identical to my sweet Brody ‘disposable’. Must be nice to have so much money, ya think that something I bought in ’09 for $500. that still sells for $300. six years later is the same as a paper plate. Yes, I posted a little ‘that’s my machine and I’m proud of it and what we do together, even if it is small, it’s incredible’ defensive screed, but, well, let’s just say my budget machine didn’t get much respect in 2009, either. If it weren’t for discounts (that I hardly need now that I can alter what I have for most of what I want), I’d probably dump FBook before things get bad again.

 Guess snooty ‘mine’s more $$, so it’s better than yours, just like I’m better than you’ is everywhere. Fought it my whole life, from school clothes to Barbies to laptops, now embroidery machines. Tired of it. I’d say it was just me with issues, but no, I remember Barbie forums where I was told, point-blank, that anyone who bought playline was still a child who hadn’t graduated to collectable, like the real adults, so go back to the kiddie table, and leave the discussion to the big people. Hmf. Maybe that’s what put me off Barbie for a while, and led to me jumping into MH with both feet – they weren’t ‘tainted’ with snobbery yet. In any case, I’m too old and too tired to care about toy class struggles, I’m just gonna be over here with my stuff, havin’ fun. Won’t matter to me if that makes me an adult in anyone else’s eyes or not.

Anyway, I didn’t want that (expletive deleted) to ruin my day or my fun with Brody, so I decided to stitch something. I’d been meaning to make another sixth-scale blouse, and since I had that tiny sunflower design in memory for the bookmark experiment, why not try to embroider it at the same time ? I could even use some of that 17¢ fleece remnant I got a few weeks ago. Came out great. So. What would happen if I attached a simple gathered cotton skirt ? Yaaay – a fifteen minute dress ! It even looks good without the fold-over elastic black belt.

Next time, though, I should make a fuller skirt, perhaps even measure it - this one was a scrap I had lying around, hemmed then gathered to fit the blouse. And I want to attach the skirt about an inch higher. The blouse is fleece, it’s not like it’ll fray if I cut above the stitch line. Plus, Fray Check ! (grin) I’m finally on the last bottle of a multi-pack I bought on sale around 2006. . .

So, yaaay ! One project, two machines – new doll clothes and a new way to use my hoard, and I’m happy with me again. Day well spent.