Not bad, but can be better...hopefully soon !

Current Notes : You know, I didn't actually buy that Barbie fabric. It was in a bag of scraps from a thrift store - I didn't even know it was in there ! 

Today brings you Jumpsuit Trials #2 and #3, also known as ‘not-quite-as-colossal-failures-but-not-right-either’ Jumpsuits. Took yesterday’s pattern and widened the legs, cropped the top, and tried again. Hrf. Now the crotch seams don’t meet and the butt strains the seam. And the top is still a bit too high and a little too narrow to close in the back. The top is easy to fix, so are the legs…but I had no idea how to widen the butt without making the legs too narrow, much less how to get the crotch to meet.

So I got my pattern and did what I usually do – start cutting or start taping more paper to it, then start redrawing. When it gets closer to goal, I scan it and go back to altering the original ‘til I either get the pattern right or it’s too tattered to use anymore. Then I print the last scan and start again. For the third go-round, I folded the original pattern in half, and recut it so that the crotch was the same, front and back.

Third version is closer, better but baggy. I’ll probably cut down the inseam some, see how that works. I can actually salvage the third one, it fits everywhere, if loosely. And, maybe the fourth time’s the charm !

Not sure if there’ll be time tomorrow – Beloved Hubby has to work, and we’re scheduled to visit DMIL & FIL. It helps, though, that I can knock one of these together, start to finish, in less than 20 minutes ! 

Maybe early fails are just more fun...

Current Notes : My first fails are always so tight ! Wonder why...

Got an early start on my first failure with the jumpsuit, and it was a big one ! I borrowed heavily from Barbie patterns and CATzi’s awesome ‘Rogue’s Gallery’ of Batman villains, as interpreted by MH dolls. She had to create a sort of catsuit version from scratch, and she kindly shared both her pattern creating technique and design, which I studied thoroughly. I wanted to make one big difference - she used stretch knit / Lycra ™ fabrics, I want to use wovens. Thing about knits and stretch material, is that it has a lot of ‘give’, so it doesn’t need to be quite so tailored. Of course, sewing stretchy fabrics also requires real skill, so it’s sort of a trade-off.  

Wish I possessed both ! I can sew some knits and Lycras ™, but I have many, many more yards of cottons, so I prefer to use those. Today’s first effort was, frankly, a disaster. Can’t salvage it. Don’t want to. You’re gonna see a lot of this Barbie fabric until I get it right – I hate it, it’s too big for 95% of what I sew, and it has glitter in it. Admittedly, it’s good glitter that doesn’t shed anywhere at all, but it’s just too lurid, too big, too random, and just too Barbie for me to really enjoy using. But it’s too good a fabric to just toss, there’s not really enough to even donate, which makes it great for sewing and fitting trials.

Anyway. Back to the fail. This one really was bad. It had armholes, but I somehow got the body length waaay too long, so they were up around the chin when I fitted it on a doll. The legs were so narrow, I had to split the seam to get them on, and it’s much too tight at the inseam and front crotch curve. Folded the front down to see if that’d sort-of work for now, and it did – it’ll close in the back just fine.

Only problem is… that makes the jumpsuit strapless, and I hate that because of tubes. Yes, I’ll explain that. First doll clothes most of us make are either rectangle-with-hole-for-the-head dress / shirts, or tubes. Now, there’s nothing wrong with tube tops or tube dresses. They can be quite nice. Goss knows how many I’ve made over the years ! But… I see so many that are for sale, dripping with lace and glitter and ribbons, mostly to hide the fact that it’s just an untailored tube, no darts, no fit, no hems, no skill. I’ve gotten so I hate almost anything that doesn’t have at least one shoulder, because of all the crappy tubes that have crystals but no skills. I have no idea why half the crafters out there seem to think Fray-Check doubles as hemming. If they even bother with Fray-check !

So I’m glad I made bunches of that sheath dress, to test out the pattern. I think that, once I get the (grrr !) strapless jumpsuit pattern right, I can adapt it further with a neckine and armholes – even sleeves ! – later. But it does me no good to have a great collar when the crotch doesn’t fit.

Back to the Arena…

Monday is a classic 'bounce' day.

Current Notes : Well. Off to something else. Wish me and the ghouls and guys luck ! 

Here’s what I stitched up yesterday – I took today off and didn’t sew anything at all. Worked on the jumpsuit pattern a bit, using images from Barbie patterns and online ones I found, and hope to have something to fail miserably with by Wednesday. After that, it’ll only get better !

Had a mini-‘me’ day unexpectedly when Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son went out for a bit to run errands, and again, about all I did with it was make a huge breakfast plate of grits with ham and eggs, then crash for an hour right after eating it. I’d barely finished cleaning up the Arena and was still cleaning out the fridge when they got back. Decided on Chicken and Dumplings with cornbread for supper, and got the prep work for that done. Kind of a boring day.

I think I’ve been sewing so much to avoid that, but I had to stop eventually. I mean, I can only use so many oversized column-like doll outfits. Still, I’m proud of what I made, and glad I got the experience on narrow hems. Mine still aren’t great, but if I can get thread and fabric to match up well enough so that the stitches barely show, mine aren’t bad at all. I’ve thought about selling some of my recent efforts, but they just seem too…simple for that. I’m sure there’s a small market for the type of stuff I make, but I’m not as brave as most sellers – one mean-spirited criticism and I worry I won’t sew anymore. Or I’ll go the opposite route and show them, show them all ! Either way, it’s a bit obsessive, and it’s not really the time for it, with everything else going on. (sigh)

Ah, well. I’ll get some new project – like the jumpsuit ! – in my head and we’ll be off to the races again. I just need a down day to bounce on. Hope yours was great ! 

Play Day Sunday - featuring the Barbie Dream Boat !

Current Notes : Man, I have got to learn better photo composition...

I thought I’d skip the Howleen dress – after all, she was in a buncha photos last week – and go straight to the ‘turn the sheath dress pattern back into a jumpsuit one’ project instead. It did not go well. I have no idea how the original pattern, which is actually a bit thinner in the legs than my altered version, was supposed to fit a slightly larger diameter legged Barbie in the first place. Mine just barely fit a standard MH body, and it was super-tight and did not look good at all. I think I’ll create a new jumpsuit pattern from scratch, and keep the sheath dress pattern the way it is.

But it wasn’t a total loss. I used the ‘correct cut’ pieces I redid yesterday, and earned a bit more practice in neckline and armhole hems, and was able to salvage the failed jumpsuit attempt as a nice blouse. Then I made a simple skirt to go with it, so now, I’ve used the sheath dress pattern to make separates. What’s funny is, I accidentally cut out a long skirt instead of the short one I used today, but I still have more than half of that 98c fat quarter left !  

And I think I need to refine my ‘Play Day Saturday / Sunday’ idea. This photo just wasn’t what I wanted, and it still took a lot longer to finish than I thought. Maybe it’ll get more ‘right’ as I go along. Or something. 

Gotta love Mal-Wart fat quarters...

Current Notes : Yaay ! It fits Abigail, too ! 

Kind of a yawner day – finished some small projects for Beloved Hubby’s work team while he applied the last of the primer coat to the bleachers. We have a bit more sanding to do, then it’s ‘good paint’ and assembly, and I get to use them ! I’ll tell ya’ll, I had no idea these things would be this much work.

Shoot, making patterns wasn’t that much work ! Speaking of, I wondered if the sheath dress would fit Abigail as-is, or would need adjustments. So I grabbed some fresh fabric – which I love, it doesn’t show my stitching at all ! – and sewed it again, a bit longer than the last time, and a bit thinner at the side seams. Fits perfectly, in fact, I could probably go with the regular quarter-inch seams and it’d fit a bit better. It looked good hanging straight, looks great with a ribbon belt. I may bust out the Barbie fabric again and see if it works with Howleen next ! I’m getting better with my neckline and armhole hems, too…but I’m still glad when the thread blends into the fabric well enough so that they don’t show !

What’s funny on this one is that I got the closure backwards. Cut the wrong side short, realized what I did, and cut another one out and got the closure cut right …and sewed the wrong piece anyway. ‘Good’ piece was right there and I didn’t realize I had that first wrong one until after I hemmed the neckline and was starting to hem the armhole. So, on this one, the ‘rough’ Velcro ™ is on the left, soft on the right. Still closes and fits, and in my opinion, it looks really good on Abigail, so it’s all good. Hope I get it right next time !

The fun part’s gonna be altering it back into the jumpsuit / ‘lounging pajamas’ it started out as…

I thought I was completely out of navy thread…

Current Notes : Sewing and painting and Dollar Tree - what a great day ! 

Turns out, I had several shades of navy thread in the jar – the jar where I keep little ‘sample’ spools. Had some of ‘em for years. They came with sewing machines, with sewing baskets new and used, and purchased for one color from a dollar store. There’s not much on those tiny spools, but there’s often just enough for a doll outfit, especially if you use, say, black or white thread, in the bobbin. Used ¾ of one, and I’ll keep the others nearby, until I can do a little shoppin’. After that, though, I am out of navy thread.

Sewed the sheath dress again today, this time letting the fabric scraps determine the length. That’s about as short as modest me likes to go – while I know the ghouls have ‘embossed’ undies, I still hate having too much thigh show. Even though the outfits they came in are a lot shorter ! But that’s the beauty of making your own, ya get to have your way ! Robecca’s been patiently waiting her turn, since she hasn’t had anything new since her Deluxe Clothing Pack.

We also sprayed primer paint on most of the bleachers today, and they look great so far. Primer’s flat, but I’m using satin on the final coats – all black with green benches. Unoriginal, I know, but I didn’t think of going with all silver until after I bought four cans of black paint. Oh, well.

Our trip to Dollar Tree was fun, although we didn’t buy much. No good toys, really, and nothing new in Crafts or Party Supplies either. About all I bought were pickles and crackers so I could enjoy some cream cheese before it goes furry. Even Dearest Son didn’t find anything interesting, and settled for a snack. Wish DTree had fabric and thread…beyond more tiny sample spools. 

Happy August !

Current Notes : I did it ! Pattern works ! It's not what the pattern was originally supposed to make, but I'm happy ! 

For good luck – White Rabbit !

Ah, a whole new month to experience, to live in, to love, to make a whole monthload of mistakes in…I just can’t wait !

We forgot yesterday to update Venus-diesel’s license plate – although luckily, we had the $ put aside for it – so we did it today. No fines, I’m happy to say, but when Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son went to apply the new sticker, they found that someone had stolen our old one – down to 2010 ! Glad we have a nest of registration papers in the glove box to prove we’d had them, but we weren’t pulled over, so it’s lucky all around. What a great white rabbit !

Years ago, before Dearest was born, we discovered the whole plate had been stolen from my car – and who knew how long I’d been tooling around without it. What ranked to me was that I had to pay a pro-rated replacement fee for it. I didn’t steal it, why did I have to pay half again what I’d paid in full six months ago ? I was so tempted to go the ole ‘cardboard replacement tag in the back window’ route, but I knew that was just inviting trouble. Still pretty ticked for a while over it, though.

Lookin’ on YouTube for ancient, forgotten music to listen to while I sew. Considering I was aware of music as being a life soundtrack fairly early – probably why my life’s obsession was becoming a radio DJ – I have very late 60s, and nearly all the 70s and 80s to pick through. And about six different genres, as well, since my parents (and me by extension) listened to everything from classic to country *and* western. Found the first song I ever hated, not because it was a bad song, but because the local station overplayed it to the point of ridiculousness. I knew not of the payola scandals in the innocent days of Disco. It’s the immortal 1978 classic, Magnet and Steel, performed by Walter Egan. I still shudder when I hear the opening notes. Hard to believe I still hate a pretty much bleh song after all this time, but there it is. 

And…the pattern works now ! Armholes are just right – you can slip them on over the hands, but they’re not huge and gaping, the neckline lies flat, it cinches nicely at the waist if you wanna add a ribbon belt, and sews up in about 45 minutes, start to finish. It can be altered to any length, have lace or other fabrics added to the hem, or serve as a blank canvas for beading, embroidery, or really loud fabric. I love it ! A few more trials, and I can let this pattern out into the world…I just don’t think many people beyond me will want it ! But I’m happy with me and my finished product !

August is getting off to a great start !