The Sewing Project Basics round is done!

With the extra stress of playing catch up to get back on track for this last year finally subsiding, I am finding I have time for more projects. (It's amazing just how much added weight stress adds to anything.) Den of Angels has monthly themed sewing projects that members can join to just do for fun. The last time I joined and completed any project there was probably 2016, the Dark Mori round. I've just been too busy with other projects/other things, and that 7th circle of Hell known as the Catch Up ring to justify joining in. I decided "why not?" for the February  project since I was seeing the end of my present commissions in sight, and I figured a little 'just for fun' sewing would be really good for me. It went fairly well, so, with even more work accomplished as the March project started, I decided to join in again!

This month's theme was Basics. Who doesn't need basics, right? True to form, I over planned, wanting to make outfits for 4 of my dolls. That didn't quite happen, but what I did end up finishing was a hoodie for my little Dearmine Bean I named Roseus and another outfit for Honeysuckle. The project time ended before I got his pants done, but I can always squeeze them in some other time.

There's his hoodie. I still need to decide how I want to close it in the back. I love the colors for him! :D  His pants will be out of a purple. I still want to make him a tee shirt. I had picked out a peach knit, with the intention of painting some sort of candy monster on it. It'll still happen though - he can't live in a hoodie when Summer hits!

And here's Miss Honeysuckle. Not the best pic - I was a little rushed. I need to take a better one to show her outfit more clearly. Her peddle pushers have cuffs and bows that match the floral of the shirt. I think though, she'll be able to wear them with other things just fine. I was debating whether or not her blouse needs bows at the sleeve cuffs and I pretty much settled on not going with them. Her kerchief needs to be rethought out on how I close it in the back. It ended up too loose. Overall though I am pretty happy with it.

The next month's project will start soon, and its theme is once again Dark Mori! Honeysuckle is going to sit this one out (I haven't broken the news yet to her. She's not going to be happy) as she still has the outfit I made her last time. I've already started some design sketches. This month's muse will be my WS Juri06 Bree'an, who has not had a single thing sewn for him since I got him back.This is going to be exciting!

I have spent most of the day today going through my vintage pony collection. I had already written a detailed list of who I have and who I need to complete each year (up through at least year 6,) but, as this seems to happen a lot, I have no idea where that particular notebook went to. I'm guessing it was collateral damage from the last big clean out of papers, notebooks etc that are no longer needed. Or it might show up somewhere. At any rate, I have started over and have everything written down through year 4. I'm working on reassessing my collection goals, so this new list does reflect my new focus. (Not that its terribly different, but a new list for a new year is actually refreshing after all!) I started out by getting each pony out of my containers to admire as I wrote them down. Oh, the MLP smell is a deliriously delicious scent of pure blissful intoxication! It was nice to see each one as its been awhile since I took them out to mess with. After a few series, I just wrote down who I had without digging them out. I need another container. The recent expansion of twins has made it harder to unbury a specific pony.

I haven't bought new ponies for awhile. I did trade some sewing for a few, and fell into the fortune of a family member cleaning house (thus the twin expansion), so there's been that bit of awesomeness. Even with that, I am craving going on a pony splurge! But for now, I am going to just reorient and refocus my goals and let it all fall into place as it goes along.

I'm going to transfer all of my collection notes onto this blog in my pony section, with what I have in regular text and what I still need to complete with an asterisk next to it. I will put what I am not planning on getting from each year in italics. I will have some ponies to sell, some duplicates and what not. Its hard to part with duplicates. I can't quite let go of my second Powder or my second Sky Flier, but I will try to do it at one point. I stayed strong yesterday and left behind a Sparkler at the Flea Market that I didn't need. While I admire and agree with the "no pony left behind" rule, I just don't follow it. I was so very much hoping to find some G1s to get for my collection, but alas, all that they had (that weren't priced ridiculously) were ponies that I already had. :( Though I did find a castle in its box with Majesty and Spike at the cash only place for $60. Once I get some more sales that give me unspoken for money, I might see if its still available. I'd want to see if they'd let me look inside the packaging to let me see what all is there before buying it. If its just the castle bones, I'm not sure if I'd want to pay $60 for it. It all depends on the condition, I suppose. Though I seriously doubt if it will stay there for too long!

Tomorrow is the SUPER BOWL!!!! And my cool buy 2 get 2 free at Spencers...

I spent tonight getting everything together to head out to the motel tomorrow in TN (it's a 2 hour drive) we booked (cat friendly, so the furballs are going too) so we can watch the Super Bowl! Why drive 2 hours? It is a place we do like to stay, though in reality, the rental site switched locations from the town in KY that is 45 minutes away to the place in TN. Maybe it's because we stayed at that very same hotel before, so it just switched it? I have no idea, and its no big deal to drive a little further to stay there. Otherwise, we would have canceled it.

One draw of going to TN is there is a particularly delicious Mexican restaurant we love to eat at, and we had planned on going there before the game. Then the stomach flu hit me pretty meanly on Wednesday, and that plan changed. In the end, I just fixed a roast here at the house and cooked it with Mexican seasoning that we'll just take. (Thankfully it was one of the first things that sounded good to me, otherwise I have no idea what we would have done. I'm not quite back to regular eating, but getting there.) It's amazing how much stuff one needs to take for a simple one night stay when you are bringing cats and food. O.O I mapped out what I hope is a thorough itinerary of everything needed to be packed, etc., and so far, so good. Just have to double check the list tomorrow before leaving to make sure we have it all. I hope I didn't forget something! I'm hoping to be out the door by 10 AM, get tacos at Taco Bell for lunch, and get settled in the motel by 1. (And crossing my fingers I feel like Casey's mocha latte too.) And then, count down is on! I'm not all nerves yet, but that'll come as the clock clicks down to gametime.

And now to my amazing buy at Spencers….Originally I went to the mall to get some more sage smudge, which they sell at one store that I can't recall the name of, and also at Spencer's. Well, apparently the one store closed down, and they didn't have any at Spencers. (Drat, might have to order online...) But, I did find that their jewelry was buy 2 get 2 free. I lucked out! That was the very last skeleton hand they had, and I have wanted one of those for quite awhile. These are what  I got on sale: (The 2nd free piece I got I gave as a gift.)

The final piece I got - I really couldn't believe my luck!! I had been wanting one of these for quite awhile too, but was too cheap to fork out $30 for it. But there it was, in the $2 bin!! I should have bought the second one too, but didn't really think about it until after I left.

Kitty photo bomb!

I need to get myself to unwind so I can go to sleep, but I am so keyed up! I'm excited for tomorrow, yet nervous at the same time....

For the love of Critters!

I have a new addiction. This bug, this irresistible, death by cuteness bug bit me HARD in November of last year. (That's still weird to say 'last year' over 2018. I'm still getting used to 2019.) I had seen these adorable Calico Critters for years, of course. I used to admire from afar at the amazing displays and impressively detailed items at TRU (rest in peace, TRU.) But I never dared get into collecting yet another thing that I knew I would go nuts over. But finally, I took the plunge. I got a blind bag baby, and that was the end of all resistance. Little Henry Sweetpea with his baby sized drum and drum sticks had done it. I had to have more.

All of this hit conveniently when Walmart was offering their Christmas layaway services. (Insert gleeful grin here.) While we don't celebrate Christmas, we did want to celebrate Winter, so why not have some presents? I picked out the Hopscotch rabbit family, and put 2 baby playsets on layaway as well. I didn't get any houses, as none available really suited my slowly forming vision of what I wanted for my Critters, although I did get the tree house. (I also lucked out, and found 3 beach playsets at Tuesday Morning, so I ended up returning initially the 2 playsets I had on layaway. I got them later.) It was fun having wrapped gifts under the Gothmas tree.

We didn't wait until the Solstice, and had our celebration more like on the 18th or so? It was a lot of fun. I made some of my special hot chocolate for those who want it. (I never drink it, nor taste it as I make it, but somehow I manage to create quite a yummy hot chocolate, which is just plain weird.) Along with my Hopscotch family,  I got the Splash and Play Whale, the Seaside Merry Go Round (OMG, the little fish seats on the ride! Yep, death by cuteness,) the Seaside Treasure set (I didn't keep the kitty figure) and last but not least, my tree house.

After opening all of my presents, I decided that these were so neat, I needed to make room for more by cleaning out everything that I liked, but didn't love. This was quite an endeavor, and I can say that I cleaned out probably half at least of everything I had accumulated over the last couple years. All of that can be a subject for another post if I want to go over the boring details. It felt really freaking good to clean out so much stuff. I enjoyed everything I had, but parting with it doesn't make me sad one bit. It gives me more space, cuts out a lot of clutter, and gives me some extra spending money for my Critters.

At this point, my Critter collection is off to a very healthy start! I'm going to create a Critter page on here so I can have a collection list, and I also plan to review all of my Critter items just for the fun of it. These little figures are so magical, they really do brighter my day. For the love of Critters!!

My knitting project just can't seem to take off!

I've been wanting to knit an AG sweater forever. Sometime last year I bought this adorable cardigan pattern. It suited my purposes for a cardigan that my 30's/40's dolls could wear. Time moved on, and this project got pushed so far down on my priority list that I actually forgot about it. This year, as soon as October hit, I got bit by the knitting bug again. (I get in a knitting mood when the weather gets cooler every year, whether I actually do any knitting or not!) This hit during my laptopless stretch of time, and the only way I could access anything online was via my phone. I don't have the Etsy app, therefor, I could not pull up any purchases I made on there before this year. :/ So, I couldn't access this pattern. (I could have down loaded the app, but my phone does not have a lot of storage, and I am constantly micro managing cached data and unneeded photos to keep it working properly. Its not fancy, but its a great phone for me.)

Still being eaten alive by the knitting bug, I looked for another sweater pattern to get. I had this vision of making a pale pink sweater with a floofy skirt of some sort. Maybe a yarn with a tinsel affect. I found the perfect sweater pattern and got it.

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/618154903/pdf-knitting-pattern-ss2016-k16-sea?ref=related-4
 (Link is to the WW size, not the AG one that I bought.)

Strangely enough, I had a hard time finding  pale pink yarn. I guess it isn't in vogue this year? That actually happens to pale pink? I finally found a color I liked in the appropriate weight at Hobby Lobby. It's a fuzzy yarn (but no tinsel), so I think it will make an adorable sweater. :D

When  I got my lap top fixed, I was all set to pull up both my cardigan since I can find it on a computer unlike my Etsy app-less phone and the latest sweater pattern, burn them to a disk and print them up. But, strangely enough the patterns tried to open on Windows Word, my subscription  of which has expired, so I wasn't able to get to them. It's really weird as in the past any down loaded patterns from Etsy have never opened with Word. They wouldn't as I only got the program with my new laptop last year. Maybe I am missing something. Not unlikely since I am just so darn computer smart and tech savvy. So, back to having to pull up my latest purchase on my phone to be able to use it! I'll email it to myself and print it up at the library if I can.

Since I had an afternoon today to just relax, I figured, no time like the present! I pulled up the pattern and carefully wrote it down on paper. (The first 12 rows, that is.) I don't have the right size needles in circular, so I just went with my double pointed needles, figuring that they would work almost as well. I know multiple needles can be a pain, but they've always been my preference. Well with this project, I think I need the circular kind! I was so busy trying to hold onto all my needles, I am not sure what I was doing, but the double ribbing the pattern was telling me to create was not what was forming on my needles! I took it out after the third row, admitted momentary defeat, and will just pick it back up when I get the circular needles.

I know this sweater will be fun to make. The instructions, as far as I read at least, are easy to follow. That is not always the case! I hope when I get into the project that mine comes out looking as good as it looks on the cover of the pattern. :P

WIP American Girl Victorian Dress

After having been laptop-less for quite awhile, its nice to be able to blog again! This post's subject is the WIP Victorian I started some weeks ago. Between my ribbon conundrum and life happening, its just been sitting there for weeks.

This is my inspiration pic.

The salmon color is quite hideous. I didn't want to make an exact copy, so I went through my fabric hoard to pick out what I thought would be a good fit both for the pattern and also for the intended doll, which happened to be my beautiful Nicki I got as a gift on Halloween. I went with a floral pattern on white. Since white lace would just be lost on the white fabric, I decided to go with a pink ribbon and do some sort of fancy ribbon work for the trim. Ribbon work isn't something I really do, so I had to decide exactly how I wanted the trim to look, and then find a good tutorial that explained how to accomplish it.

First I went with a darker pink - not dark dark, but more I guess of a medium rose pink - ribbon an inch wide. I really had a hard time trying to find any decent tutorials searching on my phone. Now on a laptop, I can find quite a few of them! What I originally tried to do did not work. Not only was I not pleased with the affect of my sad attempt at a fancy trim, I wasn't really liking the pink color of the ribbon. So, back to the store I went and got this time a paler 1/2 pink. The simplest thing to do, I decided next, was to simply pleat the ribbon. I love the affect combined with the fabric of the dress. :D

So far I have the ribbon on one cuff and the bodice. I started adding it last night to one of the top curved collar  pieces that surround the pin tucked yoke. Its a bit of a challenge to neatly curve it while keeping the pleats steady. I have a feeling that I am doing this the hard way. There's probably a technique to this that I am not using. I'll have to do more research to see what I can learn on the proper way of doing ribbon work. Here's all the pieces I have left to trim:

I went ahead and sewed the pin tucked yoke to the bodice piece before I actually needed to, but I wanted to see how it looked. I will take it back off, and add the other pieces to it, then sew it all back together.

In a true confession, I think I rushed the drafting/testing process with this dress. I'm seeing a couple of issues where I didn't think it through as carefully as I should have, where I should have been more cognizant of bulk, etc. Hopefully though, everything will go together neatly, and I'll be happy with the finished process. If it all comes together right, my Nicki is going to look absolutely gorgeous in it!



 

Going through my BJDs

I decided to take my Sunday and spend some time going through my BJD collection. Quite a few of them had been put in the "Rehome" box, and they have been there for quite awhile. Some of my dolls when I got them, due to being busy with other things and a lack of clear direction, have pretty much been stored safely away waiting for that creative click. (I'm afraid some dolls have been waiting a long time to have me come up with an idea for them!) I've added several more anthros lately. It'll be fun to see just where my doll family is right now. (I'll be dodging a sleeping Mansfield in my lap, so I might not move too quickly!)

Fast forward a few hours later, and all dolls have been sorted. I am keeping everything I had put up for sale. The ones I did part with earlier in the year, I am very glad that I did. I'm also very glad that I did not sell any more. It's nice when things work out that way!

With the lack of creative click, I concluded that for whatever reason, I was trying to achieve too much variety in the styles I dress my dolls in. Not sure why, but there you have it. I favor gothic, whimsy, circus, lolita and Victorian. I should just stick to what I like and not worry about some of my dolls being dressed too similarly! And with that conclusion, I suddenly went on a design kick and have plotted out 3 outfits, and got the first rough pattern draft for Grinsen's clown inspired outfit. (More like the latest IT clown inspired outfit.) Then I got a nice Jester outfit drawn out for Punch, and a Victorian inspired suit for Grim.

I don't think I am going to keep the cyber goth bondage pants I had made for the LTF Juri (at present named Hazard.) I don't really like that style on the little guys. I'll have to think about what to do with him as he has a sort of hot pink and green streaked wig and watermelon colored eyes. (I love those eyes.) And I like the wig a lot. I just have no idea at present what style of clothing would work with the colors.

I don't have names for everyone yet. The above mentioned Hazard might have a name change. My Volks doll is now Grinsen, which is German for grin. (Thought that was appropriate given my fun plans for him.) My Pipos Pang is Grim. My Delf Elf Yder is now settled in as Tenebris. I still don't have a name for my Soom red Trachy. He's a tough one, but I am getting some ideas for his clothing, wig and eyes.

Speaking of wigs, I am short a few. Thankfully I learned from my last wig buying experience not to buy another wig until everything was definitely set. (Those 2 wigs luckily ended up having a use for my soon to be customized MH Frightfully tall Gooliope.) Trachy has no wig. Hazard's wig is up in the air. Lucian (5star Jesse) had a lavender fur wig I was not completely happy with that unfortunately ended up going to the laundry mat. :/ It's a little worse for wear now, and I am not sure if he can even still fit in it. Tenebris stole Coal's (Elf Chiwoo) black and silver wig, and Grinsen has nothing but the ill fated hope that I will make him a yarn wig. So, I got on DoA to see if I could find anything perfect. I know I want Coal's wig to be long, but not too long, and plain black. I found a seller who has one that fits the bill. She has another I think would be perfect for Grinsen. I am eagerly awaiting her response, as I made on offer for the 2. (It's as exciting as getting a new doll! :D)

I'm not sure if I will try to do any sewing today. I might just see how far I can go with designing and  just plan on getting some stuff sewn for mine next weekend.