Patchy panels

Just a short demo on foundation pieced patchy panels. I cut a piece of prewashed muslin to a tiny bit bigger than the size I want, in this case I cut it 7 1/2" x 45", I'll trim it down to 7"x43" after I've done all the patching.

Lay a patch down at one end of the muslin, right side up. I usually pin the first one down.

For the second row, I've sewn 2 pieces of fabric together to make a strip. Lay it down on top of the 1st piece, right sides together, and sew it down through all the layers.

The 3rd pic shows the 2nd strip flipped down and pressed in place. And I just keep adding pieces til my muslin foundation is covered. I don't worry if some of the pieces hang off the edge, because I'll trim them when I'm finished.

Sometimes I make little blocks of patches and then sew them to the foundation, like in the last 2 pictures.

This is one of the best ways to get rid of scraps, and I really enjoy the whole process of making random patchwork. It's a lot of fun.

Celebrations!

John and I had our 30th wedding anniversary on the 26th, and we had a wonderful time. The kids decided to make us dinner instead of giving us money to go out, and it was the sweetest thing. Melissa couldn't be here, but she helped to pay for it, and Chris and Sio cooked. They made steak, lobster tails, baked potatoes and Sio found a recipe for really delicious cornbread. It really was a wonderful dinner and I think we have really thoughtful kids. They know what we like, and dinner cooked for us is so much nicer than going out.

John and I went to the casino for our own little celebration, I broke even and he lost $60. It was a lot of fun, too, and we haven't been in months and months, maybe even a year. But for me the best part was the gift I got from John. After losing my wedding ring and being without for years, he bought me a new one. It is the greatest gift, ever! He also bought me a watch, which is something I wanted and was going to eventually buy my self. I bought him dual channel memory for his computer, which is ok, but not nearly as nice as what I got.

I also did a little more sewing, I made this top from hand dyed hemp and a pretty cotton print I got at work and listed it in my Etsy store. It's made from a vintage pattern from 1973 that I got on E-bay. I owned a copy of this pattern back in 1973, I guess it goes to show that things go in and out of fashion all the time.

I sold the elephant bag, but the dress didn't sell so it's now in my Etsy store.

Wrap Skirt

Well, I just finished this wrap skirt and I think it is so amazing! I did it like I would do foundation piecing if I were making a quilt. It has taken the major part of my free time for the last 3 days, but it is really cute. I'm not sure if I should list it on E-bay or not, I really need to get some major $$'s for it, at the very minimum, $80, just because of the work involved.

I also dyed some hemp to go with a piece of cotton I have, I am going to make a top for my Etsy store. Holly and I each had a sale from there so that was nice. I have 6 people watching the elephant bag on e-bay, and 2 watching my dress.

Rainbo stars!

Well, I made this dress yesterday and today. If I were much younger I would keep it. Since I'm not it's headed for E-bay.

Elephant bag

I finished the elephant bag yesterday. Siobhan says the random patchwork takes away from the elephant; she might be right, there does seem to be a lot going on. Still, I think it's ok.

I have about 5 yds of hemp and I am going to dye some today for a top. I have a vintage pattern I got on e-bay that is the same as one I had when I was a teenager. It's kind of cool to use those patterns again, although now I wish we had kept them in the first place, then I wouldn't have to be searching for them. I'm also going to move some more stuff downstairs and start the rainbo stars dress. I don't have to work today so I get to go to the quilt show, too. This is the only time I will have been able to actually go and just sit and watch. I've always worked them before.

Quilt Picture

Ok, here it is, the finished quilt! It has some issues, I am not the best machine quilter, but it will have to do. I actually have 3 more tops to practice on, so I think I am going to start a new one soon. There's a 4 patch with black and tan checked homespun alternate blocks and border, I made it several years ago, at least 5, and I think I am going to do it next. The original was quilted in an allover fan pattern, and with all those curves I should get pretty good at free motion. But first, I am making a bag with the elephant applique and revamping my Etsy store. I made the random patchwork panels yesterday, so I really am more than half way done, they take the longest. I also am going to make the rainbo dress I picked fabric out for, and start moving some of my bins downstairs. This move is going so slowly, although if Irene comes to stay with us for a bit while her house is in the market I'll have to speed it up.
I was at JoAnn the other night and I bought a cute cotton with teeny red roses on it, I think I might take some time to make Chatty a cute new dress, too.

Finally Finished!

The quilt is finally finished! I am going to see if I can get a good picture of it when John comes home, maybe at the store where the lighting is better. Then I will post it.
For the rest of the day I have a bunch of catch up stuff to do, plus I am going to move a bit more stuff into the basement. I have a nice little sewing area organized down there now, and I want to improve on it.

Quilt progress

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been busy with the Heritage quilt, and moving my sewing area into the basement. I start quilting today, I'll try and get some pics up layer of both the quilt and the sewing nook. Chris and I cleaned the back closet out in the basement on Saturday, and I found my elephant collection, I set them up on the back of the bar. Since we don't drink much or do a lot of entertaining that would involve using a bar, I've incorporated it into the sewing area too. The fridge down there works and I am going to keep juice and pop in it so I don't have to keep running up and down the stairs.

Quilt Blocks

I'm almost done with the blocks for the quilt top. I was a bit worried about getting them to all square up to the same size, but after talking to Joan at work, who is putting the show together, I realized that I don't have to be. I can do strips in between the blocks that is different than the actual fabric I am using to frame each individual block. I'm starting to think twice about the fabric I chose for the border, it's a wave print, in blues, white and a bit of grey. I'm not sure, I'm going to look again and see if we have something that's better. Anyway, I want to finish the blocks up today and maybe start assembling the whole thing. I have cleared off the big table in the basement to quilt on, I'll probably just back it with white muslin, I have lots of it on hand and it's cheap.Plus, you won't ever see the back of this quilt, it will be hanging against a wall. I'll get some pictures up later.

Baby Dress

I stopped working on the quilt long enough to make this custom baby dress, I think it's really cute. It's supposed to go to a person who bought a skirt from me on E-bay, I sent her the pics.
If she doesn't want it I'm sure it will sell.

Newfoundland Heritage Quilt

I started the quilt for the quilt show. I printed up some of the blocks on Thursday, and started assembling them today. I think they look pretty good. Our scanner isn't working so I can't scan any more pics, but I'm going over to Chris and Richards tomorrow, and I can use his. I have a lot of pictures, my problem is which ones I want to use. I am using 5 different shades of blues/aquas for the sashing, and changing the sashing sizes block to block, just so they all equal around 12 inches long. I will probably have the width be about 11 inches or so. Anyway, I'm posting some of the blocks here. When they are all done I want to lay them out on the big cutting table at work so I can arange them the way I want. Now that I am finally working on it, I'm pretty excited.

Elephants and Great Big Sea

I made this elephant applique, he was inspired from the book John got me for Christmas. I think it turned out quite nice, I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet.
Great Big Sea will be here the 16th of March, Siobhan and I are going for sure and Chris said he wanted to go, too. They are at the Riv, and the tickets are general admission so I want to get there really early so we are up front. This show should really kick ass, since it's the day before St. Paddy's Day. It's a Friday, too, so that's even better. Last year they were here during the week.
I am going to spend the rest of today putting blocks together for the Nfld. heritage quilt I am making for the quilt show.

First Etsy Sale

I had my first Etsy sale yesterday, I sold a little eyelet trimmed strip skirt. I also sold the corduroy skirt on E-bay; I made more money yesterday here at home than I did at work. I'd like to do that every day. I am planning a dress which I am going to put on E-bay; if it doesn't sell there then I'll put it in the Etsy store. I also have a pair of pants I am going to work on. I ordered 3 ydds of cotton/hemp blend from Hemp Traders, and I also ordered their $5/lb scrap bag. I can't wait til it gets here.

New Bag

I made this backpack as a proto type for bags to sell. I like it, I need something bigger anyway. With a couple of changes it will make a great backpack.

Valentine's Chatty

Ok, I had to do this. I bought the fabric and spent one morning making this sweet little outfit for Chatty. When I put the Christmas stuff away I realized that she had nothing except Christmas clothes. So I dressed her for Valentine's Day. She's the only one that has a Valentines outfit. If I have time I might make one of the other dolls one too.
I didn't start my other bag because I need a piece of black corduroy and it turns out I have every color in the world except black.Siobhan, Chris and I are going out later today and I'll get some at JoAnn's. We don't have any at work either, plus it isn't on sale there and it is at JoAnn. In the meantime I am almost finished with a crocheted bag that I started the other day to use up some of the cotton yarn. I am going to line it and then list it on Etsy.
On a stranger note, there was a murder here in Oakbrook Terrace on Christmas Eve, mom heard about it and told me. Well my boss said he heard that the last murder here was in 1979, and when he drove me home the other night he asked where 16th street was. 16th street is the one that runs along the woods and wetlands that Sio and I pick berries in and look for dye plants. Well, turns out that back in 1979 those woods are where they found the body of the person that was murdered. It's kind of eerie, I kind of feel like we shouldn't go back there. John said that the body being left there is different than if the murder had actually taken place there, and I guess he's right, but I still feel as if it's kind of an intrusion. I don't go back there by myself much, anyway, and I don't go into the woods alone, mostly if I'm alone I just go right in the field inside the fence or over by the other townhouses where all the sumac grows. Anyway, it's just kind of eeirie and I wish he hadn't told me.

The World's Greatest Rock Band

Every once in awhile I go into an all Zep all the time mode, and I think I am in it now. I'm not sure what happens to get me there either; earlier I was listening to Yonder Mounain String Band. I downloaded some Flyleaf, Chris, Jeremy and Lindsay do a cover of one of their songs, which is quite good. Maybe that reminded me that there will never be another rock band, in my opinion, that has the stature of Zep. Without them rock music today would look very different. So I just put my Zep playlist in Winamp and have been listening to it. They are as good today as they were 38 years ago. Holy Shit, I can't believe that Zep I is almost 40 years old! Wow, that's just amazing! And there are kids still listening to them! There was a kid learning how to play guitar in the store not long ago and he had on a Zep t-shirt, he and his mom both said they are their favorite band. You can still buy Zep t-shirts at the store where Sio buys her clothes. Anyway, some time ago I saw a pair of pants somewhere, (I don't remember if it was on E-bay, or on a website) that had the ZOSO symbol up one leg. I save the picture, they are made from black corduroy, with ZOSO appliqued in a silver grey corduroy. I was thinking about doing something somewhat similar, but I want to use all 4 of the symbols. I could applique them all except Plant's feather, I would either embroider the whole feather, or at least the detail. I might do them on the flap of a messenger bag instead of pants. I have been thinking about doing something ever since I saw those pants, but I don't want to copy them, so a bag or a hoodie would be cool. I worked on enlarging the symbols tonight and got them to the right sizes. Tomorrow I'll pick out fabrics and start it before I go to work. I will probably not be able to sell it, I told John yesterday that I need a new bag, I guess this will be it.

Etsy Shop

I opened a shop on Etsy this morning. I only have 2 things in it right now, but I have a few things to list later on. I am going to list some of the pillows that never sold on E-bay and then bags as I make them. It's a lot cheaper than E-bay, it's only 20 cents to list an item, and then a 3% fee if you sell it. The store is free.It costs me over $1 everytime I list something on E-bay, and if I want to open a store it's $20 or $25 a month, I can't remember which, the fees over there keep going up. Anyway, at 20 cents I can afford to list a lot of things, so I'm going to. If I end up not selling anything, at least it hasn't cost me an arm and a leg like E-bay can.

Off Topic

I have been reading a book by Thom Hartmann called Screwed: The Undeclared War on the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It. It's actually a really good book.When it comes to politics, I realize that I am not as informed as Melissa and Gregory, or John. But I really think Hartmann is right on track. He makes the argument that without a strong middle class there can not be true democracy. Instead there is what he calls a "corporatocracy", which is dressed up as democracy, but which is not really democracy at all. When the situation is such that a person can only run a succesful political campaign when funded by more money than most people have or ever will have, it's no longer a government chosen by the people, for the people. It's a government chosen by big business. Actually he goes so far as to compare it with Mussolini's Italy, and quotes the Encyclopedia Italiana which said "Fascism should more appropriatly be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." That's more and more what we seem to have today.I haven't gotten to the what we should do about it part yet, but I have some ideas of my own already. Now I have always been a proponent of restrictions on big business. I think that businesses should be taxed to the hilt once they have made a certain amount of money.At one time I believed they should be nationalized after they had grown past a certain point, I'm not sure that's the way to go anymore.I also think that the hemmorahging of good paying American manufacturing jobs overseas has to be stopped dead, and if you choose to manufacture offshore than you have to pay a price. Now I am a good Democrat, I voted for Bill Clinton, but NAFTA was a bad thing. I think if you are going to take your jobs somewhere else then you better be prepared to pay a high price to import your goods back into the country. And I mean high, impose all kinds of tariffs and duties on them. I know that Americans are pretty much spoiled, we want $10 jeans at Wal-Mart and a job that pays $20 an hour. Well, that just doesn't work. We have to pay a price, too, and part of that is paying more for goods so that our friends and family members can be guaranteed a living wage. We need to look back to a time not so long ago when we were the biggest manufacturer of goods in the world, when we had a strong middle class that made a decent wage and could afford to buy the goods we manufactured right here in this country.I think businesses believe that people won't ever be willing to do that, but I don't know about that. I think this last election for the first time in a long time people were saying "Ok, things need to change". We are Americans, push us too far and we might be having another tea party.
Another thing I think we need to do is reform the tax system. There can be no tax breaks for the very wealthy. None. Period.If you make over certain amount of money than you are going to be taxed big time. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY needs billions,or even a billion, dollars to live. Sorry, you will be giving that back to society, whether you want to or not. And you'll be glad, and say thank you that you live in a country that allows you to make lots of money in the first place and if you aren't then get the fuck out. Tha's how I feel about that.
And the other thing that I think is really important, and that I can directly do something about, is to clean up the way political campaigns are run, better known as Campaign Finance Reform. Illinois does not have publically funded state elections; some states do. John and I were talking about it and he heard someone say that it has to start at the grass roots, and be changed state by state. Once enough states have adopted public funding for thier campaigns, it will begin t0 change at the Federal level. I think that's right. I don't really know that much about state legislation but I'm going to find out. There must be someone I can write to, and I'm sure there is at least one group in the area I can join. If campaigns are funded by the people than it just seems like more of the elected officials would really be the peoples choice and not big business. And it would address the argument of people not voting because they feel that they are just voting for one scoundrel bought by corporate money instead of another. They still might not vote, but at least they couldn't use that as an excuse. But I think more of them would vote, because it trully would be there choices who are running.

New E-bay stuff

I put the drawstring in the skirt waistband this morning, and I really do like this skirt. The applique came out really well; I almost screwed it up with all the twists and turns. The pictures are a little dark, I'll take more for E-bay.I hope this sells, I've had 89 people look at the GD pants so far, but no bids. Maybe the colors are too light for winter.
The blue patchwork bag I did kind of like paper piecing, I sewed single patches and groups of patches right to each other and onto med. weight non fusible interfacing at the same time. The strap is hemp, it's not quite finished yet. This turned out pretty well, too, I am going to make another one in browns.

Memory Quilt

I forgot to mention that I have committed to making a memory quilt for the quilt show at work this year. It is scheduled for sometime in mid-Feb, I don't remember the exact date. I've decided to do a kind of Nfld. heritage thing. There are some pics of people; I have mom and dad, Nan and her daughters, my great grandmother, etc. I am also including some place pictures; Bull Cove, Brigus (historic and modern), the Newfie Hotel (where mom worked), etc., as well as some more general pics, I have a picture of Indian Harbour, Labrador; some unknown fishermen squid jigging; the Kyle and the sealing fleet in St. John's Harbour from about 1907. The reason I am including it is because the SS Southern Cross is one of the ships in the picture, and when she was lost in I think 1914, my great grandmother became a widow. I had some other older pics scanned before but I seem to have lost them from my hard drive, I am going to go over and get then from mom again, probably on Thursday; we're supposed to go out to lunch. I've been thinking of doing something like this for a long time so I'm pretty excited about it.

Success!

I have been trying to post the pics for days but Blogger wouldn't let me. Finally, here they are!

Holiday Sewing

Here's a few pictures of what I've made over the last few days. I seem to have entered a phase of commercial sewing, brought on by an intense desire to be able to do what I want. I've always wondered if I could really make a living off my sewing, so I am going to take a real stab at it. So I started sewing Christmas morning and have been at it off and on since then. I made the tye-dye corduroy bag first. In addition to the green mountain looking things on the front, I also lined it with one of the green batiks. The other bag I made today from a pair of gold cords I picked up at Salvation Army. John got me a great book of images for crafters for Christmas, and the applique was taken from the book. The fringe is bits of yarn I cut from different skeins we have laying around, and I embellished the center of the applique with little glass beads. The pants took 2 days for me to make, and were originally a ladies pair of size 20 light tan pinwale cords. I took them apart entirely and recut them using a size 14 pattern. I added patchwork side panels made from 5 cottons and scraps left from hand dyed hemp I had. I've seen the Jerry Bear doing a handstand a few times; once I decided to do that for the applique I knew there would be the bolt on the patch pocket. I think they turned out very nice. I am listed them on E-bay, and had an e-mail from someone who is interested in them but in a smaller size. I wrote her back and said I couldn't make the exact same pants, but would be happy to make a similar pair; now I am just waiting for her response. The bags are going to a store over in Lombard. I also started a corduroy skirt with a patchwork band at the bottom and a kangaroo pocket with a pretty involved Celtic applique. I think it is going to be pretty cute, and warm too, for this time of year. Although with the above average temps we've been having you almost don't need really warm stuff.
Melissa and Gregory went home yesterday. I think they had a good time while they were here, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both nice, and they spent a lot of time downtown. We went bowling a couple of times, too. Melissa was disappointed that there was no body with the King Tut exhibit.They both go back to work and school this week.

More dolls clothes

After taking a good look around, I realized that one of my china heads, Rachel, needs a new dress too. Actually, she only has one dress that I made for her, and then one that's a little too small for my other china head, although it's still big for Rachel because it wasn't made for her. So, armed with Rachels measurements and the Colemans book " The Collectors Book of Doll Clothes", I am going to make her a dress almost from scratch. There are several patterns in the back that have been taken from the original sources, and are reduced to fit the book. I am using a pattern originally published in La Poupee Modele in 1864. There is also a picture on the front cover of a china head and her wardrobe, she's about the right era. I really like the blue silk ball gown on the cover, and I will loosely base the bodice on that dress. Rachel's will be cotton, and trimmed with dark green ribbon. I am posting pics of the book, the pattern, and Rachel overseeing my choice!
I may be selling some of the American Girl doll clothes to a woman who was at work the other day; she is a friend of Mai's and her granddaughter is getting an American Girl for Christmas. She's going to call and maybe come over tomorrow to see what I have. It would be ok to sell some of the clothes, I have so many of them!

Getting ready for Christmas

I haven't felt much in the Christmas spirit, with Siobhan gone, but it's starting to creep in. I have all the dolls dressed for Christmas except my little porcelain red-headed Rose that Chris gave me years ago. She doesn't have a Christmas dress, so I am going to start one for her this afternoon before I leave for work. After I have them all dressed and arranged I'll take pictures of them.
I have worked on the embroidery for the christening set a bit, too. I realized that the motif had to go in every other scallop; if I put one in every scallop they would be almost touching. I'll just put a little bullion rose in the other scallops. This is actually a very nice thing, as it cuts the dress embroidery by almost half.
Me, Carla, Rich and Mom took Chris out for his birthday lunch this Saturday past. It was a lot of fun, we went to Olive Garden and I got Chris to try calamari, although he didn't like it. Then Mom, Carla and I went shopping. I asked Chris to go, but Rich warned him that shopping with us was like torture and why would he want to subject himself to that?
I think I'm off tomorrow ( I don't know for sure, I forgot to check the schedule), and if I am I'm going to make shortbread, and maybe cranberry bars. One way to for sure get into the Christmas spirit is to make cookies.

Alone at home with the dolls!

Siobhan is in New York, she got in this morning. She was supposed to fly out last night but her flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. Anyway, she went early this morning and Melissa met her at the airport. I am sure they will have a great time together, knitting and bopping around NYC.
I am taking the opportunity to get some much needed organizing done while she gone. I am doing a bit this afternoon before I go to work, and a lot tomorrow when I'm home all day. I have cleaned out space in the storage closet in the basement and a lot of yarn and fabric is going down there for a bit. I'm also going to keep working on the Tiny Tears christening set, and maybe make another antique dress and hat; I just got a new pattern for a 22" Patsy type compo doll. I also finished Chatty's holiday set this morning and am posting the pics. It's really cute and I almost don't want to list it on E-bay. I have piles of fabric slated for doll clothes and I need to see what I need to complete outfits. Plus I have a couple of Christmas presents to make yet, I'll get to those on Saturday.

Chatty Cathy

Well, here's my Chatty Cathy dressed in one of the dresses I made for the American Girls. I sent this dress to the craft show on Saturday, I didn't go because I had to work. I haven't talked to Mai or Holly so I don't know if I made any money or not. Siobhan and I talked about mostly focusing on one or two thing for craft shows, and then maybe just doing the shows ourselves. I think that's a good idea, although I've heard that websites are better than craft shows. Since I don't just focus on American Girls and Bitty Baby I think maybe I might do ok at Kane Co., it's just that the spaces out there are so much. Anyway, I'm going to see if I can get John to make me a website, I'd like to get it up and going in time for people to order Valentines Day dresses for their dolls. Then I could also have St. Pats, Easter and then summer outfits.I really like sewing for the vintage dolls, they are so much nicer than the American Girls.
I am going to finish up a Christmas outfit I am making for Chatty and get it listed on E-bay, and then if I have time do a bit more embroidery on the christening dress.

Shadow work motif II

I used the other cotton and embroidered the motif on it yesterday, and it came out so much nicer. The pink bow is a little more shaded; I also switched the pale minty green for a more spring green color. I'm not sure which I like best, but I think I'm going with the spring green for now. One thing for sure, when I bought my magnifying lamp a few weeks ago it was one of the smartest things I've done in a long time. The only thing that would make it better is if I had gotten one where the actual magnifying surface was a bit bigger.
I don't know why my pic is sideways; sometimes it's just that way.

New links, NYC, and beautiful cotton

I was at work last night, putting stuff away, and when I went to get what was laying on the cutting table, I saw it was the prettiest, silkiest 100% white cotton solid that I've ever seen in the store. It was very lightweight, like a batiste; it was part of one of the designer series of fabrics. There was only 4 and 3/4 yds left on the bolt. I had a 1/4 yd cut, and I put the rest of it away and I will buy it tomorrow.It's only $4.99 a yd! I would have gotten it last night, but I didn't have enough money. It's so much better than the voile, it's more stable but still sheer enough that the shadow embroidery will work. I was so excited when I saw it, I don't know how I missed it before. Holly said she thinks there is some in blue and pink, too. I didn't look, but I will tomorrow. I don't need 4 1/2 yds, but I'll just put what I don't use in my stash. It isn't heavy enough for the coat and bonnet, I'll still have to order the broadcloth for that.
Siobhan is going to NYC on the 5th and staying with Melissa til she and Gregory come out on the 20th. I'll miss her while I'm getting ready for Christmas, but she will have a really good time so I'm glad she's going. Melissa said there are a lot of studios where she can rent space by the hour so she can make some pottery while she's out there. And I'm going to make John do some stuff with me. We won't have kids around forever, and we don't do much together, so we can while she's gone.
I added a couple of new links, both having to do with sewing.

Shadow work embroidered motif

Well, here is the motif I decided on. I've never done shadow work before, and I think this turned out pretty good for a first attempt. The right side of the bow is definitley better than the left; I can see how much nicer it looks after I got the hang of it. I haven't done bullion roses in years, and this one looks ok, all things considered. I will just make this the center back motif; I need to make 10 altogether, one in each scallop. I decided on a very pale palette of colors, the darkest is the pink I used for the bow, and except for the outline on the front you never see that darker pink. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture that the yellow is little daisies, and there are not quite white French knots to make the wreath shape at the top. I'll have to adapt the pattern for the bodice, I might just do the bow with one bullion rose underneath it, or I might do a vine across the bodice with bullion roses and daisies spaced along it; that's what I'm doing for the bonnet. I realized that I will have to make a slip, too. I could use white muslin, I have enough of it, but I think I will just wait and order some white cotton batiste from here: http://www.fabric.com/ I have ordered from them before and the prices are really good. I'm ordering the cotton broadclth for the coat and bonnet from them, too. I've been watching E-bay for some vintage trim, I figure if I get about 20 yds. of a gathered 1/2" lace it should be enough. The pattern calls for 6 3/4 yds for the dress, 3 1/8 yds for the coat and bonnet, and 4 for the slip, but that's for flat lace that they have you gather yourself. I figure if it's already gathered I'll probably need only half to 2/3rds that amount. But I'll get 20 anyway and then I'll have plenty to do the blanket if I decide to make it.
We have had unseasonably warm weather, it's been in the 50's. I have my sewing room window open and the birds are singing outside. It seems more like spring than Christmas. It's supposed to get really cold on Thursday though and snow. I hope it does, I can't get in the Christmas spirit while it's so warm out.

Am I crazy or do I just have too much time on my hands?

I finished the American Girl outfit I was working on and it turned out cute; I'll take pics tomorrow and get it listed. I'd like to get as much stuff sold as I can, my goal is to buy a Bleuette, I already have one picked out.
In the meantime, I've been looking at this little christening set to make for Tiny Tears for awhile. It just so happens that I have 2 yds of a nice white voile, and I am going to make the dress at least out of that. I am also going to embroider the contrasting band, which is where the crazy comes in. It's about 4 inches wide and goes around the entire skirt. Of course I will probably have to embroider the bodice too, or it won't look nice. And the bonnet. And if I make the coat (which I probably will, I found a source for 100% cotton broadcloth for cheap on the internet) I will have to at least embroider the cape part. And I may make a little blanket out of the broadcloth, too, and embroider the corner. And I need to find some really nice lace, I've already started looking. It will take a very long time to do this, I think; I haven't even started to look at possible embroidery patterns yet. I'm glad I saved all the pull-out sections from my Sew Beautifuls.If it turns out really nice I may be able to sell it for a lot, and if I can't, well my Tiny will have a beautiful ensemble that I can put on her for Easter or whenever. I hope it sells though, it could go a long way towards my Bleuette. I have a Chatty Cathy coming, I won her on E-bay the evening before Thanksgiving. It has been a really nice holiday weekend, the only thing missing is Melissa and Gregory, but they will be here in less than a month. Yay!

I Hate Blogger

I tried several times to post pictures here when I wrote the other day and finally I just gave up. I'm trying again this morning. I actually finished the little dress now, so I am including a picture of it as well. It is being modeled on my Effanbee Babay Dainty, she is a bit too small for it, so the dress looks too long and big on her.I didn't make the cape, I will eventually. Maybe later in the week. Anyway, here are the pics from the antique pattern. I also made and listed on E-bay another Tiny Tears outfit, and am currently working on an 18th c. Christmas for my American Girl. I really like making doll clothes, it is a lot of fun even if it really serves no real purpose.

Antique Patterns

I have been busy with the doll clothes recently. I ordered a reprint of an antique pattern from www.olddollpatterns.com, I've ordered from them before and have been very pleased. The patterns are printed on nice heavy paper and are nice clear copies. The pattern I ordered doesn't have a copyright but the style is from the late teen's/early twenties. Working with those early patterns is not easy, they have very scant instructions, and very few diagrams. There were only 3 for the dress I'm working on, and one for the slip. The pattern pieces have nothing printed on them except the pattern piece number and the occasional construction notch. There are cutting layouts, and they have to be looked at carefully to understand how the garment should be cut. I had a lady come in the store the other day and she had to buy more fabric because she hadn't cut a piece on the fold even though the pattern piece was clearly marked CUT ON FOLD. She admitted she was a new sewer, and new sewers do make mistakes like that. However she would have been lost looking at the pieces for this little doll set; there was a definite assumption by pattern makers of the day that the person buying the pattern had some prior sewing experience, as well as a lot of common sense. I admit I changed some of the construction methods as I went along just because I know of easier ways to do some of it. Anyway, I am posting some early pics now, I can't finish the ensemble til I get some ribbon rosettes (the pattern says to make my own, but I've tried half a dozen times and am admitting defeat!) and a lining for the cape. I'm making it from red velveteen and I was going to line it in red taffetta, but now I'm thinking cotton would be better and I don't have a big enough piece.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have some things to do today to get ready. I am making cranberry sauce from the recipe I used last year; Siobhan loved it and has asked for it again.

Vintage doll clothes

I am still working on doll clothes, I made another Christmas ensemble for Tiny Tears, this one is 5 pieces, and I made a dress and combination for a 14 inch Patsy type doll. I have a reprint of a pattern from the 1930's that I used. It was really hard to work with, very different from modern patterns.

Tiny Tears Christmas Dress

I just listed this on E-bay. I think it turned out so cute, I kind of hope it doesn't sell because my little Tiny Tears looks so cute in it! I made the tights too; it was my first attempt at making tights, and they did not come out quite as nice as I had hoped. I didn't use a pattern, I just cut off part of a leg sewed across the bottom, part way up the center and back down across the rest of the bottom. I then cut between the two lines of sewing to make two legs. I also made a casing at the waist and slipped some 1/8 inch elastic in there. Anyway, they are still a bit loose, and the crotch is kind of weird. I have a pair of tights that I bought and I think I am going to try and make a patern from them.
I was in Salvation Army yesterday and came across a crewel embroidery kit of a butterfly from the 70's. It was started, but not much was done. It had all the yarn, a hoop, a needle and the instructions. I had seen a bag made with a piece of 70's embroidery, and it looked really nice, so I snatched the kit up and am already half done. The colors aren't my favorite, but that's ok, I still think it will sell when I finish the bag. I'll post pics when I do.