Dolls Have Taken Over My Life!

I did get away from the dolls for a little while this week, but not before Vroni unplugged my computer.

Or maybe she was trying to keep the plug from falling into the dog dish, on the floor to her right.

Common Treads met at Karan's. She and Margareth were working on blocks from "Moose's Misadventures," a class from Davidene's. 

Georgette had just started a needlepoint project. I'll try to get a photo when she has more done.

My better half has been trying to take advantage of the few remaining days of autumn to get the outdoor repairs done, primarily painting and staining the decks, so he isn't able to go for walks or hikes with the dogs, so I have been taking them alone. Saturday was a beautiful day, and fairly warm (60-ish), so we went to Toll Canyon. 

We only went as far as the watering hole, because I was afraid to venture further into the forest alone with the dogs, because of the likelihood of encountering moose or other wild animals. It's difficult to grab two off-leash dogs quickly when you're alone, and Rocky doesn't hear as well as he used to, so I didn't want to take a chance. It's a nice hike, though, even staying on the road. You might encounter a bicycle or two, but no cars, so it's safe for the dogs to run. Dusty needs a lot of exercise at his age, so it's good for him to be able to run free.

I finished the iPhone pouch for my niece.

You can't tell from the photo of the finished pouch, but it's lined with batik. I gave her the choice of three fabrics for lining. She chose the one in the middle.

I'm making progress on the Tyrolean coat for Vroni, using the Kitty Cat 3 pattern, which is a hooded cape in two lengths, as a jumping-off place for the coat. The coat pattern is Jacknits Town and Country Coat but without the collar. I plan to make the hat from the pattern, as well, because I think it can be made to look like a Tyrolean hat. Just the sleeves to go. Here's how it looked yesterday.

The dolls did manage to rope me into doing some sewing for them. Now that I have a pajama pattern that fits the Götz Happy Kidz/Classic Kidz dolls, I've made one for Mandy.

The first pair of PJs fit Dolly, so now they can all be cozy.

A couple of weeks ago, I cut out Capri-length leggings for Dolly and some full-length leggings for Vroni. I finally was able to get them sewn up. I'm trying to get done with the stretch fabric, so I can put my Kenmore zig-zag machine away, although I'm finding it useful for finishing off the seams items made from woven fabrics, too. I still had the batiks out for my niece to choose for lining, and picked one of the ones left over to make a top for Dolly.

The pattern is the slender version of the Tennis Dress from Joan Hinds' Best Doll Clothes Book, but with the short sleeves from Simplicity 1484. 

Then I used the same pattern, but altered the chest measurement and armholes to come up with this top for Vroni, with my puffed sleeve pattern for the sleeves.

Finally, I made a longer version for Mandy, for a dress to go with the hot pink leggings I made awhile back. This one has long sleeves.

I was ready for a nice pot of tea, when I found them plotting what they would convince me to make for them next.

I wonder if I need to open a college fund for each of them.

What's on my needles: Still Vroni's Tyrolean Coat.

What's on my Featherweight: Um…guess.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Kill Me Again, by Rachel Abbott. I’m about halfway through Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Gato Negro Malbec, very nice.

What's my tip of the week: I have a neat little acrylic board with sandpaper next to an open area. The sandpaper section is great for drawing on fabric, for appliqué, etc. 

The open area and the back are great for applying glue to buttons, Velcro or fabric. The glue will wash out, and you can sew through it when you're using your machine. If the needle gets gunked up with glue after a while, you can either remove it to wash it off with water or clean it in place with a little rubbing alcohol. The acrylic board can be cleaned the same way, but I try not to get the sandpaper wet.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.