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.

Little People

Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara's on Thursday. Carol had an interesting quilt.

Carol's quilts are always interesting and lovely. 

Barbara had finished a quilt for her great...um...well, he's three, and an I-Spy quilt is perfect for him. This one has his name on it, too.

If some of the fabrics look familiar, they came from my stash. One great thing bout having a quilting group like this is, when you have to make an I-Spy quilt, you have lots of stashes to draw from.

I worked on hand-quilting my Delectable Pathways, aka "Sistine Chapel," quilt.

I had finished Vroni's Kitty Cat 1 cardigan, and as promised, here it is.

I had made it before holding the Palette yarn double, using a yellow color, with the hat to match. It came out a bit stiff, so this time I made it with a single strand, and I like the result better.

I originally bought Vroni because I thought she looked like me when I was little. This week I made her a dress I thought would work out in B&W as a good stand-in for the dress I wore for my second-grade photo, back in 1949.

This is why I couldn't dress myself without help.

My dress in the photo was brown, but I figured this red gingham would be OK in B&W. If you squint, Vroni almost looks like a Mini-Me.

The outfit Vroni normally comes in is a Dirndl. Because she came to me second hand and was wearing a lovely smocked dress instead of the Dirndl, I thought she needed a Tyrolean coat, so I'm 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 will be Jacknits Town and Country Coat Sets.

She will have a Tyrolean hat, as well (also in the Jacknits pattern), so she doesn't need the hood unless it's really cold.

The cape still needs blocking, the the pattern recommends against blocking the hood, because it needs to curl around the face.

Charlotte will be joining us sometime in the "near" future, so I decided she needed a dress from the same fabric as the two sundresses I made for Mandy and Vroni. Here's Mandy modeling the dress.

Mandy is wearing the yellow cardigan, so I don't feel cold every time I look at her, but Charlotte will have one of her own, probably in the same green yarn I used for Zoey's cardigan.

I think I finally have the pajama pattern altered to my satisfaction. It was a struggle, because it was designed for American Girl dolls, who are plus-size, and the Gotz Happy Kidz and Classic Kidz are slim.

The fabric is white, not yellow, but I couldn't get the color right without making Vroni look as if she were about to vomit. So take my word for it. I think the PJs make the girls look cuddly, even though their bodies are solid vinyl.

The photo shoot was going well, until she spotted something on the ceiling. Probably a spider.

Park City Singers has begun practicing for the Holiday Concerts. That cuts into my free time.

What's on my needles: Still the iPhone Tote for my niece, Vroni's Tyrolean Coat.

What's on my Featherweight: Um…doll clothes?

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: Finished Murder in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer, one of her mysteries, full of humor. Then I listened to The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry. Then I downloaded Kill Me Again, by Rachel Abbott. (When I want to get a lot done and avoid waisting time, I start a Rachel Abbott or Dean Koontz novel. Difficult to turn off.) Still a couple of chapters into Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon. Not fantastic, but cheap.

What's my tip of the week: If you're making clothes (doll clothes especially) that call for gathers between two dots, it's soooo much easier to run the basting stitches from one edge of the fabric to the other, rather than starting at the dot and sewing to the other dot. When you have the edges pinned, put a pin in where the dot is, pull out the bobbin thread basting stitches between the edge and the dot, and you're good to go. (I like to chain piece, so starting at a dot isn't convenient.)

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.