Stitch in Time - July 2012

[DrDebby]

Ah, Eva, hot glue and I don't get along so well. Looking forward to seeing the new dress.

It's now hot here. I spent the morning re-arranging my little world so I could get to the cutting table. I cut out a cape to sew for my wardrobe. Now I have to re-arrange my little world again so I can actually sew.

I got the broom for the little witch on the first try. Yay! So here's a picture of the little dear.



I'll be sending her out tomorrow.

[EvaJ]

Love the little witch Debby. You are going to have to make some more of these for you next show. I bet those would sell.

Here are the before and after pictures of the doll I finished about 1am this morning. Another one of those nights when sleep would not come. Better to get up and work. Worked on another doll outfit to and will show that later. Right now I think it is naptime.

[poochemio]

Big transformation on that doll Eva! Theres been something afoot lately with the sleepless nights, I had a number of them in the last couple of weeks and every time I did there were at least 3 other people in my class who didn't sleep either.

My day has been low and slow. Do a little bit here then sit and stitch, then a bit more. It's raining now, monsoon season came to New Mexico this year after all. Very good after a 2 year drought. Kitchen is almost clean and my stitching on another ikat bag is coming along nicely. The smell of rain is luring me back to my couch and needle and thread. Have a wonderful week all.

[DrDebby]

Lovely transformation on that doll, Eva. She's so pretty.

Rain is good for handwork, Margo. I enjoy being indoors and stitching when there is weather afoot.

Today, we drove out to mom's. She was melting in the heat yesterday. (As were we!) DH put in the window AC for us yesterday afternoon. Today, we put in mom's so she can be more comfortable. We've got nothing but 90's for the next week in the forecast. I know, I know, that's nothing compared to triple digits. Your blood isn't as thick as mine. It's those cold winters that does it.

Ended up not mailing out the witch today. Consensus is, she's too cute. I'm supposed to come up with a wart or hook nose or something.

[EvaJ]

Oh I like the witch just the way it is. It doesn't need a wart.

I started making my Emma dolls again today. Have sold all but one and I have two orders. Oops! I will be making the Evan doll from some of the 8 dolls I am working on. I am at the stuffing stage now so will probably sit tonight and do that while watching some tv.

[DrDebby]

Eva, I agree with you. However, my SIL loves to collect witch dolls and dislikes that modern dolls are all pretty and smiling. She wants the old wicked witch look whenever possible. I was going to leave it, but she did ask for it and she paid for it, so... the doll has a wart, with 2 little hairs coming out of it. I'm not going to take a picture. That Emma doll of yours is quite a good seller. I'm sure once you get Evan worked out, he will be too.

After the hideous wart on the witch doll, I needed to do something fun. I had my supplies out for doll and felt animal making. I decided to see if I could make a "Nessie". First one made is not the pattern. The fins worked, but the tail needs to come up and the neck needs to be longer. The head needs to come up too. Actually, right now, it looks like it could be swimming through the water. Cool, but not the look I was after. I'm basing it loosely on a plesiosaurio since no one knows exactly what the thing looks like. Once I get a pattern I like, I'll show you. Now, I should be making more clothing, but this is way more fun to me. I'll get back to the clothing, really I will.

[EvaJ]

Tried making sandals for dolls this morning. Didn't go well so gave up and when to Walmart and got the stuffing I needed. It was already over 115 and the car never really got to cool down as it is only 7 miles from our house. No more going out of the house after lunch time until fall.

Anyway while we were at Wally World I found on sale, the fabric that is suede on one side and sherpa on the other. Bought it even though it was still higher priced than I usually paid for fabric. Then I got to thinking it is a lot cheaper than what I normally pay for fur. Any who I decided to see what it looked like made in a coat. This is the first attempt and it does need some adjustment but they are going to go fast and easy. The color is a little off because of the lighting but it is a light tan with beige fur.

[DrDebby]

You can keep your 115, Eva. I never did like living in Vegas. Is there less hand sewing with this fabric making a coat. Seems like it would be. Are you going to do frog closures?

Stitching up version 2 of Nessie. The proof will be in the stuffing.

[DrDebby]

Hellooooo? Anybody home? Wow, where is everyone?

I didn't post yesterday because when I stopped by, I was the last poster. Here I am still the last poster....

I had a full day yesterday. DH broke a tooth so had to get him to the dentist. I figured I'd chill in the air conditioned waiting room while they worked on him. (Took a couple of hours.) I was stitching on my money box again. But, no air conditioning. The receptionist thought it was feeling stuffy so turned it off. Got some errands run, usual stuff before DH goes back to work.

I also worked on the next version of Nessie. The tail came out much better, and the head was more upright, but it was far enough in front of the body that the critter does a nose dive to the table when I set it down. Next version...

Today I actually managed to pull out my sewing machine and start sewing my clothes again. Today it's a cape for evening wear.

[EvaJ]

Hi there Debby. I guess I never got here yesterday at all. Hummmm...what happened to the day. I guess just busy with sewing. Finished up a couple of doll clothes after the changed the pattern a little to fit better. Then it was stuffing heads for the 8 soft Emma Dolls. Today I got the arms and legs sewed on the bodies and next step in putting the heads on and stuffing bodies. The hand sewing will come probably tonight when I am watching tv.

The weather has got humid and cloudy. There is rain all around but nothing here yet. Suppose to be like this for the next three days. Not good for my arthritis and my body says ouchy all over.

Debby, have you tried putting a light weight wire in the neck or tail of your Nessie? I put wire in the tails of my puppies when I am doing them.

Guess we are both sewing today so my turn to get back to work.

[poochemio]

Debby, do you have any of those plastic pellets the manufacturers put in the bottom of stuffed animals? Those would probably help the tipsy turvy on your Nessie. If not they are super cheap at Joann's or Hobby Lobby.

The water systems man was here for about 5 hours today. Whole system for filtering out the iron oxide, sulphur etc is not large enough, antiquated, and barely working. He told the land lady her tenants must be saints to have tolerated it this long. So he backwashed and new filtering system is being custom built to replace it and will be here in 2 weeks. Yippee, maybe I can go back to being a blond again. The kind of hair my red turns would please me mightily if I were a punk rocker. As a matter of fact all the teenage punkish types that are checkers at the local stores love it. I hate it. Ack.

Still stitching bags, and nope the camera is still in its case.

Stay cool everyone. In the heat of the day I sit in front of my fan working away. Thank goodness for thick adobe walls and double paned windows!

[DrDebby]

Eva, hope you can finish your Emma's. I'm real curious about Evan.

Margo, you keep tempting us with your stichery reports but no pictures. :cry: Yes, I have the little pellets. I'd have to dig them out.

Right now, I'm working on the cape. I've not put in a zipper in forever so am hand basting it in before machine sewing. I'm thinking about making a beret out of the same fabric to go with it. Even got an idea to embellish the hat. Tho' with the fleece material, I'm not sure it'll work.

[EvaJ]

Well this is sure a Friday the 13th. I sent an 8 lb. box of fabric for a trade for a doll and today she gets a box full of paper and letters. I want to know what happened to all the fabric. I guess I will have to send her another box of fabric but it will have to wait until I make some more money to be able to send a box.

Debby, I have started on the Evan hat. I made a sample now need adjustments to make it right. Shouldn't be to hard and a pattern so that I can make them all alike. I can't have it as tight around the head as I would like because of the way the noses stick out and I want to hide the fact there are other faces. So it has to be a little gathered. Not a true boy's hat but I think it will work. From the front it looks tight around the face. Maybe by tomorrow I will have one good one.

We had rain, thunder and lightening this morning at 8am. Had a good rain for about half and hour. Then the rest of the day the rain has gone east of us over the mountains and we have had sun. The humidity is up about 58% so it is sticky outside.

Well back to work on the hat. The outfit is cut out so will probably stop and do that first and then attempt another hat.

[EvaJ]

Here is Evan..........I finished the first one tonight so thought I would post.

[DrDebby]

Eva, sorry about your Friday the 13th. Wasn't exactly the best day here, but nothing I could really blame on the date specifically. Evan looks great. I think he'll be a wonderful addition to the Emma doll line.

Ran out of energy yesterday afternoon, so the cape still isn't finished. Had a rough night and ended up with that muscle in my back going into spasm. Not happy. Took a muscle relaxant, which of course relaxed me completely. So relaxed I've not done a whole lot of anything. Tomorrow is another day and nothing has to be done today.