First up…the winning fabric for Ten Ping’s next dress was #4…the dark brown print with the tiny rose colored flowers. It’s funny, that piece of fabric was the first one I pulled from my fabric shelf… guess we all were on the same page! Now you’re really going to have to use your imagination on this one, because I’ve just started it and it’s only held on Ten Ping with a couple of pins… but I hope you can get the idea…
I have a few favorite blogs that I like to read when I find the time and occasionally something will be said like, “oh, I’ll get back to that another time” or “that’s something I’ll have to share later” so I watch and wait and watch and wait and they never get back to what it was they said they’d share sometime. It’s just a little thing, but it sort of drives me crazy…and I have been known to talk out loud to their posts, asking, “when are you ever going to get back to _____?” It got me to thinking and wondering if I’ve ever done that to you. I’m almost 100% certain that I have, but unless you tell me what it was that I was talking about…telling you I’d share it later, I’ll never know.
I have a notebook that I keep beside my computer, that I write things down in, based on the comments from my readers that sort of sparks new ideas for future blog posts, but these are the only things I have on my list that I said I’d get back to:
1. Don’t forget to show your blue cabinet that you painted when you finally get the glass panes in it…
2. Don’t forget to make Felicity’s dress from the gold and blue floral fabric…remember it was #2 in the voting…
3. Show how to make some new pin curls around Felicity’s hairline…
4. Get the Skinny Scarves from the giveaway listed on Etsy…
5. Don’t forget to show your trims when you get them all wrapped onto the cards…
Not very impressive is it?
So I thought I’d open things up and see what I’ve missed that you wanted to know… Maybe you want to ask me a question that’s been on your mind…something about me, or my dolls, or my business, or my blog, or a pattern question, etc? Maybe you’re curious about something else that’s not related to anything I do everyday but you just wanted to know…Go ahead, ask away… I’ll answer you if I can…
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Busy hands = Busy mind. Doesn’t hurt to have a pad to help keep the mind ‘on track’! LOL!!
(No questions – just keeping up with your blog for ‘inspiration’. I don’t know how to ‘design’ doll clothes – I have to have a pattern to feel confident that it’ll all fit. I can’t imagine how you DO it… but, I sure love watching how you do…!)
Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for your kind words about my blog and inspiring you. That’s what I wanted it to do … inspire people. Thank you so much for being a reader.
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne,
Okay, I am sure I’ve done this to you and my readers, but for the life of me I cannot remember which post it was. Please help, what did I forget to bring up again? Good idea to keep a list for these times. I keep a list of blog ideas, but it is very short.
Ten Ping’s dress is looking cute. She’s such a cutie pie! The fabric you picked is perfect for fall. I also like the floral with the white background.
Happy sewing today, Jeanne!
Thank you Cindy, for all your kind comments. I can’t think of anything that you’ve said that I haven’t seen you follow up on. You said your list for blog ideas was short, well my list is very long but its just finding the time to get to all those things. I have been working on Ten Ping’s dress today and it’s turning out really cute for her. Thanks for always being so faithful on my blog. I wish I could say I was more so with yours…
Blessings, Jeanne
Good morning Jeanne,
I have two questions: (1) Your energy and passion is fascinating to me. When you write, “you got to bed really late”, you mean really late! I don’t know how you have the energy to sew beautiful outfits, repair clothing, write such an interesting blog, answer each person on your blog, volunteer for MANY things, work on daily chores, work on projects other than clothing, cook dinner…it’s amazing! I admire you but I don’t know how you do it!! *However, I forget that at one time I was a busy mother, wife, chauffer, volunteer, organizer and planner- I guess I forget what my previous life was like before I retired and my children grew up. Still, you amaze me- how do you do it all?
(2) How did you come up with the names of some of your doll models if they weren’t already named? Josefina was already named Josefina but the Little Darlings you named? Eden? It’s interesting to hear how people come up with their doll names.
Sorry to take up so much space. Thank you. Have a great day.
HI Paula,
Thanks so much for all the kind things you said about me and my writing… if you don’t mind I’m going to address a few of these questions in a post, and I’d like yours to be in that group… so keep watching and I’ll let you know…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne
Until joining AGPT and AG dollhouse I never knew any adults who had dolls they did anything with except my great aunt who collected porcelain dolls. When my daughter downsized and I got her mint PC German Samantha and collection I enjoyed changing and displaying her. I picked up a few things of her collection that I loved but, my daughter never wanted. After joing the boards I decided I could get the Felicity I always wanted and the Nellie. I’m still looking for my MG. I saw a perfect one, but she was like your dolls, displaying an outfit and not for sale.
So, my question is when did you first buy a doll just for yourself, who was it, and how did you decide to make and sell doll clothes? I hove seeing all the things you sew. You won’t believe that I originally found you when I was looking for something from Felicity’s colletion and eBay referenced your Elizabeth in the dress “Simply Blue”. I just realized I haven’t seen you use Elizabeth in a while. Maybe she and Felicity could get “friends” dresses.
Hi Laura,
I’d like to answer your questions in a post as well, so hold on and I’ll get to them…
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, Ten Ping’s start on her dress is beautiful !! Love what you’ve pieced together.
Hi Paula,
I’ve been working on it today and she’s looking sweeter by the minute in it!
Blessings, Jeanne
Ten Ping’s dress is going to be cute. My question is why do you not sew with seasonal fabrics more? I like to dress my dolls for occasions, like pumpkins for fall, snowmen for winter..etc.
HI Regina,
Thanks for your compliment on Ten Ping’s dress. It’s almost finished and looks very sweet on her.
You asked me why I don’t sew with “seasonal” fabrics more often?
Well, let me see… I used to buy all these novelty prints, bunnies, shamrocks, snowmen, hearts, pumpkins, gingerbread men, candy canes, etc and I found it was so limiting. For example, if something I’d made from a snowman print didn’t happen to sell, I would generally list it a second time and then if it didn’t sell, I’d have to hold it for another year to get rid of it. Generally my things sell, but a few years ago that wasn’t the case. I found my buyers liked the flexibility of buying a red dress, though not necessarily red poinsettia’s, and they could use it for Valentine’s day or Christmas or just a dressy dress. If it had candy canes on it, it was limited to only Christmas. The same way with the other novelty prints… baby chicks are generally for Easter, pumpkins are for Thanksgiving, and shamrocks are for St. Patrick’s Day.
I found just using orange and black fabrics, tastefully done, was an easier sell than something specifically for the month of October. And a green dress made from a pretty print could easily be swapped out for a St. Patrick’s Day dress or a Christmas one…
I know lots of ladies like to dress their dolls up in novelty prints, but I just like my doll dresses to be useable for more than one occasion throughout the year.
But I do have some novelty prints still in my stash, so don’t be surprised if you find me making something now that you’ve reminded me of them…
Thanks for a great question Regina,
Blessings, Jeanne
All the questions previously presented are wonderful. Will love knowing the answers.
The questions I have is this: what type and brand of sewing machines do you use? and why did you choose those particular ones? Do you use alternate feet to make hems, bindings etc.
Your stitches are always so uniform and balanced. Do you make these adjustments or does your machine have a sensor for the fabric type?
I also am amazed at your energy level. You inspire me to lead a more productive life.
Are you just naturally a healthy person or do you take a magic vitamin each day and if so, what is the name of this supplement? !!!! I sure do need to order some of it.
HI Jeannie,
I want to answer your question in a post too, so hold on and I’ll get to it. I have a great story about my first embroidery machine…
Blessings, Jeanne
Yikes…that teeny neckline…wow…and it looks perfect. Like the red band on the sleeve to
Is she like sewing for Riley? Have fun with the rest of the outfit.
HI Kathie,
Yes, Ten Ping is about like sewing for Riley… Riley was about a half inch shorter and had a bigger tummy but similar.
I’ve been working on her dress today and I have to say, she looks pretty cute in this brown print! I’m hoping to get it done soon.
Blessings, Jeanne
So, did you ever finish the outfit you started for Ten Ping awhile back? You were using Jen Wrenne’s pattern for the kimono. I am almost ready to give a try at the same pattern and would welcome tips.
Agree with Cindy. Would like to see something made using the white background floral. Maybe another kimono?
Ten Ping looks very excited wearing her special shoes and almost finished new dress.
HI Joy,
No, I never did finish that pink and purple outfit for Ten Ping. I just saw it in my sewing room this afternoon… still all the pieces cut out, but not finished… I need to maybe try and finish it. I wasn’t very happy with the way the first top came out, so I tried something else…
It’s hard to get the facing part even and turned to the right side so that it doesn’t have exposed corners…
If you look on Ebay at the sets made by one of the seamstresses, zoom in on the corners of her kimono tops and you’ll see what I mean…
I think Ten Ping would look pretty in that cream and rose floral… so maybe it will be next for her… I made a Regency dress out of it once and it’s beautiful fabric.
Thanks so much Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne! I have been busy working in our yard today, and the leaves are coming down pretty early, at least for us! Seems that the leaves from our neighbors trees always land in OUR yard! It’s nice to be outside though with sunshine and no humidity, so I will take it!
Ten Ping’s outfit is going to be adorable! And yes, I still do like that material with the white background for her.
As far as questions go, what kind of dolls did you have and play with when you were small? And who was the inspiration that started you sewing? You also mentioned that you took sewing and textiles in college, but it was a small school. Where was this school, because I would think you would be a Home Economics major, and a lot of smaller schools did not have those kind of classes.
HI Linda,
I’m glad you got some yard work done today. It was beautiful here too, but I had a meeting this morning and then I’ve been inside sewing on Ten Ping’s dress this afternoon.
I’m going to answer the last part of your question in a post, if you don’t mind….
Blessings, Jeanne
OK, Jeanne, I’ll wait for an answer, but I just happened to think, what WERE you planning on being or doing when you majored in textiles in college? Surely you didn’t think that you would be making doll clothes, did you?
HI Linda,
I’ll tack that part on to your answer when I post your question..okay?
Thanks, Jeanne
Awhile back you mentioned the decision that you and George made that you work at home for additional income rather than you work outside of the home. You have a great business and do you ever consider taking a job away from the house? I imagine the children were always a part of the decision and what tasks they would take on to help both inside and outside of the home. Congratulations on starting and running your own business, along with your church work.
HI Jan,
Actually I’m covering your question in the post tomorrow… Maybe it will answer your questions… but the short version is, as long as we can make ends meet with me doing what I love to do, and aren’t going hungry, I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing now. My hubby knows how much I love to sew and he’s fine with that.
If I worked at a job that had regular hours I wouldn’t be able to volunteer and do as much to help him or other people out as much.
Thanks Jan,
Blessings, Jeanne
I would like to know why you don’t have arrows below your posts, like the other WordPress blogs I read? One, on the left, usually goes to the “previous” post and the one on the right goes to the “next” post? It makes it hard, when I miss a few days, to keep up with what was written daily, and I like to read them in the order they were written. I could go back to the emails and access it from them, but it’s much more convenient to have the arrows on the post so I can just stay where I am, and so I don’t have to search through a ton of emails. Thanks, in advance, if you can do this!
HI Allie,
I do have little numbers and arrows at the bottom of my posts… but I have 4 posts stacked on top of each other. When you get my post for each day, if it’s just that single post, click on the word BLOG just under the header and all the previous posts will be stacked one on top of the other, with 4 to a page. I mean if you read today’s post, then right below it you’ll see yesterday’s post, then underneath that one you’ll see day before yesterday’s post and then one more under that. When you get down to 4 posts by scrolling down, you’ll see a set of numbers going like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5……109. You can then click on the 109, scroll down to the bottom of that page and work your way to today’s post.
I would love to change it to where there the arrows at the right and left sides of the posts, but my webmaster went back to Kenya and won’t be back until February. I am afraid to try to do that myself. I was going to take a blogging class and ask someone to help me, but the class was cancelled… :o(
I did a post on how to navigate on my website back in July. Did you see it?
If you’ll go to the search box on my right side bar and type in the word NAVIGATION, the post will come up that explains my website and how to maneuver around it.
I have been considering putting in a list of archived posts… that way, anyone could scroll to the bottom of the list, see where I started and move up the list. Would that help?
Thanks for the question, Allie,
Blessings, Jeanne
Yes, thank you, Jeanne!! An archive list WOULD help. In the rare instances where I don’t find the arrows, I can get to where I want to go with an archive. Those usually list the months and when you click on the + sign it will list all the posts written in that month, although you are probably already familiar with it. 🙂 February, or even later, is fine for me. I’m seldom in a hurry for anything these days. 🙂 Thanks for considering it!