Before I show you the shoes, don’t forget if you were interested in the Little Darling dress set I found on Ebay that I had sold to a lady, it is ending this afternoon (Tuesday, sometime around 4:20) If you want the link to it, you can click HERE.
Here are some of my pictures when I listed it… (this is the same one being sold on Ebay but I don’t see the bear or the thigh highs)
I went out the front door and took a picture of our Bradford Pear trees blooming! Aren’t they beautiful? We have a whole row of them between us and our neighbors house…
Next, I wanted to thank you for all the well wishes and let you know I am better today than I was yesterday… I wanted to get to your comments, but my hubby needed my help “brainstorming” about our roof and the chimney situation… boy oh boy, this is pretty complicated… we have 2 chimneys on our house… and my hubby wants to take off the one that is the tallest… but our gas water heater is vented up through it… the other chimney goes to our wood burner, but we haven’t used it for years…I think something needs to be fixed with the damper.
Well, the one chimney that has the gas water heater vent was put in wrong in the basement, and isn’t up to code… there are too many 45 degree elbows in it… but it would involve a LOT LOT LOT of work busting through the basement brick wall, putting in a new pipe with the “right” angles and getting it through the roof… the chimney would be taken down, but this is an 1892 house so anything could happen… what if the whole flue area collapsed? What if all the bricks broke loose in the wall of the vent and we had to put in a whole new steel wall? What if the brick wall in the basement caused the foundation to be weakened?… plus a million other scenarios… I was getting dizzy from all the things that “might” happen… and my hubby isn’t able to do all the things he used to do…
Then we discussed the possibility of an electric water heater… they are generally more expensive to operate and if your power ever goes off, you have no hot water…
We looked at the roof and all the pitches and angles and discussed it and looked online at water heaters and before we knew it, the day was gone… it was dark and we didn’t even realize it… It was 9:20 before we ever ate dinner…
So that’s why the comments weren’t answered…
Needless to say, there was NO time for sewing a new doll dress, cutting one out, or even “thinking” about one… but I did take a few minutes at 11:00 tonight to snap a few pictures of Navi in some new leather shoes I made for her a while back… She didn’t have a dress so I had to make her a “spanky” lacy dress from a square of lace… She looks pretty cute no matter what she has on…
I’m pretty proud of them, even though they aren’t perfect! They are a far cry from the “turtle” shoes I tried a while back… Oh I better show you those green ones again, just so you’ll appreciate these… they were the ones that punched a hole in my finger… *ouch*
Okay here are a few pictures of Navi and “the leather shoes!”
They aren’t perfect… but I learned so much making this pair… I forgot to add the eyelet before I put them together, and then I couldn’t fit my eyelet setter in the tiny space so there is just the hole for the laces…
The backs of the shoes aren’t even… it’s all in getting your pattern perfect, I’ve learned…
I was so pleased with how the “wet molding” the leather made the toes of the shoes curved instead of just going straight down over her toes… I put some white stars where the leather would be if it weren’t wet molded into a curved shape. You wet the leather with a brush on the outside and then stuff it with a piece of tissue… and let it dry. It puffs out and looks like it does “above” the white stars…
The soles aren’t exactly the same shape, but I’m still learning…at least they look neat on the bottoms…
I rubbed beeswax on the edges of the shoes and buffed it. It’s hard to see, but they are shiny and slick… I even see in the closeups, some of my beeswax “still” on the leather… I need to buff that off…
They don’t fit perfectly against the back of her heels, but again, I’m still working on getting my pattern to fit her foot… remember they are only about 1″ long…
All in all, I’m very proud of what I did with this pair… and want to keep learning… some day I won’t have to apologize for how they look… (well, at least that’s my goal…)
I debated about what to tie them with and had some 1/4″ brown checked ribbon and had them tied in pretty bows but the laces just stuck out straight… so I tried several different ribbons and finally ended up using the waxed thread I used to saddle stitch them with.
My dad was fantastic with his leather working skills… I mean really good… I’ll have to try and find some pictures of some of his work… and it’s funny as I was doing the saddle stitching (a needle threaded at both ends of a strand of cording), I remember watching him do it… :o) If he were alive, I’m sure I could have these shoes whipped into shape much quicker than it’s taken me to learn on my own…
Oh well, I’ve had fun learning along the way…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I checked that outfit on ebay, and tried putting in a couple of bids, but someone has opted for automatic bidding, I think, because the bids I put in got immediately outbid! Oh, well…I may just wait and check tomorrow afternoon and see…you never know! Not that my girls NEED more clothes, but…!!! LOL
Oh, my, what a quandary for your house!! Ours is over 50 years old, and it has some problems, but nothing like what You are experiencing! I hope you’re able to figure out a solution that won’t be dangerous or super expensive!
You are really coming along with your cobbling skills! Navi’s new shoes are such an improvement over the “turtle” shoes (cute as they were)! When I saw the close-up of the soles, I knew I was right–the left one did look a little bigger to me in the first pictures, but that confirmed it. Still, as you said, a learning process, and you have come a Long way!!
I do like the waxed thread for the ties, by the way. It looks quite appropriate, both as to scale and as to suiting the style/materials/color. Well done!
HI Charlotte,
I just checked on the turquoise outfit and it’s just about ready to end. I really hope someone on my blog gets it… It would just be kind of neat if that happened… :o)
We woke up still with questions about what to do… and still no answers so far…
I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with getting the shoes figured out… I watch the videos and see exactly what they do… stopping it to take pictures and sometimes stopping and starting the videos as I make a pair along with them… and I guess it’s one of those things that just takes practice…. because in my head I know exactly how it’s supposed to work… maybe the difference is in the leather they use…
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
I would imagine that a lot of those other “cobblers” are using a lighter weight leather, like glove leather, or something like that. Your leather might be just a little too thick for those itsy bitsy shoes.
Good morning, Jeanne! Oh yes, the blooming trees! We have a Bradford pear right outside our window, but it belongs to our neighbor. We can see it for free though! LOL! And so many magnolia trees are blooming now too, it makes things look like fairyland! I love spring!
We do have an electric water heater, in fact our subdivision is totally electric, but I don’t remember a time when we lost power that we really needed hot water, and we have lived here almost 50 years! I am more afraid of gas heat or gas anything, because of explosions and carbon monoxide poisioning than anything! I’m always wary of visiting a house with gas heat!
That darling dress you made is now completely out of my price range, but i am happy with the one I bought for Betsy that I showed yesterday. I DO have one Jeanne marie original, at least!
Before I forget, I did answer Joy yesterday about where I got the sweater she was interested in on Ebay, so Joy, if you didn’t see it, check yesterday’s blog. And thank you all for your kind words about my dolls. You are the only people who see anything I do, and your words mean so much!
Navi’s littel “new shoes”, are so cute, and yes, an improvement over the turtle shoes, but I do like the turtle shoes too! You could say the turtle shoes were more like sandals, so two different types of shoes. I cannot imagine for the life of me, making such tiny shoes! You are amazing, Jeanne!
HI Linda,
Yes, the Bradford Pear trees and the Flowering Magnolia’s are in full bloom around here. Those Magnolia trees are just the prettiest… so beautiful. Our Magnolia isn’t considered a flowering one, as it doesn’t have the pink blossoms, but around the first week in June we get the big white blossoms as big as dinner plates and they smell like gardenia’s! They are wonderful trees to walk under when they are blooming.
I just checked on the turquoise dress and the auction is just about to end…It’s at $66 now…
I watched my favorite doll shoe video again…it’s in Chinese, so I can only watch the video but I have no idea what the guy is saying… I think each time I watch it, I pick up something I missed before… One of these days I’m going to have a pair of doll boots just like he makes! :o)
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
If there is no power, we don’t have any water, hot or cold because the pump can’t run. Gas or electric water heater would make no difference.
That pear is one beautiful tree!
Go ahead and be proud of those tiny shoes right now, Jeanne! They are adorable.
When we had our winter storm this year we lost both power and water. But on the other side of town where my friend lives they still had power – and a pump. My friend was out of town but her daughter was at their house keeping an eye on things and we were told to go there for water, showers, etc. if we needed to. Those with pumps were good to go as soon as power, if they’d lost it, was restored. The rest of us had to wait a few more days for full water pressure.
HI Julia,
Oh dear, well that’s not good if you lose power, you are in the dark and have to take spit baths! :o)
Thanks for like our Bradford Pear trees… we love them and sometimes I almost wish they would stay in the blooming stage longer… I love the white blossoms…
Thanks too, for your compliments on my latest dolly shoes… I’m trying! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
No criticism from me on the shoes. I admire your desire to even do it. Even with the things you mentioned I thought they were totally adorable. I considered bidding on that lovely outfit but realized it would soon be beyond my price range. My “price range” is determined by whether or not I could or want to make it myself. If I can sew one myself, I tend to leave things for others who don’t sew. Every now and then I leave something behind and wish I had made a different choice. I once bought a dress for my 8″ Small Fry Build-a-Bear bunny. There was a matching dress for my 18″ bunny but I didn’t buy it. It bugged me so much I searched eBay and found one. I used to run into the same dilemma with children’s clothes. Often I would have non-buyer’s regret because I didn’t buy something I could make but really loved. There was a dropped waist dress I once tried on my daughter. She was about 4 years old. It looked precious on her but both hubby and I decided I could make one like it, which I never got around to doing. When we told her we weren’t going to buy it that she had plenty of pretty dresses, she said, “Yes, but I don’t have this one.” I would have given in at the point, Dad not so much. We left without the dress.
The pear tree is so beautiful. We have a few pear trees. I thought at first they were ornamental pears but they do have small pears, which the birds get before I can. Right now everything here looks pretty dead. So many things here are subtropical or tropical and they did not survive the deep freeze in February. Much around town will need to be replaced. My two front gardens need a total redo. My native roses look like they didn’t make it. My Oleanders I think are dead. All along the Houston freeways there are Oleanders and they are in bad shape. I don’t know if they’ll come back or not. They are so pretty in the summer.
Navi is the cutest and her poses are so sweet. Cute “quickie” dress.
Hi Barbara,
I have the same “price range”I When I started my own PC/ AG collection there were certain historical outfits I wanted from those Pleasant Company doll collections, but it was because I loved everything -the pattern, fabric, and trims. That was before I even knew anyone sewed for those dolls. If I can make it myself or especially it’s that I have a certain pattern I want to use and I want a certain fabric for that pattern. I’m always priced out with the opening auction bid anyway. Mostly it was the little Pleasant Company accessory sets that got me. I wouldn’t know how to make those.
Oh, Oleanders… now those bring back memories. My grandmother smuggled Oleander cuttings in her purse on the plane when she married my grandfather and moved from her home in Texas to Ohio. She had three big pots that sat on the patio. They got dragged in and out of the greenhouse my grandfather built onto the house in the fall and spring. The neat thing is everything in the greenhouse could be seen from one of the bedroom windows.
Hi Barbara,
The turquoise dress set is ending in less than 10 minutes now… I hope the winner is one of my ladies and lets me know they won it.. it just would be kind of fun…
I have that same problem with seeing something I like and then realizing I could make it… I’ve been that way ALL my life since I’ve been sewing for such a long time… I think that’s why I like “copy cat” sewing so much… finding something in a photograph or an old pattern book and trying to replicate it… it’s almost like getting it!
Our pear trees don’t give off any fruit… at least they haven’t in the past… they are fast growers and that’s what we like about them. I love looking out our dining room windows and seeing the white blossoms against the blue skies…
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
Navi’s shoes are looking so much better than the turtle garden shoes. I have no idea how you can work on something so small. I would love to see a pair made in 38mm size for the Meadow Dumplings. 🙂
As to the roof obstacles, good luck, but safety first. I’ve seen a lot of This Old House or similar programs where they remove chimneys from roof to basement without them collapsing. If you haven’t seen them, maybe cue them up and watch. Just a thought. If you can’t remove the chimney all the way down, maybe just down to inside the attic so you can have a flat roof. They do have flexible pipe for venting so it would be easier to reroute the vent inside the chimney elsewhere or even through the chimney with a standard hole through the roof. Definitely, bring your venting up to code if you can. Carbon dioxide poisoning is real. Do you have a carbon dioxide detector? If not, pick one up. Many are in combination with smoke detectors now and are required here, but we have a portable one about 5×5″ that you can take with you like we do when we go to the cabin. 🙂
And now another rant. Bradford Pears although pretty in spring are a menace. They have a horrible stench when in blossom and their berries are eaten by birds and spread everywhere in forests. They are highly invasive and choke out native trees. They suck water from neighboring trees/plants, can be brittle and drop branches and are not recommended to plant by experts anywhere. They used to be standard subdivision trees, but fortunately no longer. Interesting as yesterday, we were out with chain saws cutting back our Catalpa tree, a weed tree. Although beautiful when in bloom, they too drop either seeds or pods which sprout everywhere and are also prone to drop branches. Their dead parts are also a fire hazard. A problem here in CA. Okay, done on trees, but if the Bradford pears were mine, they too would be chain saw material. 🙂
I’ve been working on a little romper for the Meadow Chibbi’s here. Why oh why can’t I just buy a pattern that fits a doll correctly? I’m just not good at adjusting. We’ll see how this turns out. 🙂
We’re supposed to hit 80 today and higher later this week. Ugh.
We only have one Catalpa and it’s enough. Don’t ask me why it’s still standing when so many of our wonderful Pecans were destroyed following years of drought and we had to cut them down. We have a Mulberry that’s a nuisance too and the birds get to it before I can. But it is down by David’s shop and provides great shade where otherwise there is none so he tolerates the mess.
HI Joy,
Thanks for the compliments on Navi’s shoes… I’m determined…at least I can say that! I want to make one truly decent pair that looks good from all angles! :o)
Maybe I’ll do a dumpling shoe sometime… that should be easier… there are GOBS of dumplings shoes on Ebay and Etsy and on the MM forum…
Oh, we weren’t planning on removing the chimney all the way down to the basement… quite the contrary… we need the flue to use for the vent stack… we just don’t WANT the chimney to collapse if we start removing it from the roof. The plan is to remove it brick by brick and haul it down to the ground in buckets… then it will be flush with the roofline, but if we put in a gas water heater we will have to have a small pipe sticking up in the same general area, but just a smaller hole… We still haven’t decided what to do… Yes, we have a Carbon Dioxide detector in the basement…
Our Bradford Pear trees might be a different variety than yours… ours don’t stink, they aren’t brittle, I don’t know that we’ve ever lost a branch, they don’t sprout up on the ground around them and we love ours… we put them there because they were fast growing and we use them as a screen from our neighbor’s house… it’s not the best… he has a lawn mowing business, but he mows his grass “maybe” 4 times a year…it’s about waist high most of the time… so we used our trees to block that view. We even let ours branch out a the bottom and didn’t trim those branches low to the ground off…
Sorry Joy, but I’m keeping ours… sorry you don’t care for them where you live…
Wow…80 degrees, we are supposed to be back down to freezing Thursday or Friday… I don’t want cold weather anymore… :o(
Thanks Joy,
blessings, Jeanne
I’m not alone in the Bradford/Callery Pear tree dislike. It has nothing to do with where we live. They are all over the states and many places are trying to discourage them from being planted because of their invasive nature, mentioned above. Check out Google. They also have that fishy weird smell when in bloom. They are native to China and Vietnam and are taking over forest areas in many places. Some states have tree exchanges where if you cut down one, they will give you a native tree to plant instead. Maybe your county agriculture department has such a program? I know you like them and they are beautiful, but they have a dark side too. 🙁
Sounds like a busy day with many house things to consider. I’m with Linda, our house is totally electric also, actually one of the few on the street. I’m very afraid of gas heat as well. I’m really wouldn’t feel safe with the possibility of carbon monoxide. The few times the electricity has gone out, hot water wasn’t a concern.
You pear is lovely. It’s always just a tad ahead of mine as mine is still in bud, but maybe by Easter.
Cute dress on Navi, quickie, but has a ’70’s vibe to it. I think the shoes look quite nice and you’ve improved tremendously in a short time. I like the waxed thread used for the laces.
HI Laura,
We are still considering all the options for what to do… I think I’d like to see the answer written in the sky… :o)
We are getting rain right now and it’s knocking off lots of the blossoms… boo hoo… and we are getting freezing temps in a few days… boo hoo again!
Thanks for the kind words about my shoes… I’m trying hard to improve each time I make a pair…
Blessings, Jeanne
While many of you are adre admiring the blossoms on you trees, I’m watching the snow melt off mine. When I lived in NJ, there was a pear tree out my back window and a dogwood in front of the house. I loved them. Here it usually snows fairly heavily after the blossoms are out and kills the fruit on the crab apple. In good years, I’ve been known to make crab apple jelly. In the years when the snow kills the blossoms, at least I don’t have to spend hours raking the apples up.
I like chimneys — maybe you could show us a couple of pictures of the house featuring the chimneys and we could vote on keeping or tearing down, and then you could go ahead and do whatever you think best. It sounds like you are getting a lot of good advice today.
Congratulations on Felicity’s outfit. I prefer for your outfits to bring more than $100, so I was happy with this sale, and congratulate the new owner.
The shoe project is coming along nicely. I’d love to see you make shoes for Felicity and Kirsten. I’m for Kirsten as next up, though handmade shoes for Addy would also be nice.
HI Marilyn,
Sorry our trees are blooming and yours are freezing in the snow! We have a dogwood tree back by the property line but it’s behind the shed and the chicken coop so we rarely ever notice it until all the blooms are finished being “pretty!”
I did have a few pictures of our roof and the chimney picked out last night and almost showed them, but I wanted to make sure my hubby didn’t have a problem with me showing the house…
You and I are just alike… I TOO prefer the outfits to bring in more than $100, but that doesn’t always happen, so it’s fun when it does! ;o)
By the time I get these tiny shoes mastered and move to the AG shoes, they will seem like “clodhoppers” again… :o) The bigger shoes should be a piece of cake! At least in my mind, I’m thinking they should be…
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I love the little shoes. I think they look just fine the way they are. Navi likes them too. She was “kicking up her heels” when you weren’t looking (laugh).
I hope folks enjoyed the Virtual Doll Convention. The next one I am attending (in person) is the Madame Alexander Doll Club convention in Michigan in June. I am excited about this one as it got postponed from last year.
HI Dorothy,
How long will the videos be available to watch? I wish I hadn’t been under the weather, but I watched and looked at what I could…
Thanks for liking Navi’s shoes… In person, they look really adorable, if I do say so myself. Navi does like them and she was really strutting her stuff wasn’t she? She was a regular glamour girl when I got my lights pointed toward her… :o)
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, from what I understand the videos will be available forever. Rachel sent through a link to the videos in one of the last emails saying they would be archived for viewing or something like that. I will see if I can find the email and forward it to you.
There was a sewing video for an outfit for a fashion doll. Oh my goodness, there were a gazillion steps to follow. I thought of you and how much work you put in for each outfit. The sewing instructor had a “ham,” I think that’s what she called it, to use to iron the sleeves for the doll’s jacket. I had never seen one of these before.
The shoes look great Jeanne, I don’t know how you manage to work in such a small size. I always struggle with cutting two identical soles so I bought the sole sets from Pixie Faire but they won’t work with the sewing part, only if the leather is folded under. i am glad you are feeling so much better.
I have gas hot water here but we don’t have ‘on line’ gas in Christchurch (not sure what else to call it), I have two 45 kg gas bottles outside the house . When one empties the supply is automatically switched to the other one and there is a warning sign so I know to order another one. It doesn’t help in a power cut though as the pilot light operates on electric. However after our first earthquake, in the other house I had a gas hob which was a godsend. It meant we could have hot cooked food and hot drinks, I just had to light it with a lighter or match since the pilot light wasn’t working. It was 4 September so very early spring and the house got pretty cold!. Here I have the gas for hot water and cooking. I do have a wood burner but we have a smog problem in Christchurch (probably something to with being built on a swamp lol) and most wood burners are banned. If you have one you can keep it but it has to be a particular kind that is almost smokeless and ours isn’t! The brick chimney was also compromised in the earthquakes and the top part was removed. I had a new flu put in the chimney with a vent so in the event of a snow storm (when the heat pump isn’t as good) or there is a power cut I can still use the wood burner if necessary. I figured I would have to be very unlucky if there was an inspector on our street at just that time, to fine me lol. I haven’t needed it so far. There are very few chimneys to be seen here, no open fires at all allowed and most chimneys either fell down or were removed. Ours was badly damaged (in the first one in the old house) and part of the earthquake recovery was for them all to be made safe. There was a big aftershock when they were doing ours and the poor guy up on the roof was clinging on to what was left of the chimney for dear life! This was before the big quake in Feb of course when we lost the house to the red zone.
Thanks for your kind words about Navi’s tiny shoes… I enjoy trying to make them… each time I learn something new or tweak my pattern just a bit… one day, I’ll get it! :o)
We just called another roofing company to have them come out and give us an estimate next week… we are still trying to figure it all out… the roof, the place where the chimney goes up, to remove the chimney all the way down to the roofline, to go with gas, or electric… my hubby said his head was spinning… too much money to sink into this already OLD house… it seems crazy but you have to keep up with maintenance or the inside will fall apart… it’s just so terribly expensive… Oh well, enough on that…
So… did you sell everything at the market? Did you come home empty handed? I hope so… do you start on things for next year as soon as this year’s event is over or do you wait and do some extreme sewing as the time gets closer for a new market?
Well, I better go…
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow… such an entertaining day from you and the Couch Sisters. Nice to read it all since sitting with an ice bag on my knee is pretty boring. Meds made me so sick… just doing ice and Advil now.
Our farm house had very similar chimney issues too. We took one down. The house we are in now has 2 as well but one is only for the the gas log in the living room and the other for a fireplace in basement. Now the furnace and water heater( both gas) exit through plastic pipes on the back of the house….
The shoes look awesome. Making bigger ones may be easier. Did you get my bag of leather? Love the way you made the rounded toe.
Your pear tree is beautiful !
Glad you are feeling better
Hi Kathie,
Did I miss something while I was away for a few days? What happened to your knee? Knee replacement? Fall? I’m so sorry….I hope it gets better soon!!!
Yes, I got you gloves and other leather…I thought I had thanked you…the leather in those gloves isn’t enough to make a pair of shoes…but I was looking at them and they will make great little leather purses!!
We called another roofing company today to get another estimate… so the search continues…and trying to figure out the chimney and water heater issue continues too…
Thanks Kathie and feel better soon…
Blessings, Jeanne