A very versatile romper for Ruby Red Fashion Friend, Stella…

I’m having a hard time dividing up my time between painting, sewing, cleaning house, and lots of extras right now… I had to watch a scheduled Webinar on Medicare today… yep, it’s 3 months till I turn 65 (how can that be???) We were, (of course) absolutely lost as lost could be with all the information! I also had a dentist appointment this morning and we have company coming Thursday to stay with us till Tuesday. SO there is major cleaning going on…

I’m like a bird flittering a few minutes doing this and a few minutes doing that… Oh well, it’s just a season of our lives right now… but it sort of bugs me… I find myself painting when I want to be sewing and sewing when I “should” be cleaning… Oh well, again… it will all work out eventually… now all we need is for the roofers to call and say, “Oh, we’re coming in a few days!” Yikes…

My hubby is in the garage as I’m writing this…(8:22 Thursday night) he is making nest boxes for his hens… he took out all the nest boxes except one he had because they were too far back and under to reach the eggs. It’s caused a problem, though…the hens ALL want to be in this one certain box. He found 2 hens in one box today and a third hen was trying to get in there too… So he’s making 2 more boxes and will try and get them to lay in a few different boxes. I made dinner but he said to go ahead and he’d be in when he could…

I did find some time to “remake” Stella’s romper pants part again… let me see… 6 times now! The romper just didn’t look like I wanted it too… it was just too full and bunchy to me…

…so when Julia suggested moving the gathers to the sides somewhat and having the front section flat, I of course, HAD to give that a try. I was already going to take try #5 off and do something, so I went with her idea and finally, I think I like them… they look close to what I had in mind…

I may hem them up just a cuff’s width, but not sure…

I was set to finish them but *alas* I ran out of thread…it’s a different color of green and I had nothing that would work.

You can see where I did topstitch the seam but that thread was too light and won’t work… since I’ve already stitched the ruffle and the bias trim pieces with something else, so tomorrow, I’ll be ripping that out as well and stitching it with the correct color of thread… I have to go into town Friday, and will get it then, so I just worked on other things…

…like making a skirt that can be added over the romper…

Something like this… I’m hoping to make it so Stella can wear it as a romper OR a sundress… I think it will work… I’ve just pinned it around her waist and liked the looks of it…

I’ll probably make it close with a snap in the back…

I think Stella is SO pretty… apparently Luca (Joy’s new 12″ Ruby Red Fashion Friends, Siblie doll) has a crush on Stella… oh my!

And in other news… Linda is getting a new Kirsten doll from the 35th Anniversary sale going on… AND Melody’s Kirsten doll arrived today too… Susette is getting Wren and Joy is getting a few new ones… I’m sure I have forgotten someone… Congrats to ALL you ladies… Only good times lie ahead for you and your new dolls! I just knew I wasn’t the only one getting a new doll! :o)

Don’t forget to check out the Friday Freebie pattern on Pixie Faire today!

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

12 thoughts on “A very versatile romper for Ruby Red Fashion Friend, Stella…”

  1. Charlotte Trayer

    Wow, SIX times?! But you know, it looks even better now! Great idea from Julia!! And I like the skirt over it, too.

    Here’s a thought–on the skirt, have it open down the front, and put a row of tiny buttons down one side (don’t need to be functional), to give it the look of the 1950s skirt-over-shorts outfit that I thought was SO stylish when I was a kid! Didn’t have one, of course, but it was cuter, and I loved it.

    Anne, thanks for the tip about using Tylenol to get gunk off your iron soleplate. I hadn’t heard of that before! You wondered, if it would do that, how good would it be to put inside your body? But, consider this:

    Orange juice, which is Very good for you, will take bugs off the windshield of your car! LOL

  2. I feel your pain, Jeanne, with the Medicare thing! Although I was an art teacher, after I taught, (and “retired” from teaching at 27,… ha!), I worked for an insurance company that paid Medicare claims. Don’t even ask me questions about Medicare, because so much has changed! But yes, when you turn 65 you have to make a decision. The first one is always the best of all the options! You can really overthink it all. Just go with that you feel comfortable with.

    Somehow I can’t imagine doing anything worthwhile after 3 or 4 in the afternoon! By 8:30 one or both of us are asleep!! Of course we get an early start, but still, I never did anything much in the evenings, just didn’t work for me.

    Stella’s new romper is perfect now with the gathers pushed to the side! And the overskirt looks great too! Molly has a tennis outfit with a blouse, shorts and overskirt, just like what Charlotte is talking about. It buttons down the front and you leave it open at the bottom so the shorts also show. Really a cute idea…..from the 40’s, of course!

  3. Sandra M Lyons

    Just a quick post as I am getting ready to leave for the doctors. Fun day it will not be….I just get to hear the new specialist say well we can’t find anything wrong, we have done a zillion tests so you might have to learn how to live with it and accumulate you live to it.

    Medicare is just so much fun. I was on Medicare Disability so my regular Medicare didn’t kick in until I was 67 so I wouldn’t have that penalty for taking it when I was 65.

    This is adorable and the adjustment to the bottom of the romper looks great and so much better. Personally I think the romper should be shorter unless you are going for the Capri look.

    I have a vintage Simplicity pattern from the ’50 the is a romper but the bottoms are shorter and the shirt is a great deal shorter. The pattern is fairly hard to find but a google search will bring it up.

    You are like the energizer bunny you just keep going and going and going. Have fun with your company. It will be nice for you to have a break.

  4. Stella’s romper looks perfect now. Good fix. The first thing that came to mind when you said skirt for the romper was exactly what Charlotte suggested. I love that look and it’s so perfect for a week kicking back at the beach.

    Fortunately the decision for Medicare was taken out of our hands and I’m glad of it. I retired from a major oil company so when it came time for Medicare you might say they did all the leg work. After hearing from other people who had retired from the company over the years about the Medicare program I decided they did a good job. We usually don’t have to use our medical benefits much, thankfully, but this year we sure have and they’ve been great.

    I haven’t been in my sewing room for days. I’ve been tending to some paperwork have tos. I’m going to spend the day in there today straightening up the mess I made while I was looking for something the other day and finally allowing my two new family members, H4H Zelia and Siblie Sydney, to see the light of day. Haven’t even had time to do that. Then I will finally quilt my new grandson’s quilt and maybe cut the binding strips. That’s the plan at 9:30 this morning. Hopefully my day will go as planned. It rarely does.

  5. When it rains it pours! Or so they say. Guess that means the roofers will be calling. 🙂
    I can’t believe you are having guests stay for six days. That alone would do me in.
    As to sweet Stella, her boyfriend Luca here is not a Siblie but also her size. 🙂 I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on the computers/phones as I had to stop a delivery of roses yesterday to Jeanne’s home destined for Stella. Luca was the only one in the room near the keyboard. Humm.
    Loving the romper and also the great ideas from Charlotte, Linda, and Sandra. Can’t believe Jeanne ran out of matching thread, but it happens to all of us. 🙂
    As to Jeanne’s time dilemma, it brings back memories of a childhood book that belonged to my father called, The Bam Bam Clock. Dorothy Mary, the little girl in the book also had a time problem. I’ll see if I can locate it and send a pic. I’ve never seen anyone accomplish as much as Jeanne, so I’m sure all will come together soon.
    Good luck with Medicare. It can be a mind boggler, but you can always make a change during open enrollment, so your choice is not permanent. 🙂

    1. Charlotte Trayer

      Joy, I laughed out loud when I read about your catching Luca trying to send roses to Stella!! Gotta watch that one!! LOL

  6. Jeanne, moving the gathers to the sides fixed the problem, the romper looks great and the color is perfect with Stella’s green eyes. I have been anxiously awaiting the delivery of 35th Anniversary Felicity this week. Enjoy your company and try not to “flit” too much, that is why I tripped over the dishwasher door-company coming and too much flitting around!
    Debbie

  7. Stella looks very pretty in her new outfit. The color looks great with her red hair. I like how you’re adding a skirt too. Those RRFF dolls are really pretty and so tempting.

    It’s really neat that some of our sofa sisters are getting new dolls. Hope can see some pictures of them.

    Jeanne, you have so much energy to be working on all you are found right now. Enjoy your company too.

  8. Oh yes, that did the trick on the romper and making a skirt is going to be even cuter! She’ll have a weekend outfit! The print is so pretty and shows up even more .
    Good luck getting ready for company🥴 we are having some for a week+ too but love them to death so won’t be a hassle. Hope the cupboards magically get finished too🤩
    Looking forward to Stellas finished outfit!

  9. I know exactly what you mean, Jeanne, about jumping from thing to thing. Grocery store this morning and then disinfecting and putting away. Then outside to check on the plants, then back in.
    Stella’s overskirt is just what the outfit needed. She can go straight from the beach to dinner.
    Hope we get to see pictures of everyone’s new dolls. The show and tell is always fun.
    If anyone wants to know the essential Kirsten or Felicity accessory sets (school supplies and that kind of thing) (or Samantha or Addy, even a little of Josefina) I can be of the utmost help, but it will send you down a rabbit hole. LOL

  10. I love Stella’s new outfit and changing the position of the gathers really worked, I would never have thought of that. I think after changing it so many times I might have decided enough’s enough and tossed it by now. The overskirt is lovely too, lucky doll who wins the outfit, I hope Stella isn’t too disappointed when she finds out she won’t be keeping it!
    Linda, I’m like you but I can’t do much after midday especially cleaning the house. I can manage working in my sewing room till 5pm but after that I only do stuff like hand sewing or knitting.
    Enjoy your company Jeanne hope you have a great time.

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