It began this morning…
The search for those tiny little metal buttons I needed to finish Sara’s denim jacket… I mean, it HAS to have buttons…
So I started searching in my sewing room again… a few of you said just keep looking, even if you’ve looked there before… So I decided to start at the area behind my door, where I JUST put my new thread addition onto the wall… and knew the buttons weren’t there… so I started moving around the room to the right… which is a bookcase… with LOTS of stuff on it. I have more containers of “things” than most anyone I know… but I use them all. It’s no wonder things get lost, because I have things combined in one container… I’ll show you how I was searching… I looked in LOTS more places than this, but here are a few…
In my jewelry containers…I had already looked in them 3 times but today I was SERIOUS!!
In my Dolly Toy Box… (which REALLY isn’t a toy box!)
In all the little containers of eyelets and caps…
I had a few little “animals” that needed to be looked through and find a place for them…
(I found a little THREE eyed pig!) :o) But I discovered it was just 2 beads stuck together so I popped one of the beads off.
I looked in the containers that have LOTS of leather shoes started, patterns for shoes and some soles cut out already…
I looked in my little dolls…
I looked in my junk drawer where my sewing machine cabinet is…
I looked in this tray that had quite a few different things in it… charms, Museum wax, the little washers I use on my shoes to make the magnetic closure.
…and LO and BEHOLD…between the Museum Wax and some other jar of plastic molding material, underneath the packages of the washers I had gotten at Menards and Lowe’s, were the BUTTONS!!!
See, these are what I was looking for…
Do you know what I did, I sewed those buttons on Sara’s denim jacket… and then found a place for them… IN MY BUTTON CONTAINERS! Where they SHOULD go and where they will always be from now on…
I AM SO HAPPY I FOUND THEM… I was almost positive I hadn’t thrown them away… I just put something on top of them and when I was searching, (YES, I had already looked in that tray)… but when I picked things up, I grabbed those little plastic bags of washers and the buttons were in plastic zip-lock type bags and I didn’t notice the difference.
Okay, so the buttons were found and here they are halfway sewn on…
So it was time to move on to making her a little tee shirt to wear under the jumper I had planned to make her… It took a little while because the fabric is a 4 way stretch and it’s like trying to sew with Jello! Pretty flimsy and not held by pins so easily…But I got it finished… (oh, it’s not hemmed yet…)
Here is Sara in her thigh highs and the tee…
NOW…HERE’S THE CROSSROADS I mentioned…
The jacket is too tight to fit over the tee… I mean I have it on in my pictures, but it DOES NOT FIT… it’s so snug and the average person would say, “Forget this!”
The neck is all bunched up in front because it has nowhere to go but forward.
The armhole area of the jacket is just TOO small and even though the tee has short sleeves, it still is just all bunched in there…
It was a cute idea, but when I make a jumper and have some kind of fastener in the back for it, there is NO WAY this will work… so I have a few ideas, but I know this is a bad idea, because everyone will have a different opinion and I still won’t know what is best to do…
#1… I could use the tee and thigh highs for another outfit.
#2… I could just make the brown print jumper for the tee and thigh highs and skip the jacket.
#3… I could use the jacket with just the brown dress and see if a simple sleeveless dress might work.
#4… I could go a totally different direction and use the jacket with a new fabric for something completely new.
#5… I am open to any suggestions you might have…
See, this really is a crossroads for this set and I need to make a BIG U TURN!
Oh, and I am going to make the armscye bigger on my jacket pattern…
I’m glad I found those buttons so you didn’t have to wonder over the weekend… but now you have to help me figure out what to do…
I will see you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
First of all, before I forget, Sissy and Barbara, I replied to your comments on my comment on yesterday’s blog.
Rosemary, if you’re going to be making AG doll clothes and are looking for some patterns, I highly recommend those by Primrose Lane. You can find them here: https://www.primroselane.com/store/c3/18%22_Doll_Clothing_Patterns.html There are two pages of patterns–54 in all–and I highly recommend them. I own probably close to two dozen of them, and I love them because 1–the pattern pieces are well drawn, and if it’s a whole something (like a whole bodice front) it’s symmetrical, 2–the directions are clear and easily understood, and 3–she has designed some really interesting ones that you can’t find just anywhere! I would recommend you either trace or photocopy the pattern pieces, just in case you lose one (been there, done that!) I made the luggage set (Access-Ease) for my Molly (so cute–even a garment bag and hanger covers!), and I’ve made the Summer Fun pattern several times–both the dress and the shorts/top set. The Victorian Dreams nightie set is the doll-sized version of the nightgown pattern I just finished for myself!
Jeanne, I am so glad you found those buttons! I’m glad you went back and looked again, and now they are put away where you Will find them the next time!
The t-shirt sure turned out cute! But, Oh, my, that Is a dilemma!!
I think I would go for options 2 and 4–make the jumper and leave off the jacket for now, and call it good. Then use the jacket with something like a halter-top dress or a sleeveless dress.
Or, of course, you could always make another jacket to go with this outfit (#2), and save this jacket for a different, sleeveless outfit.
I had a lovely time with my friend today and I did take pictures. I still have to load them into my computer, so it may be a day or two before I send them to Jeanne (it’s getting late). And tonight I had one VERY special little trick-or-treater, and I have pictures of that, too!! Stay tuned!
Charlotte, thank you! I book marked a few pages, and I will go to this one too.
I have some ideas in my head of designs, and quite a lot of patterns upstairs in my boxes of patterns (I have two shoe box size now after “downsizing” for our move) I am so grateful for your share!!
Thanks for the pattern link, Charlotte. I have tons of patterns but I have never bought any from Primroselane. I looked at them and they are wonderful. Will go back after I finish reading the blog.
Jeanne, I just knew you would find those buttons, and you did! That is what happens when you put something in a “place where you will find them”! It sure didn’t work that time! 🙂
OK, now the dilemna you are haivng with this jacket and outfit, well, I am thinking options 2 and 4 are also what I would pick. The jacket is just darling, and you should certainly use it for another outfit. I love the mix of the flowered jumper and the stripes of the thigh highs and tee. The neckline of the tee won’t work well with a jacket over it, and it is already made. Would a little denim bolero work if the openings were wide enough to have the neckline of the tee lay flat? If not, scrap that, and I think just the jumper and tee, plus thigh highs would be cute. Maybe a cute purse and hat to go with it , or a denim flower pinned on the jumper would round out the outfit. Let’s see what everyone else thinks.
We didn’t even turn on our porch lights last night because i already gave the neighbor children next door their candy, and we hardly have anyone coming now, that most children are grown and gone around here. That happens when you live in a neighborhood for 51 years and stay put!
Yes, we need to move. A family with kiddos needs to live in this big house of ours!! (coming soon)
We had a total of 4 “ding dongs” – the first group were three girls junior high? I am not sure they were in costumes or not, but they were cute and cheerful and said “Trick or Treat” and thank you as well.
Group two was Three jr high boys, – can”t recall their costumes
Group three were two witches
and the last was a boy, some character from “Hedgehog”? black and red and white, adorable furry hood with furry points. Oh he was cute.
Anyone watching the new “Fraiser” show? We watched that so we could pause for visitors.
Hmmm- I think #3 or #4. The jacket is adorable ❤️
… …. I knew you would find them. By looking at the shared pictures of your office, you look fairly neat and tidy (mine is organized chaos) So I figured they were hiding under something.
My method in searching is to “gently lift layers”😁😁
The jacket is cute
The thigh highs and shirt are cute.
the dress would be cute.
What would I do…. 🤔
The jacket: you could save and use it with a thinner fabric dress for Spring.
The corduroy jumper and thigh high t-shirt combo is a cute idea. For a cover up idea, how about a furry scarf (I just found a strip of black and white cow patterned fake fur haha) and a little hat?. you could add a little clasp to keep the scarf in place. hmmmm What kinds of fur do you have in your stash? other additions/options would be a jeans fabric satchel and hat?
You could make a larger jacket for this combo but it could still be bunchy with the dress and sleeves…. the jacket is a gem. wouldn’t it look cute with a delicate spring dress with some color that would make those buttons look sweet
You have a busy week-end thinking and thinking and pencil drafting.
Everyone have a nice week-end. I am going to clean up Halloween, and attempt to consolidate all in one box. I am not in a panic of moving. I went to a gathering of present and future residents of my community last Sunday afternoon. (Birchwood in Brambleton- it is a nice community incorporated into a family neighborhood so the oldsters are not isolated but part of the bigger community) It looks like … my property has been surveyed. This is good.
I have met my next door neighbors, and many neighbors around. Some days I freak out about the move/stuff and other days I do not. I delved into the basement yesterday (unfinished, just storage) and opened a box full of pony beads, chenille sticks, shrink a dink and special papers. At first I was a bit panicky, but my older daughter assured me and asked me to put it in the pile. I will rummage through and rebox it all.
Whew.
Happy November
My recent guests have moved 13 times. First with the military and then with his job. When they retired they moved to Ohio where she is from and much of her family still lives. They are our age (77) so it was surprising that they picked a two-story house. She does not like moving at all, but her hubby told my hubby that he figures they have one more move – to a one-story house. I wonder if he mentioned that to her.
Oh, the button insanity, but they are oh so perfect on Sara’s jacket. Maybe I need a close up, but I can’t see where you sew them on. Looks like a bit of metal in the center, but where are the holes? Anyway, so glad you found them and that now they are in a perfect spot to always be able to find them. 🙂
Isn’t there some way Jeanne, can enlarge the armholes on the current jacket? Didn’t she take tailoring in college? Like resew the bottom half of the sleeve seam and trim it off to add more room? Because I love the tee with the jacket. For the Tee, I think the binding is too thick. Maybe it could be made with a facing or lighter weight fabric that turns under and is not visible which would eliminate the puckered look when worn under the jacket? I know the fabric is stretchy, but there must be some way to reduce the bulk on the neckline. I really hope Jeanne can save the tee and fix the jacket as I love the whole outfit with the yet unmade jumper I’d like. Now, I’m going back to read all the other opinions. 🙂
Thanks everyone yesterday for your nice comments on my recent adventure with my new Blaire’s Restaurant set. Other person still has not mentioned it again. 🙂
The only trick or treater we had last night was little Winnie pup from next door who scratched and barked at the door until we opened it. She received a milk bone. 🙂 She brought a special candy bar for other person. We didn’t even bother with the lights outside and didn’t see any groups going by so didn’t miss anything on our street. And it left that bag of Hershey bars for other person. 🙂
And on to Thanksgiving…
Awww, Winnie pup has to be the best kind of trick-or-treater. We had three similar visitors of the kitty persuasion as night fell. They looked and blinked at me through the window as I was inside as they enjoyed the last treats of the day. If I had been outside the two I can pet would have received rubs.
That’s great that Blaire’s restaurant was so quickly forgotten.
Joy, in response to your ideas about the t-shirt and its binding: one of the problems with making doll clothes is that we are using fabrics woven or knit for use on real people; oftentimes, they are too thick or bulky or stiff to be used on dolls, and it can be hard to find something similar but thin enough to be properly in scale with the doll. With knits, especially, it can be an issue. For instance, in making a t-shirt for myself or one of my grandkids, I put a conventional ribbing neck band on (like you see on commercially made t-shirts), and it’s not a problem. You can’t do that on a doll’s t-shirt because it would make it Really thick–you are already scaling down the width of the trim, but it’s doubled, and then you have the seam allowances to deal with, too. I have made doll t-shirts where I’ve carefully pressed under 1/4″ along the neck edge and topstitched it, and that makes a nice, flat finish, but it’s not really a “t-shirt” finish. (I would never do it on a t-shirt for myself, for instance.) Other knit edge finishes include foldover elastic (FOE) which is too wide to use on a doll’s t-shirt, and French trim, where you cut a strip of self (or contrasting) fabric across the stretch, and apply it rather as you would bias tape. Now, that’s not too awful a look, but finishing the ends (most doll t-shirts snap up the back) can be bulky and messy.
I thought that, even though it looks kind of thick, the trim Jeanne used on this t-shirt looked fabulous. But still, it does interfere with that jacket. It can be a real puzzle, figuring out the best way to finish that neck!
We all love the jacket. It is just so cute. Like Joy I have a problem with the orange neck binding, too thick and distracting, and the sleeves seem so short for a jumper. Maybe you could try the “revised” jacket pattern in a corduroy? In the brown or tan family. Or how about a separate never ending loose cowl made from the striped fabric. That way no heavy ties around the neck but still coordinates.
Good luck in your decision making. And I knew you’d find those buttons!
Oh my, I really don’t like dilemmas – mine or anyone else’s, but I will put in my two cents for the fun of it. I hadn’t thought of “reducing the neckline bulk” until I read Joy’s comment. Most of the doll t-shirts I have made, especially for smaller dolls, either have a narrow hem or a facing around the neck and sleeves so that could be a possibility for keeping the jacket. But the problem also seems to be with the tight armscye so the solution to that seems to be keep the jacket for a lightweight, sleeveless spring dress. You’ve done that before and it worked great. The jacket is a cute idea but not necessary so I think the striped thigh highs with the striped t-shirt with a flowered jumper would be really cute and the addition of a hat and purse would finish it out just fine. You’re obviously going to get varied opinions so I wouldn’t want to be the one to have to figure this out. But I will be anxiously awaiting to see what you come up with.
We had a delightful evening last night. The rain had stopped in the late afternoon and everything had dried out plus we had a wonderful breeze. But it was warm. The Boo Bash goes from 5 – 8 p.m. We didn’t get there until 6 p.m. which was great because the sun went down shortly after. Last year we went at 5 p.m. and for an hour the sun was a problem not only for our eyes but for taking pictures. I took my sunglasses this year but only needed them for about ten minutes. My granddaughter, Jaiden, was dressed as a Gothic princess. She will be 13 on New Year’s Eve but when I saw her last night I was blown away. She is tall and looks some older than she is normally, but she looked absolutely elegant and much older. Azure was Batman (a very tiny Batman) and is a cutie without a costume but he looked adorable last night. Then there was Jack and Sally Skellington (aka Sean and Dionne). They were totally great. Her make-up was fabulous. She had on false eyelashes and it was so funny watching her cope with them. She also had a long, red wig that really looked good on her. Her body make-up which she did mostly herself with some help from Sean was really great. Sean’s costume had a plastic head that I never could have worn but he did quite well. Obviously he’s not claustrophobic. It was warm out so I thought he might end up taking it off, but his performance gene came to the fore and with everyone, including the newspaper, wanting to take pictures of them, he was in his element so the head stayed on until we went back to the car. So many of the costumes were fleece with character heads. They would have been great last year but a bit too warm for this year. I’m thinking maybe I’ll look into wearing a costume next year. I still have my “flapper” costume from my dance recital days. Many of the adults wear costumes but I didn’t see as many as last year. This was the 17th year for the Boo Bash. It is run by the city newspaper and they do a great job. They started the event because trick or treating in a rural area where so many live outside of town was hard to do. Many parents would drive their kids into town to trick or treat the streets in town and most people, if the weather was nice, would sit out in their front yards with their candy bowls and enjoy the evening. The newspaper figured if so many were coming into town anyway maybe we should have an event downtown where people could set up booths and the kids could play games and win candy. It has been very successful. There were 3,000 people last year. Not sure how many this year but there was a bunch. All I know is that around 7:30 many were packing up because they ran out of candy.
We usually vote on election day because we love doing it that day (which for years was the only way for most), and here you may have to wait in line for 20 minutes but usually it’s pretty much in and out. But I saw the weather last evening and Tuesday is going to be not just rainy but stormy and we have a front coming through. Today is the last day for early voting in Texas so we are going after lunch. Sean and Dionne always vote early because they live in a county where you sometimes have to wait for a long time to vote. Jason and Stephanie voted early too. Their mobile home will be moved to its new site Monday and Tuesday will be a busy day for them trying to get reorganized in their new surroundings, which is actually Stephanie’s prior surroundings since it will be in the pasture on her parent’s property.
Well I guess it’s on to Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season. Time to check and see what dolly children need fancy clothes for the holiday festivities. I saw where I have a few right now that are still in summer clothes because that’s all they have. So many children, so little time.
I knew you would find them, Jeanne. I usually don’t misplace things unless someone distracts me while I’m putting something away and I lay it in the wrong place. Starting where I was usually finds it in short order.
I also tend to label boxes etc. with all of the contents. so I tell tell what’s in there without opening it up. Served me well while simultaneously home schooling and working from home.
As for the dilemma – #2 would be the simplest option. Then put the jacket aside for another time.
All Hallow’s Eve was nothing here. Only visitors were kitties to the porch before nightfall to finish the daily supply. We don’t give out candy anymore because the neighbor kids we knew are grown and need to save all extra money for furballs, inside and out.
Yea! You found the buttons! I often do things like that…clean up from the last project, sometimes in a hurry to start the next project and so tuck an item away quickly, where “I’m sure” I will remember where to locate it when needed again. Hah! So I spend time hunting for something while trying to remember where I put it. Especially things like tiny buttons, buckles, narrow stretchy lace…and that’s just sewing items. I also work with dollhouse renovations, making dollhouse furniture, assembling art dolls (which involve sewing supplies, fabrics, paints, wire, wood bases, etc.). It would be a dream to have a room large enough to incorporate a sewing-for-dolls area, another space for painting art, a dollhouse and miniature building area, and even a table and storage area for scrapbooking supplies as I make my own greeting cards for family Birthdays, etc. But that is wishful thinking, so I remain grateful for my cozy room with one work table in the middle of the room and cupboards and see-thru plastic storage boxes for storage and my RR dolls on a shelf, out of direct sunlight, with one doll on my table in her latest fashion! I have my fabrics sorted by color groups, knits, dressy fabrics, plaids, etc. and even then I sometimes need to open several see-thru boxes to find just the pieces I want to work with. Never ending…but so much fun!
Love the little denim jacket…it looks so good on blond-haired Sara, and those striped thigh high socks with boots for the fall! I could see her in a print jumper and a plain off-white simple blouse (no collar)…or knee-length culottes and a cotton, basic blouse. Plain colored culottes that would go with the sock stripes, and a print top under the denim jacket…maybe even a cross-body purse. Part of planning each new outfit is just choosing the patterns, fabrics and accessories!
Dear Jeanne, it wasn’t about the buttons, it was about the journey. Think of all of the wonderful items you (re)discovered as you went looking for the buttons. I had fun taking the journey with you. I especially enjoyed looking at the toy box.
Happy November to you and the Sofa Sisters!