Hi everyone,
I was given riding mower lessons today. It’s kind of sad to say that in the 22 years we have lived at our house, I have never once used our riding lawn mower. My hubby just always did it… so why did I need to know how to? Well, today was my turn to give it a try. Our yard is kind of bumpy right now with mole hills and gum balls in one section of the yard and today was only the 4th week of his post-surgery recovery time, so with 2 weeks left before he is supposed to do anything strenuous, I was the fill-in grass cutter today. I think I did okay… he said I did. He even took a few videos of me, but I forgot to get them off his phone. I’m sure he can take them again. It was really nothing to see… but I was very glad to help. The grass in some places was 10″ high! EEK!
Now, in the sewing department, I was able to decide on a print for Yu Ping’s first dress… her debut dress! It’s a pretty pink and there is enough to make Ten Ping a dress as well, if I have time, or even at a later time.
It’s just a simple dress right now, but I’ll spruce it up a little bit somehow… You can think about it over the weekend… maybe I’ll do what you are thinking of. :o)
How about some pictures?
Remember, she’s only 5 1/2″ tall. That’s from the tip of my middle finger to the middle of my palm. She is VERY tiny to sew for… but I did it…
The fabric is a very bright pink, floral cotton print. She looks good in the color, but I’m debating about using a water color pencil and making her lips a little more defined. Maybe….
She needs to be photographed outside because her skin is sort of pale. She does have pink cheeks though.
Here is a closeup of the dress… so far…
Her little tiny feet are crying out for some pink shoes… I think I can pull that off…
These are the little blue shoes she came with. They are about an inch long.
I found these in some shoes I had in my stash. I made them, but they are the wrong style and color…
I found these little tan boots I had made years ago, (actually out of kid leather glove Kathie had sent me) She sent me 5 or 6 single gloves because she knew tiny little shoes didn’t use much.
I hope to get more done over the weekend… but I’ve still got yard duty to finish up as well.
Bye everyone,
Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you Monday!
Blessings, Jeanne
Yu Ping’s dress turned out really nice, Jeanne. I don’t know that I would add any trim–it could easily overwhelm such a tiny garment–unless the trim is exceptionally tiny. A delicate narrow lace tucked under the hem would work or the smallest sized rickrack. But, really, the fabric is good by itself.
Yes, I think pink shoes would work really well with her dress. And maybe a little white or very pale pink felt jacket or purse, with a bit of deeper pink embroidery?
Jeanne, you mean you were out riding on the lawnmower in the 93 degree heat yesterday? It was truly a hot one, and we stayed inside air conditioning watching the Cardinals home opener! We won! Al least I got some grass planted before it got too hot out there!
Well, kudos to you for making such a TINY little dress and doing such a good job on it. I mean, that scooped neckline is just perfect, and the stitching perfectly straight!
I wouldn’t go to a lot of trouble adding g anything much to it, and like Charlotte mentioned, a little felt jacket would be cute, and pink shoes too!
Oh she is adorable, what a cute dress for her! YuPing is like Thumbelina! I love her, what a face 🥰 This dress is really cute. I love the color. Perfect. She looks so cute! Yes, she will need some “shooz”. Oh my, or a little hat. I still remember my girls wearing their Easter hats, secured on their heads with an elastic band haha so cute. Lizzie’s was always a bit crooked.
This tiny sewing is very cute.
The mowing, well done Jeanne. I am so happy you are riding that mower. It is kind of like riding a car… and you do have to sort of focus haha, I think I would try that out now because there are very few bugs flying around. I am sure George is getting kind of bored being on light duty only. I hope he is feeling pretty good though, and recovering nicely.
We have pouring rain this morning. I think it is going to be 60″s but it is dreary.
Rex and I are hoping to go to the old house this week end and do some cleaning and sorting.
As you can imagine, we are not on fire any more, okay, we will go. The great thing is I can bring my cell phone and play XM classical music with my phone in my pocket, and I can always switch over to POPs. I am grateful for XM radio 😆
It is Friday again! Just crazy, and almost April! Crazy!
I cut out a few little goslings. I have not done any sewing, I might get a few minutes in this week-end but we have resigned ourselves to focus on the old house! Hanging on to that thing is getting ridiculous. It needs a good happy new family and it is a superb piece of property, but I will be thinking about sewing all week-end.
Thank you all of you for your enthusiasm for the gooses. They are silly and cute. I know I do not have enough “fiber fill” but (oh gosh do you remember stuffing things with old stockings?)
here in Northern Virginia, we live in the land of plenty, so I will do some internet price shopping. I do like to support Hobby Lobby.
All of you are such great friends. I hope all of you have a delight filled day, and a pleasant week-end.
I had to laugh when you mentioned using old stockings to stuff things. It reminded me of my mom because she always saved her old nylons for me. I used them to tie up my roses and grapevines all of the time, and I’m about out. Their natural color fades into the background and becomes invisible. Do they still make them? I haven’t worn even pantihose in years. 🙂
Yes, pantyhose are still made. I wear them to church under my dresses or skirts. I do wear tights in the winter and sandals in the summer without hose.We always save the ones with runs for tomato plants etc. My favorite pantyhose were the various patterned ones I wore as teen. I had to look that up and yes, they still make patterned ones as well.
Tks Laura. I haven’t seen them for sale anywhere in a long time. Good to know. 🙂
Here’s another vote for pantihose. I wear dresses to church, and, thus, pantihose. And, like you, Laura, I remember the patterned hose we wore when we were young women. Such fun!! I had white ones with a red/white candy stripe up the back, for Christmas, I think back in the 70s or 80s. I remember wearing them for square dancing at Christmastime, too. And in the 70s, when we were first married, I had some knee-high thin socks (I think they called them “pant socks”, that were practically psychedelic, which my husband referred to as my “communion socks”!! (Knowing I would Never wear them or slacks to church….) 😂
yes, panty hose. I loved panty hose compared to those horrid nylon stockings that used to run if you just looked at them wrong!
In my nursing days, we used to have to wear white hose at the hospital and we had to wear our nursing hats, which had to be pinned on your head with bobby pins, horrible. Anyway, I did not work at a hospital for that many years, I moved on to an orthopedic surgery practice. Best job ever
Other person’s mother was a nurse too. She eventually became director or nurses at our local hospital. And that hat was very special to her even though it had to be pinned on. And her white uniforms that she pressed and had hanging up all ready to wear. Memories. 🙂
I still have lots of panty hose that belonged to my mom. I use them to save my Vidalia onions. You put the onions in the hose and tie knots between each one so they don’t touch each other. Then you hang the onion/hose in a dark place. When you want one you cut under a knot. They will last a long time.
That sounds like a great use of those panty hose. Have you seen how some used to braid the tops and hang them? Interesting. 🙂
I wish you lived closer. I could give you a ton of old stockings from when I was younger and didn’t have trouble putting them on. I finally got around to cleaning out my hosiery drawer. They are all washed and ready to go but I don’t do anything that requires them and I don’t know if Goodwill will take them even if I put a note on them saying they are for stuffing.
Pink perfection, Jeanne, so sweet. You must have tiny fingers to make that tiny dress. I know you will add some pink shoes and other things when you aren’t riding the mower. I am proud of you for doing that! I know George must be very tired of having to wait to be able to do things. He is such a great worker!
We have a day off from anywhere to go so I will be busy upstairs and may even get something on the Kish dolls facebook page to sell. Today is a sunny day and will go up into the eighties. Hope y’all have good weather and a good weekend.
Dear Jeanne, well you have mastered yet another skill! Yeaaa! I am not surprised. You can do anything to which you set your mind.
The little pink dress is so cute. I am sure you will figure out how to make shoes for her.
In 5 days it will be Maypril!
I’m so proud of Jeanne’s new business. Yard Mowing by Jeanne Marie! I’m sure that she will be in great demand all over Carbondale. 🙂 I hope that George can send the pics to her because I would absolutely love to see her flying across the tundra making those crop circles. 🙂 Good job Jeanne and teacher George.
Oh, YuPing is adorable in pink. I wouldn’t touch her lips as they do pick up the pink from the dress. I think some simple Mary Jane type shoes would be cute since the dress is long. It will be a lovely spring party dress for her. Maybe a little corsage type grouping of flowers to the side of the waist? And one of those cute fabric small tie on hats like from the 50’s to top off the outfit? If Jeanne has any tall grass left, Yu could be posed standing in the green grass which would reflect her diminutive size. A kind of lost in the jungle look. 🙂 And I’m sure that everyone knows that Yu Ping has a twin brother Shan. Maybe Jeanne might make a pair or simple shorts for him and a top or vest? Maybe a pink shirt and a tie and shorts in another color? I think twin outfits would be fun and so perfect for spring and summer. Boys can wear pink. 🙂
One of my old plastic yard cans is about toast. My favorite one too. It’s brown and kind of fades into the landscape. First, one of the handles broke off, and now, the bottom is ready to go completely too, as it is only partly attached. Such is the life of a plastic can. Sad. I did manage to fill another can yesterday though, until the mosquitoes decided to attack. I probably mentioned this before, but they aren’t from any standing water in our yard. They are oak tree dwellers. Any oak with a hole is a perfect spot to catch water and become a haven for the creatures. Even the bug spray didn’t help much. But, I am almost done with one of the beds and will be back into the gravel soon. And since we have rain expected, we hope, next week, that should help to loosen up the roots of what is established there.
Looks like another nice day, so after a walk, I’ll be back to the yard. Our local hardware store is having a garden sale this weekend. I would love to get some things planted, but not until I can be assured that the mint and blackberry won’t return. We’ll see. 🙂
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
We have two such dilapidated yard trash cans at the old house. The trash guys really handle them roughly, but I guess also you should not fill them heavily. Either case, these cans are near the end of their usefulness.
Our mowers (at the other house) filled a half a can this morning.
Hubbs and I spent a couple of hours at the old house moving stuff around
and then I went for a quick trip to the store for milk and bananas.
It is quite cold and breezy this afternoon. very dark sky too! The temp reads 45º but it feels really cold.
Glad your trash can is holding up and that you were able to mow at the other house. Maybe you can work on more geese this weekend. 🙂
I love boys in pink. Boys seem to have wonderful complexions for it. One year I had us wear pink and gray for our family picture. My dress was gray with a pink collar, my daughter and stepdaughters had on pink dresses and David and the boys had gray slacks with pink shirts. It’s one of my favorite family pictures. My daughter is a blonde and always has been. When she was little she could wear any color because her skin was not fair. While shopping for a dress for her one day I realized she could wear white very well and even black, but when I put a black and white dress on her it as awful. Never figured out quite why but I definitely didn’t buy that dress and it was beautiful. Sorry about your favorite can nearing its demise.
Oh your gray/pink combos for a photo sound wonderful. And thanks on the yard can. 🙂
How fast you were able to put together a sweet little dress! How about a felt cape? No sleeves to fit such tiny arms. Ruby Red Galleria made a tiny 4.5” doll “Honee-B” some of the capes, shawls, shoes and accessories are cute being more fairy inspired. Funny how sewing for such tiny dolls takes more time, patience and thinking outside the box. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
Riding mowers are fun. I used ours a number of times as a young teen when we lived on 1 1/2 acres. We also had a very long driveway to plow during the winter. Good experience driving before a real car. I learned to use a regular push mower at 13 when we first moved. Both my dad and grandfather knew it was an important skill to have. I can also still remember being taught to pump gasoline by my grandfather at maybe 10. back then there was still full and self serve and my grandfather thought it was nuts that someone would pay someone else to pump his gasoline. I also am grateful he taught me how to use various tools (hand and power) in his workshop just as he taught my mom. She has even installed new light fixtures over the years.
Yesterday was in the high 60’s and today we are back in the 30s.
What a cute little pink dress and congrats on your new doll, Jeanne.
Laura, I remember at university one of my papers was the sociology of work. We learned that efficiency in the workplace was making customers do the work! Even more noticeable nowadays. When Sam and Kai do the shopping they scan the items then pay without using a worker at all. Nowadays we can do the same at the pump. I needed gas one evening and the only gas station near me was closed but there was a pay machine there. So gas with no one there at all.
Rosemary, I had an appt at the hearing clinic yesterday morning so no time to really comment. Your geese are very cute. I am sure your grandkids will love them. Poor Northland got flooding again Thursday. One house had just been fixed and repainted from the last flooding in January and they were flooded out again. The biggest natural hazard in NZ is landslides. The ground in general is very unstable because there is a lot of earthquake activity, even though we don’t feel most of it. When there is a lot of rain it makes the ground even worse. 8 people died in landslides in the last heavy rain, two were in a house that slid with the land and 6 were in a shower/toilet block at a campsite where they were on holiday.
Joy, we will be weeding next weekend getting the ground ready for the winter. We need some hard landscaping done but it isn’t in the budget at the moment.
Jeanne, your skills never cease to amaze me. Now you are adding riding mowing to your resume! I don’t even own a lawnmower!
Yu Pin is so tiny, I can’t imagine trying to sew for anything that small, Her little dress is so cute. I can’t wait to see what else you come up with.
Have a great day everyone
thank you Anne. I hope your house has not suffered too much from the rain and mud. Just terrible news for those that have suffered!
Your story of the landslides reminds me of some I’ve read from California. It’s so sad to hear some of them. Here in Texas when Central Texas had the horrible flooding last July 4th an RV park was washed away. People were there celebrating the 4th and went to bed but were gone in the morning. The worst part was there were a lot of weather warnings but people did not heed them.
Did you hear that the camp where all of the girls were washed away has been doing renovations and wants to reopen. Not sure that is a good idea.
I see something on it every day. The parents who lost children at that camp are suing to try to make sure that doesn’t happen. The little girl from Bellville, Virginia Hollis, who lost her life in the flood would have celebrated her 9th birthday last week. Her family held a big celebration in her honor and the attendees participated in coloring a huge mural that represented pictures they found among her things. She loved art. A woman artist created the mural and then all who wanted to, all ages, got to be involved in coloring it.
I think YuPing’s dress is perfect as is. Maybe something cute for her hair and, of course, shoes, but I think you’re good to go on the dress. Beautiful fabric.
Well I finally went and did it. Meadow Bailey can no longer get away. I took advantage of the Preorder for Moppet Bailey and I’m so excited. Glad they have layaway. She won’t be here for quite a while though, since this is just the beginning of the Preorder. I despaired of ever welcoming her into our home. She has always been one of my favorites. I’m sure her cousin Dumpling Lolla will be delighted to have another member of her family to visit with.
Oh congrats on Moppet Bailey. She will be so much fun. And there are lots of Moppet patterns out there so she can have a cute wardrobe awaiting her arrival. 🙂
Thanks! Already have been browsing and picked a few patterns and they are totally cute. I bought the “fair” Bailey, and I love the wig they have on her in the picture but I haven’t looked at any wigs yet so still up in the air. And the eyes will be random so I won’t do anything in that area until she arrives.