Sunday, January 18, 2009

Okay, so I did get the sewing machine out







I think I have worked through the mental problems I was having with my proposal, so next week, I might actually get it done. I hope. Unfortunately, the flux capacitor blew a circuit, so it's never going to be in by Christmas '08.

So that gave me permission to do what I said I was not going to do...get out the sewing machine. I totally love this pumpkin Halloween costume for an 18" doll- and The Grand will too, since she wore one nearly identical when she was 4 (and still remembers it fondly). I am pretty proud of my ingenuity- I needed some black stretchy fabric and could not find any (Wal-Mart is almost the only place within 100 miles that sells fabric, and they're discontinuing it), but I did find a truly ugly black stretchy t-shirt with an even uglier sparkly Christmas Tree embroidery on the front, for $2. I cut it up for the tights and turtleneck (and I can use the Christmas Tree embroidery on a dollie shirt later if I like).

We took a short road trip, so I cast on the cardigan from the Knit and Crochet Fashions for 18" Dolls booklet to knit in the car. The pattern is nicely written (I did something slightly different when putting the front neckline sts on pins, so as not to cut the yarn in an awkward place), and the sweater worked up very well. The front band is crochet, which made for easy buttonholes. I was totally amazed that this sweater took more than a 50gr ball of sportweight yarn (over 110m). I used every inch of the tweedy blue, and had to add a stripe to the sleeves or I would have run out. I'm glad I decided to do contrast ribbing before realizing that I wouldn't have had enough of the blue to make a solid color sweater. The body is knit in a single piece, and assembly was the same as for a full-size sweater. I have no idea how it'll fit because I don't have a doll that size here (may have to remedy that), but it looks to be the proper size.

I tried Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (from Librivox) on the treadmill yesterday, but had to give it up. Each chapter was read by a different person, and the changes were too jarring for me to follow the story well (especially since one of the readers was doing his best imitation of Ben Stein). So I unsubbed from that RSS feed, and am going to try Emma instead. Good or bad, at least that one has a single reader. I love Pride and Prejudice more, and I think Northanger Abbey is the funniest, but Emma is Austen's real work of genius. (Sense and Sensibility is good, Persuasion is her most serious, and Fanny Price is so insipid that I can barely read Mansfield Park, though it has some great individual lines). I'm looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks, sweating with Emma Woodhouse.
(edited to add photos of clothes on doll. Is that a Cute Overload, or what?)

4 comments:

Mary Keenan said...

These clothes are ADORABLE and remind me so fondly of the Barbie clothes my mother sewed for me - the ultimate was the powder blue double-breasted suit (complete with microscopic matching buttons) out of stretch knit polyester. Definitely, old T-shirts are the way to go!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it nice to still be playing with dolls, and dressing them up!!
Mona :)

LizzieHelen said...

Even though I've read Pride and Prejudice numerous times, I just could not get into Mansfield Park; I gave up partway through, somewhere where they were planning theatricals.

Love the little costume! and the sweater!

Allison said...

You've got to be one of the best grandmas ever!