Other Stuff, but mostly SPOONFLOWER!!!!!

Alco had a sale on Patriotic Fat Quarters, so I decided to make 4th of July outfits for the Grandgirls' dolls.

The shortie tops are lined, with a self ruffle. I'm pleased and the girls were delighted. All of the pattern pieces fit on a single fat quarter (including the top lining), which worked out perfectly, with very few scraps left over.

And I finished the handspun hat, which goes with the handspun fingerless mittens. They go in the Christmas pile.

But the best thing is that my Spoonflower fat quarter with the original design color/cut/sew 18" doll outfit arrived this morning! I could not be more pleased- the design printed perfectly on the fabric, which is a nice quality quilting cotton. The pieces came out exactly the size I needed them to be, so I know that the skirt, vest and bag will fit the dolls the way I want them to. It is so cool to see my own design on fabric- I can't wait to design more.

And best of all, the markers don't bleed on the fabric much, which means that the girls can color their outfits without too much trouble. The thinner lines on the left are Sharpie pens, which did bleed just a tinch. The wider lines on the right are highlighter markers and there is almost no bleed with them. In either case, the nice fat, dark outlines should keep the colors separate pretty well. I was going to redesign the coloring graphics since I'm more familiar with a vector program now, but you know what? There's nothing wrong with these geometric shapes. They'll be easy and fun to color.

I need to add a few notations to the design instructions (to color the pieces before cutting, and that 1/4" seam allowances have already been added to the pieces, and to color on a protected surface since the markers can bleed through the fabric to whatever is below), but I think it's mostly ready to go. I doubt if anyone will actually want one of these, but I'll make it for sale on Spoonflower just in case (my designer name there is GrammaK). Just so you'll know, in addition to the fat quarter, you'll also need lining fabric for the vest and purse, a bit of velcro (or a snap or a button), and 12" of ribbon for the purse handle.

Speaking of Spoonflower- my apron design is almost done, and I am pretty happy with it. Every time I work in Inkscape, I learn more about the program. The learning curve is steep but I'm plugging away.

P.S. FYI: I don't make any money from sales through Spoonflower if anyone orders a fat quarter, though as a designer, I get a 10% credit toward future purchases.

P.S.S. I made the revisions, and the design is listed- here is the link  Should you be tempted to order a fat quarter, be sure to click *centered* for the design orientation

Sparkly Socks, and Stashbusting

I am on a stashbusting mission- there is yarn in every room of my house, except for the bathroom (and some days, there's yarn in there too). I need to use up some of the yarn I already have, before I buy more.

To that end, I have been knitting with leftovers (the Hitchcock Sweater), and stuff that I bought but forgot, including these wonderful yarns that I picked up last summer in Portland, at Yarnia.

Yarnia is a unique store- it's crammed top to bottom with fine yarns on cones in all colors, sizes and fiber contents. You choose the colors and blends you like, and the folks there will wind them together for you on a cone. The combinations are endless, and the colors are intoxicating, and the yarn is cheap (I don't think either of the above cones cost more than $10, and both have/had enough yarn to knit a pair of socks).

This yarn consists of 5 strands of very fine yarn- ice blue, darker blue, green, yellow, and metallic green sparkle (I'm a sucker for The Sparkly). The combined strands look like they're slightly heavier than heavy fingering weight, but they knit up like worsted weight. I used my general worsted weight sock formula (size 5 needles, 48 sts), and a simple texture (K 3 rnds, next rnd: K3, P1 around) to make the sparkle pop.

This yarn feels slightly thinner than the green above. It's 3 strands: cream wool, peach wool, green metallic sparkle (as I said, sucker for the sparkles). But it blooms nicely, and I'm knitting it with the same pattern as the green sparkle socks.

One caveat about this yarn- it's the definition of *splitty*. It's very easy to lose a strand, especially the metallic one. And no matter how carefully you unwind, one of the strands will eventually end up either being too short or too long. It's not a major problem (either cut the other strands and tie them on again, or cut the long one and do the same), but it does happen at regular intervals (say, every 3" in the knitted fabric).

And- I didn't write down the fiber content of these yarn combos, which  means that while they might be totally superwash, I can't vouch for it, so the socks will have to be hand washed.

Here's another stashbuster- a doll sweater using only leftover sock yarn bits and pieces (and despite the way it looks in the pic- the bottom front edges do line up properly. The buttonholes stretch the ribbing out). (Note to Self: next time, make fewer buttonholes). You wouldn't think so, but one of these sweaters (knit on size 3 needles) takes more yarn, and more time than a sock. But it's oh so cute, and more than worth the time and effort.

See- they do line up...  (once again, note the sparkle)

Rather Random Friday

I wandered around yesterday in a Post Finale haze. Between Lost and American Idol, my brain was/is fried, and I forgot all about the Thursday Tab. Sorry about that- by next week, my synapses should reboot.

So today's post is just sort of random things I'd meant to talk about but also forgot.

Many of you non-Midwesterners might not know what a Cottonwood tree does when it blooms.

Looks just like snow, doesn't it? The air fills with this stuff, it gets in your nose and eyes and air conditioner vents, and everywhere else it can travel on the wind (and here in South Dakota, the wind is everywhere). Luckily, I am not allergic- those who are, suffer mightily. And even more lucky- the big cottonwood tree in our yard is cottonless.

Here are the finished vinyl tablecloth raincoats for the 18" dolls. They look adorable, but the cloth itself is not sturdy enough to hold up to actual play (something I didn't discover until it was too late). It tears at the seams, and makes excited girls very unhappy (not to mention Grandmas who spent a couple of days sewing these things). I guess the lesson is to reject any tablecloth that feels stiff. The red gingham one is holding up just fine, and that cloth was a little more thick and flexible (despite being manufactured by the same company- same brand, same price, same store).

Surf's Up!

No title for this outfit, I just thought it was cute.

Note to Blogspot: please please please get the #$%&*# formatting fixed. I am very very tired of wrestling with the placement of each and every damn photo. It worked just fine up until last month- I want it back.

Sweater Name, and More Slickers

I'm nearly done with the sleeves on the leftover yarn bird sweater- the blue/brown border will take me to the proper length, so I can bind off, and cut them apart. I'll be sure to take pics. Then it'll just be a matter of making the sweater body long enough, which will involve 2 or 3 more bird borders.

Thanks to blog reader Mary Wilson- we have a name for the sweater:

Hitchcock

heh...

I spent some time sewing more American-Girl slickers yesterday. I used a different flannel-backed vinyl table cloth and I'm not nearly as happy with the results. Though both this one and  the red gingham cloth were made by the same manufacturer, same size, same price, same store, the stripey one is stiffer and more fragile. The fabric tears more easily and I am worried about how well these coats will hold up under normal little-girl dollie play. But they're far too fiddly to discard, or to start over, and I need 3 or none, so I'll forge ahead.

It's still pretty cute, and I am impressed with my own arty fabric cutting, which makes 3 coats (I'll finish the last today) cut from the same fabric, all look different. I am not so impressed with the fact that I couldn't get the stripes to line up properly on one of them. Oh well.

Four Girls, Four Dolls

One happy Grandma.

Adorable little jumpers and matching sandals. The sandals are made from glittery peel 'n stick foam sheets, hair scrunchies, and decorative buttons.

aaaawwwwww

Is this not the cutest thing in the world? A raincoat slicker and hat made from a flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth. The detailing in the pattern is a hoot. It's from one of the official American Girl Patterns (for Molly).

I have 3 more sets to sew. I could probably get all 4 from one light, cheapo, vinyl table cloth, but I bought one with bright stripes too. They're the perfect weight for this- heavy enough to hold up as a doll coat, light enough for the details and top-stitching. Such fun.

Doll Clothes and the Folk Design Book

I've had several inquiries about the Charted Folk Designs for Cross-Stitch Embroidery book that I talked about yesterday- the one with 278 charts of Ancient Folk Embroideries from the countries along the Danube, by Maria Foris and edited by Andreas Foris. The Dover book is, as I suspected, out of print. But I did find a listing of copies for sale, ranging from $11-$90. Before you go and order one, here's the drill on the book: it's paperback, the charts are small and crammed many to a page. It would be nearly impossible to work from any of the charts without re-drawing them, both larger and more accurately (some pages, the printing is off a bit, so the squares overlap a little). And it's printed in just 2 colors: black and red. But there are 77 pages of wonderful designs (all copyright free- Dover just asks that you credit them if you use one of the charts, and that you don't use more than 10 charts in any single project). Despite the shortcomings, I would be very sad if I lost my copy.

So, I spent some time sewing yesterday. Voracious Reader has discovered American Girl-style dolls (a couple of years later than her cousins). I had some time this weekend to expand Emily's wardrobe (she of the quilt I made last week).

This flannel print makes me think of this song. It was great fun to make this matching jammies, bathrobe and slippers.

Also this *fur* jacket with the real separating zipper. (and the uneven hem, as I just now noticed)

and the shirt made from one of my old t-shirts, and foam sandals...

and this leopard print felt backpack with a real working zipper.

I think Emily will be pleased.

P.S. I didn't do a lot of knitting last night because I was too busy weeping my way through the latest Lost episode.