New Look and New Goal

I officially declare this blog a do-over.  Give it a make-over, send it out into the world revamped and renewed.

I am currently working on several projects.  I've finished several more, and am keeping busy with a variety of things.  On the WIP list I have: Condor doll, fleece quilt, and costuming for Faith Strangeways (a traveling faire character).  On the finished list: several more dolls, a gift for my sister, and a small pirate-themed purse.

I am keeping up with the writing: 29k words into it - started almost three weeks ago.  I am also reading: how can I not?  The most recent reading list (in progress) includes: Complete Dorothy Sayers Stories, Cheer Leader (from the 50's), and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (borrowed from my sister).  Two are good and one (Cheer Leader) is silly.

Faire is over for the summer, and I am in some ways glad.  I can relax now - time to have weekends back for a bit.  Catch up on all my projects, spend time with the cat, and just hang out.  It's been brutally hot and humid here - never a good combination - so we've been doing a lot inside recently.  And lots of estate sales.  I've gotten some interesting things, and if I had more room would have gotten even more.  Oh... and we bought wild plums at a farmer's market, and I am going to plant the pits and see if we can grow our own.  That would be cool - and maybe next year or beyond I can make jelly for my dad: he loves plum, and we used to make wild plum jelly every summer.  It's gotten harder to find wild plums on the road side, so we stopped.

So... there's the first update.  This blog will now hopefully be more consistent, about more than JUST the sewing projects - although a lot of it will be that - and more about the misc. other things happening in my life.

So long between postings

And so many projects completed. The topsy-turvy doll is still being completed - the noble half is done, but the peasant half needs her dress still. So, no pics of that yet. And I finished two simple shearling blankets. I'd have pictures, but because it's gotten cold here they are under several layers of bedding.


However... the projects I have completed and have pictures of are here.



This is a fabric basket, made off of a pattern I found online. I am going to try to make a larger version at some point now that I have figured out how to do it. I am also toying with the idea of turning it into a hat - again, slightly larger, but still should be relatively simple. Not that I need another hat, but it would be something else to put on the ever-growing project list. This one was made with silks from Japanese kimonos.




And... wreaths... I need to take better pics and get them posted, but here is the green and gold wreath I made for our door at home. It's a simple project, really - just requires a LOT of ribbon. About 150 yards grand total (could probably get away with 120 yards, but nevertheless, it's a lot of ribbon). The one on the right is the burgundy and gold wreath I made for my Grandmother. She gets a new (or mostly re-made) wreath every year, so I thought I would just make her a new one entirely. I found the inspiration for this online as well, but they used fabric from a ready made roll of matching fabrics (all from one line). I went with wired ribbon instead. Made the cutting go so much faster.





And finally... little Emma. She is a doll of my current faire character. Next season I will have an outfit that more closely matches this one, as I found brown silk at a garage sale for a dollar a yard. Fifteen dollars later, I am happy as I can be!






The TRF day trip was LONG but enjoyable. We are planning all sorts of mayhem for next year, and I am looking forward to it immensely. And Dust is done - the first draft, anyway, and being edited by several people. I am 50k into a novel that should be only 75k - so may have the first draft done by the end of the month, if I am good. Mind you, that means writing over 4k words every day, but we shall see.... It's called Two Corbies. Fantasy, but not my usual.

Changes and Whatnot

So... deleting several things off the project list as un-doable right now. There's not much point in making a big fancy outfit to wear at TRF one day. And only one day. So I am not going to. I will cobble together something from the bits and pieces I have... after all, it's a shopping trip and time to hang out with friends as much as anything. So. No phoenix outfit this year.

But... I do want to see what the outfit would look like, so I will do a doll version. Because, as usual, I need another project. *sheesh*

And because one idea spawns another, now I have 2 phoenix dolls on my list.

But the beading on the bodice is coming along nicely.

Another doll

So the party is tomorrow, but today's post is about another doll. This one is for someone I've never met, but I had a picture and descriptions to work with. Apparently it turned out very close to the person in question, so... here's Winifred.

She's a Pettyjohn - a daughter of the Scarborough tax collector. From what I know, she's the 'good girl.' I hope that the woman who played her likes her poppet.

Tonight I will try to update again to show my new bed... story about it later.

More updates

More sewing done.

This time - dolls. Gypsy dolls. The adult has bells in his stuffing, so he jingles when he's moved. I only intended to do him, but the others were just too cute not to do. He's a gypsy storyteller - all I need to do is embroider his vest with various motifs. Most of the clothing is hand-stitched, and the patterns for the little dolls were bodged together based on larger patterns. Seemed to work out reasonably well.

The other completed project - a dress for the wedding of friends. It's a Claire McCardell 1940's pattern, and worked out better than I had expected, in all honesty. It looks pretty darned good on me, as well. Now all I have to do is come up with jewelry and a 1940's hairstyle!

The pic doesn't do it justice, really. It's floor length and drapey... very nice. And flattering, which is a nice change for me and dresses! All it lacks is a hook-and-eye for the back and I am completely done with it. Yay!

Next up, working on the Bento Box quilt and other dolls. Probably. Except working with Donna to finish her dress for the wedding.

Right.. updates

So, between being sick as a dog and faire and all... I've been busy. Mostly being sick. But... it's almost all gone, and faire is over, so I can make time for posting again!

There are a LOT of updates to be had: my project list has changed dramatically - added more, finished some, and so on. And we've decided to add a fence to the garden-to-be, and are using pallets to make the fence. Means staining the pallets as we get them. I would do some today, but it just rained, so no staining today.

This one might just be picture heavy, so be warned. I've done a lot recently.

The octopus for the child of friends. He's made of blue/black tafetta, so his color shifts. He will stand up on his eight legs, too, thanks to a little rice in the tips. I may add eyes to him. He looks like he is blowing a kiss. The pattern is adapted from Runi, who makes absolutely fabulous little stuffies!

The metallic pillow. It was a test for another project, and did not turn out like I wanted, but I like the look, so it became a pillow. It's stuffed with pieces of fabric - heavy, but comfy. Three layers of silk dupioni in copper, silver, and gold. It's like a D&D gamer's favorite pillow - all the monies you could need!

After seeing Johanna, other people decided they wanted a poppet of their characters. So, the ones I have completed so far are: Katherine Boothe, the town crier, in blues, and Ellie Chandler, the candle maker's daughter, in the yellows. Like Johanna, each of them comes with their own set of accessories: a bell for the crier and candles for Ellie. Although the picture doesn't show it, Ellie's hat is singed and burnt, like the original's.

A cat hat for a newborn. There are three others to go with this, all in various shades. Now all I have to do is find a time and way to get them to the kid.

These are not the only things I've done, but they are all I am going to post right now. I have also completed a new skirt for myself at faire (a circle and a half, very swirly), a poppet for my character (who needs the new skirt still), finished cutting out the pieces of the Bento Box quilt I am working on, and started on a dress for the reception of a friend's wedding: it's to be a masquerade ball, which means I need to find my mask. And think about hair styles. And there's more... but right now I can't think.

The test vest

As I mentioned before, I've finished the test vest for the diagonal stitch lines. I don't like it as much, but we shall see. It's hard to see here, since the slashes haven't opened up as much - lighter material and fewer washings. But... on the whole, I like the original better.

So, on to the next projects: the Emma Dare doll and the Character Camp Rug #2.

Johanna doll

Johanna is the character played at faire by my friend Donna. I decided to make a doll of her because a - it looked like fun, and b - the custom dolls by the dollmaker at faire start at $80 and go up from there. So... here's Johanna!

I've also finished a test vest - much like the previous slashed vests, but stitched on the diagonal. I don't think I like it as much, but I will post pics tomorrow.

Update

I hate being sick. Period. Coughing, fever, etc. Seems like I can't shake it for any great length of time. Stayed in bed all day yesterday.

On the moderately plus side, that meant I got to work on Donna's Johanna doll (Johanna is her faire character). The doll is complete, and the clothes are almost complete. She'll have red bloomers, blue and black skirts, a black chemise, and the yellow tabard. All topped off with the black hat. I should be able to finish her garb today, and give her tabard over for painting.

Then I might start on an Emma doll for myself (Emma being my faire character). Maybe. It depends on how I feel.

Right now, that's not very good. Think I am going back to bed now.