Still Collecting Dolls after all these years...

I watched Encanto, and then found Mirabel at the thrift store, and then I found Luisa. But she had no shoes. I have shoes of many dolls, but the only thing that fit was some too big blue tennis shoes that looked really odd with her dress.  While waiting for my sewing machine part, I decided to try making her shoes. I was inspired by Chelly at chellywood.com who has made shoes. I however didn't use any of her patterns, because there weren't any Luisa's size. 

So I traced around her feet and cut it out of light card stock and glued it to felt and cut it out. It was hard to cut because I was lazy and didn't go get my good shears. But I got it, and then glued felt to the other side of the card stock and cut it out, one left foot and one right foot. 

I then made a loop of felt to go across the top of her foot, and hand stitched it together. They looked really plain so I embroidered with a teensy blanket stitch and a little flower. 

Things I would do differently: 

DON'T be lazy, go get and use good shears. 

I used rather thick felt, it might be easier with lighter felt. 

Make a pattern for the cross piece, and embroider it before assembly. 

Put the loop between the layers of felt. I don't think the card stock was necessary.

Have black elastic thread on hand so I could make a strap to go around the back.

Not bad for the first try. When I get the elastic I will add the strap to these. I will make another pair, maybe red like her original shoes. 

Still sewing after all these years....

Plan. Right now, I am all caught up on yarnish projects. I am not caught up on sewing ones, but one would think that with the amount of sewing machines I have, that ONE OF THEM  would be working properly. Treadle... the head is in a box in the garage. Singer... is in the treadle's case. It is missing the post for the thread. I don't know what else is going on with it. Riccar.... is in the Singer's case, has been having tension issues for a long time and ought to just go out. It is 50 years old. It has had extremely hard use. Maybe I can steal the thread post from it. Or maybe from the treadle? Should I set up the treadle properly ? It is so great for tapestry and denim. I learned to sew on it. Sigh. 

The Brother is actually L's machine, it was having tension problems. I sent the new Singer with her and she moved it to Idaho. It runs, but I hate that it has only one speed, fast. Really hard for sewing doll clothes. The Janome. My favorite by far, but the bobbin case is wearing out,  and I've ordered one but it won't get here for awhile. My little mending machine won't run either. I've made doll clothes on it, but I sure can't figure out what's going on.... So SIX machines, and NONE are in prefect running order. 

GRRRRR.

So, the plan. Investigate the old Singer, see if I can find a thread post on some other machine, preferably the Riccar. Take the Riccar out of the case, see what I can salvage, such as the thread, needle, accessories and such. Put it in the OUT pile. Take the Singer out of the Treadle case and put it back in its own cabinet. Find the treadle head and reassemble. Work for a bit on the mending machine, see if I can get it running. Otherwise, put it OUT with the Riccar. I bought the little thing so I could do mending at my mom's. I don't need it any more, so I have to decide if I care enough to get it running.

Timeline goals... Tonight, look at the mender one more time. If I can't get it running TONIGHT then toss it. Look at the Riccar, see if the post will fit the Singer. If not, see if one can be ordered. If not, let it go. It is also elderly and has had hard use. It was my mom's main machine for many years. 

Sentimental thoughts.... The Treadle was my Grandma Mills' machine. Talk about well used workhorse machine!! It was what I learned to sew on. I even sewed my finger when I was seven. It has made and re-made clothes for my aunts and uncles, my brother, my mom, my dad, me. My mom was an excellent seamstress. It works well for heavy duty fabrics, and made slipcovers for many couches and chairs. Purses. Replacing zippers in jeans. It has a beautiful case, so maybe it is worth restoring. 

The Old Singer. I found it at a yard sale in 1974. It had never been used! It was an early Singer, with a gorgeous cabinet with drawers. I would have kept it, but I had just purchased the Riccar. So I gave it to my mom, and it continued what the treadle had started. 

The Riccar. Before I got married, I had a long time boyfriend and his mom helped me get the Riccar. When I got married (not to her son!) she paid it off as a wedding present. I would have loved to have her as a mother in law, but just didn't think that was a good enough reason to marry her son. That machine sewed my clothes, my kids' clothes, blankets and quilts, mending, shirts for my husband. It was a wonderful machine until it just wore out. Until now, I couldn't bear to let it go. Now I'm ready.

The Janome. I love this machine. I will keep it. The bobbin case is just plain worn out, being a plastic piece. I am hoping that I can just put in the new piece and all will be well. It sounds good, but the bobbin case is just loose, and I think a piece chipped off.

The Mender. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and worked well for ten or so years, probably longer than it was designed to work for. Its bobbin case is also worn, but since it only cost me $20 in the first place, not sure it is worth spending more than that for a part. Not sentimental about it, just haven't dealt with it. It came with a bunch of bobbins, they will fit the Janome. 

The Brother. I need to check with L first, but I think that could just go. It runs, but it is not variable speed, it's fast or nothing, and impossible for doll clothes sewing, which is what I do. Since I gave her my "new" Singer, maybe she will let it go. Will see. 

K already went to bed tonight, as he is recovering from surgery. I took a nap today, due to a 2 am ER visit in the night with him. I am looking forward to recovery and no more emergencies. However, it's only 7 pm so I stole the thread post from the Riccar, to see if it will fit the Singer. That's tonight's goal, to see if I can make the Old Singer run at least until I get the part for the Janome. 

The eventual goal is to only keep the treadle, the old Singer if I can get it running, and the Janome. Riccar can go, mender can go, if I can't get it going, it's useless. I might fix it and see if a grandchild wants to learn how to sew. 

Yarn. I try to let some go, but... at least I have no more hanging projects. I gave up on the socks.  I am so excited to have finished up the UFOs. (Un Finished Objects)

So just a ramble. I don't really think folks read this any more, but it helps to write this stuff down and it helps me prioritize what to do next. Otherwise it just stays "fix sewing machines" and I don't know where to start.