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.

UFO assessment

Just re reading some posts, trying to figure out when I started the rectangular blue afghan that I found deep in the closet. To my shame, 2015. I guess when my dad died, I shoved it in the closet. 

Well I've been working on it in the evenings, and it's getting there. Right now, it's 36x44. If I add another 5 rows, or six if I do an edging, then it will be about 40x48 or so. I guess that will be a good lapghan size... I do not, however, know why I was making it, or who I was making it for. I didn't realize it was there, I don't really remember it. I kind of vaguely remember buying the yarn, I think I was with my daughter and son in law. But did I have a recipient in mind? Don't know. I do know that was a time of life I was kind of on autopilot. I was spending weeks at my parents' place, trying to take care of them when I really should have had them both move to assisted living. Hindsight is 20/20 though, can't go back. It's hard to do self care when you are caring for everyone else. 

The trouble with cleaning out to the very bottom of that closet.... so much I don't know how to deal with. All of Mom's quilts. All well worn and well loved. All need patching. Not in good enough condition to donate. BUT..... how can I just toss them in the trash??? 

I did let go of more of mom's clothes. Only took me almost 5 years.

So one UFO almost done, maybe a couple more days of evening crochet. 

One day at a time.

January musing.

Usually I try to have some kind of goals for the year. I'm not going to do that this year. I am just going to call them "hopes" and not "goals"

The next word I think of after hopes is "dreams". I'm feeling to old for this sort of thing, when my goal seems to be Get Up sometime today, do what you can, and then Go To Bed. My energy level is really low and I was hoping it was from the medication I got to quit a couple weeks ago. But... still low, although slightly improved. 

And so my mental state qualifies as "depressed". Both my parents lived to their 90s so I was hoping to at least 80s. But I barely started 70s. 

I don't talk to people enough. This pandemic has made it far worse, because I have always had to push myself to be out there and now I have no energy. 

So. My hopes and dreams are to regain energy and strength, climb out of the depression hole, and get stuff done. I did get all the dishes washed and most of the Christmas decorations put away. The tree is still up, the wonderful porcelain houses, and the lights/ Tomorrow is the 6th so it's all good. I think January's theme is a snowy village and some snow men. And one angel candleholder. 

It's colder tonight. Possibly a brush of frost. I covered the vulnerable ones. I can't believe I harvested 8 tomatoes yesterday. That's in its own little greenhouse with hopes that it at least stays alive this winter. I did forget to put a hot water bottle in there, so hopefully it won't be TOO bad. 

It helps just to write and I need to do that more. I'm hoping for some pictures of finished doll clothes in the next day or two. Hoping. Dreaming. They are on the list. But I must still be gentle with myself. I'm sure that Granddaughter A would like these clothes soon though. Before she grows up LOL

It's been a tough few years....

Everybody has tough times, that's true. 

Not all of us deal with them well. I haven't, for sure. One of my favorite things is writing. I always have this compulsion to DOCUMENT. And yet, my last post was in 2021.

To be fair, my computer died, and I couldn't figure out a good way to do this on my phone. So I'm way behind. I'm not going to try to catch up, just keep going. I've been working to get my computer going again, and it is doing pretty well but needs a new battery. It would be nice to get a whole new computer, but I don't use it a lot, so can't really justify it. I also need a new phone, but I've been putting that off too. 

Getting old isn't fun. It's a little scary. New physical stuff showing up, and having to take medication that my body doesn't agree with. I don't think my mind does, either, because I'd rather stay young LOL

Still collecting dolls.  Still crocheting occasionally. Still sewing. Still decluttering. 

Found this little sweetie in a thrift store, and today. I found another girl in the series, but she has clothes. This one has molded pants but no top. She is from Mattel, Spirit Untamed Lucky Prescott Horse Rider. I didn't know it at the time. Since then, I've been looking for a horse for her, and found one today. 

I have all these goals to make clothes but so far haven't made a lot. 

This beauty comes new a MESS and then you're supposed to fix her. She was in a thrift store mostly cleaned. She's from Moose Toys, called Failfix 2Dreami. She's about 8 inches tall.

These two are Paradise Kids. They are 10 inches tall, and also have horses, but I have not tried them on any horses I have. 

The company has discontinued their 18 inch dolls, or at least are currently out of stock. The one on the left is not wearing her original shoes. One of my other dolls has these awesome tennis shoes and they sort of fit her. 

Currently I'm sewing for my granddaughter's 18 inch doll, My Life as Estella. She's pretty. I got one too, so I could do fittings with her (great excuse for another doll, LOL!!!)

(pictures soon)

Granddaughter M. requested LOL OMG Surprise doll clothes, and they were very interesting since they are shaped very interestingly, like a normal person. (pictures soon)

These four are recent additions from the thrift store. The ones on each end are LOL OMG dolls. 

The one left middle is from a TV show I don't remember and the middle right is another of the Mattel Untamed Spirit series.  

 

Funny, it's kind of like learning how to do this again. Hopefully I will keep it up. 

Is Marie Kondo helpful to you? Is there a method that works for you?

The Marie Kondo Method works for a lot of people. Not for me. Everything sparks joy. Those maracas that D. brought me back from Mexico. The stocking repair kit that was my grandma's. The afghan that L. made me (as well as the mittens, and the scarf to match my coat) The boom box K. bought me before we got married.  

I don't actively use any of those. I haven't played percussion anywhere in many years. I don't wear silk stockings. I live in a place now where I don't use scarves, or mittens. The afghan sits on the couch with all the other afghans made by people, or by me, and we rarely need them. Who needs a boom box when we have a phone/computer? 

And yet, they spark joy. I doubt if any of my clothes spark joy. They are just body covers, and I am not immensely attached to any of them, except maybe the jeans that were L's, or the ones that got an ink stain on them when I visited when T. was born... or the dress I wore for The Summer of Weddings but haven't worn since... a couple of my dad's shirts. Some of my mom's clothes. 

BUT..... they are not doing anyone any good sitting in a box that I get them out and look at them once in awhile.

And books. Books are... well, like the ability to time travel!  Books are not just a rectangle of paper and leather or whatever the cover is made of. No, no... they are precious like gold and I have a lot of them.  I have let some go, then found myself buying them again because I wanted them. 

BUT.... who is reading them? I read some of them again and again. But what good is it when they are just sitting on a shelf with nobody actually using them?

I've watched enough of Hoarders (mainly to keep me in line, reminding me that for the grace of God go I) to know that I don't exactly have a healthy attitude where "stuff" is concerned. I want to keep it all.. I know that  Letting THINGS go is not letting go of the PERSON. Some of my attachments are silly, like the stained jeans, although I happen to be wearing them at the moment. I guess if I use them that's ok!! 

 Do we NEED family heirlooms?? All I do is look at that dresser, and say, yes, it was from the Civil War, it has been handed down for generations. Is it valuable? I don't know. Does it matter? I also have a desk from the Linton side of the family, that was also from the Civil War. My grandpa had it in his basement full of comic books, and I admired the desk and he said "that old thing?" and he gave it to me. I use it every day. It's just a plain hand made desk, but somehow it sparks joy in a way the fancier Cody Dresser does not.   It is in my garage, which has a poor record for protecting anything, things get ruined there. It is now at the bottom of a pile. At least it is on 2 x 4s and not directly on the floor. Still, I really want it out of there, but there is no where in the house to put it. 

And then the fabric. I want to keep it all. I have so much it is shameful. I need to let it go. But there were plans!!! And when I left the quilt store she gave me a bonus, $400. The catch is that it was $400 worth of fabric! 

BUT.... will it be USED? Do I have enough years left to finish the projects? No.

Sometimes I dream of moving into a small RV. HA. I'd have to rent a storage shed for my stuff. 

I keep thinking of how free I will feel when I am done de-hoarding. But it's such a slow process, and I don't know if I can let anyone help. 

Here's a little sample. A bag, a few fabric scraps. Easy peasy. Out. A card from one of my daughters in law. Another card from a different daughter in law. A list I made in January of the people I knew that died last year. There were eight on the list, and I know there were more. A Happy Thanksgiving card, and I never send them.  A card from my late sister in law. By now I'm crying, gratitude for my daughters in law, sorrow at losing my sister in law, who was on that list last year. Then I look at the fabric, and wonder what that was for, maybe I should keep it? It does have cool texture. I made a purse out of this stuff a few years ago and there is enough for more. A couple note pads, one wrinkled, but I smooth it out. 

So ten minutes go by and I have made NO actual decisions. Does everything spark joy? The cards from my loved ones  do. The card from my sister in law sparks memories. Joy is not the only criteria. Nor can it be the final. ALL fabric sparks joy. As does paint, ink, paper, yarn, embroidery floss, dolls, little owl figurines, nativity scenes. BOOKS. My mother in law's old cookbook. My mother's recipe box. 

I have a no kicking rule, so I follow it, and put the bag back in my "sorting" box. I go get some tea, and pick up my computer...

Recipe reminiscing.

Maybe it is because I am getting old. Or maybe it is because I am trying so hard to deal with STUFF. And it's HARD> to let things go. Some of it, I am just putting in a box, and am going to let someone else deal with it, namely my kids, after I am gone. Then they can let it go or keep it forever.

I mentioned in my little secret group about the problem I am having, and the first thing was someone wants a table. Crazy however is that is one thing I want to keep for sure! My plan was to let the big dining room table go and put the small one in its place. However, I told the person who asked that she could have it!! I'm still just trying to please everyone else? Sigh. Truth is, I have another little drop leaf table that would work there, and even that big mosaic one. Actually that would be gorgeous there.  So I think I will be fine with letting it go. 

The biggest problem with letting go is it drags in all the trauma emotions. I know that what I really need to do is deal with the trauma emotions, let them go. Let go of the feeling of such intense loss. This year there have been many who have passed on, the latest Jackie M and Joanne W. who I really let go of 20 years ago when I moved away from the dreamland. So instead of seeing all the loss, I see their gain and the unbelievable celebration in heaven. Whatever that looks like. Whatever is okay. I could go on for a long time thinking of those I have lost. I have to believe that I will see them again, join the party. 

The dreamland is hard to release. I thought I was going to live there until I died. Well, life happens, and I had to leave, and I am here, trying to make this as much as my dreamland as I can, but it doesn't have starry nights, and howling coyotes, and crickets in the night, and gorgeous big trees, and wild flowers in the spring..... but I still have my memories.

HIRAETH

In my cleaning out, I found Evelyn's recipe box. In my trying to fix better meals, I thought it might be fun to try some of her meals. Most of the box, however, is salads and desserts!! There are a few things to try though.

I also have my mom's box. I have dismantled my own, and stick things in notebooks on just look online. It is kind of sad, not passing down recipes like has been tradition for generations.

Another valuable thing I found and remembered was that people used to swap recipes with each other. And since my mom and hubby's mom were friends and had many friends in common, there are many familiar names in these cards. Fran, Audrey... and Irene, my friend Nancy's mom.

So there's Audrey's chicken casserole, and Irene's salsa, and Betty's instructions on freezing cukes. What a blessing these women had, to be friends for so many years. 

And I saw Aunt Oletha's and Ola's and some of the mothers of friends from grade school. Lots of jello recipes. It seems that growing up there were always jello salads at pot lucks. That pink gooey stuff, the strawberry pretzel salad, the green lime stuff with cottage cheese with pineapple. Main dish recipes using mushroom and tomato soups. 

That generation were mainly stay at home moms, but Evelyn worked outside the home as a nurse. She worked with some of the people she swapped recipes with, Fran, Laverne. My mom went back to work when I was in high school, but she worked at the Ice Company, and I doubt if any of the men swapped recipes! 

I made some onion pickles the other day, and ended up starting a whole conversation on facebook about them. I ended up sharing Grandma Butler's old German Dills, Uncle Tom's dills... well it was fun. Made me want to find some pickling cukes. Not super badly though. 

These aren't in order and I always screw stuff up when I try to rearrange them in a blog post, so if you are seriously trying to figure out what goes with what, have fun. 

Also in here is one that made me laugh, I haven't needed that particular remedy for many many years.

So maybe tomorrow I'll get some card making in. Seems like today was a Remembering Day. Leave me a message if you would like a clearer picture of anything, or the rest of the recipe if it isn't all there, or my dad's dills, or that lime and cottage cheese with pineapple recipe, or just about anything you can think of, really, between my mom's, and my two mothers in law, my sister in law, and my recipes. I try and I sometimes do a good job with dinner, other times I wait for "let's go out"...