Lucky Lucy

Welll.... I am side tracked from Barbies. I found this Beanie Baby doll, and with some research, found out she's Lucky Lucy. She is not in mint condition, part of her clothes are missing! So the first thing I made for her is a crocheted dress. She did have her red top and pants... here's what she's supposed to look like (right):

It is obvious that her clothes are not designed to be taken off and put on easily. Her pants rode down and kept coming off her bottom, so maybe they were fastened on securely at one time. My Lucy has no jacket or hat. I am going to add some snaps to the pants so she can be dressed more easily, since I want her to be actually played with! Her shoes are fastened on, so at least they are not lost.  The first thing I did was make her a dress. We were on vacation so with all that driving I had plenty of time to crochet. Now, we all know that a doll is just a doll, has no personality, and no feelings. But doesn't she look more relaxed, and more loved, already? :)  I also made a jacket for her. It's a lot of  yellow, but that's her (my) favorite color, and besides I found this big ball of unknown fiber in the thrift store (I love thrift stores... too much I suppose)... the ball is not very much smaller, even with a dress and jacket. 

UPDATE, February 2016..... I have now acquired two more Beanie Boppers.

Snazzy Sabrina I found at the thrift store. She was only a few dollars so she slid right into the basket of the shopping cart.

The latest is Paula Plappertasche.   She's a cutie. Her jacket was damaged, but I could make another if I get the itch to do so.
Here are the three girls in their basket. Lucy is wearing a dress and hat I found at the thrift store. They are soft cuddly cuties and I hope to have some fun sewing for them and finding some little girl who will love them. So do I save them for possible granddaughters or find another cutie or cuties? Time will tell and I will know what to do. Meantime, I will enjoy seeing their cute faces in my collection.

Still a little girl

dolls and such...
Well I have always loved dolls. Not so much for playing with them, but I did some of that, but of making clothes and furniture for them. I guess I am still a little girl.


My mom used to knit sweaters for my dolls. This is the first one I did. Now that I've done this, I want to do more. :) I got some gold sparkly crochet thread and next time I go to my mom's I'll do it... because we end up sitting around talking, and I can't stand not to have my hands busy.

I got some Only Hearts Club dolls. Three of them.... Olivia Hope, Karina Grace, and Lily Rose. Olivia and Karina because of their names, my daughter Olivia Grace. Lily Rose because she is strawberry brown with freckles. I wanted to get them more shoes, and found them here. Intricate little shoes. It will be fun to make them each a little wardrobe. You can get little sleeping bags and such for them, but I have some fleece scraps which will do nicely.

I found out that their bodies are similar in size to the Blythe dolls, which I don't like because of their oversize heads, but I may be able to make some more clothes for them, I downloaded some free patterns,  Will see if they work.

Now we will see if the Idea Girl will finish what she started.

I sure go off in other directions easily. Here's what I did.... I just did the blue one, fitting it on the doll as I went. So I wrote down what I did, and then did the gold one, and changed it a bit for the green one. Trying to decide if people would like the pattern enough to buy it? Don't even know how to go about it...



And then there are the fabric clothes I have made. The recipient loved them :)

 July 11th

Saw this pretty soft yarn and thought about making a doll jacket with it. The first thing I did was make a shrug. Easy. ch 30, sc in back loops for six rows. Sew together at the ends for sleeves. It's hard to get on her, because of her fingers. I just put my fingers in the sleeves while easing it on her. Looks good. Not for the littlest Barbie lovers though.

Found a scrap of blue flowered that I will make a dress from. As soon as I get the living room clean.... <3 p="">

Barbie's new dress

Barbie has a new dress...

Quick and easy. I can see this is going to be extremely versatile, long skirt, slim skirt, straps, cap sleeves... this one is for a little sweetie's birthday party tomorrow. Doll Not Included. I got her a couple commercial outfits, because I just didn't know how much sewing I would get to do. And glad I did-- this one is all I had time for! This blog has some other ideas I am going to try as well.

Sewing has been frustrating with the loss of my machine cord. It is going to cost at least $80 to replace. So I bought a teensy Dritz machine for $19.95 at Walmart. So far have patched two pairs of pants and made this dress. It isn't heavy duty of course but I think it will be fine for little stuff. It is battery operated...
 I like the way the dress turned out, and have some other fabric scraps to use. This is from a fat quarter, it uses just 5 inches of the fat quarter so I could make a few from the fat quarter. 

So a satisfying time making her dress! I got a few other pieces to make others, so I guess MY Barbie collection will be well dressed, unless I give more away...

There's a great tutorial for this dress here:

http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2010/08/barbie-dress-tutorial.html 

I did it a bit differently because I wanted the top lined. Turned out great! See what else I've been up to with dolls here...

be still...

JUNE 22, 2012

be still…

all I can think of is, breathe. More overwhelm than I want to mention out here in blog-land, even though I don’t think anyone reads what I write but me myself and I…

I see a picture in my mind. A bird in a nest, in the middle of a storm. Sorrow and grief and worry all tumble around me. I don’t know how or when this will end. Feeling like somehow I will get sucked up into the swirling tornado.

And yet, I am just watching the wind. Kind of in a daze. Like the freeze motion pictures…

The results of the storm are really quite beautiful, if we look at God’s perspective. From my perspective, it is pretty horrible…. thinking about a satellite view, a storm is just a swirl, it doesn’t look dangerous.

God is in control, God is in control… I will choose to wait in silence, instead of screaming like I feel like. I will trust You, Lord, even if I don’t understand.

So my thankfulness is only that today, Lord, that You know what You are doing, and I don’t, and that’s ok.

reluctantly thankful...

JUNE 15, 2012

 

Tonight I don’t even WANT to be thankful. I want to be angry. Of course, writing it makes me laugh at my childish behavior. I am thankful…

 that E. is safe after her attempt at escape from “the prison” (the facility she is now in where she doesn’t want to be…

that we have running water and don’t have to worry about contaminated drinking water…

air conditioning! Crazy that we have machines to even cool the air so we can be more comfortable.

for my “servants” the microwave, the stove, the oven, the dishwasher, the clothes washer and dryer… we have it oh so easy here in America. for the most part we don’t even SEE how easy and comfortable we are.

electricity. We take so much for granted.

That V. came through her surgery well today

That Suz is doing all right after her last session of chemo…

for the visit with my sweeties. Still thankful for that. I think it is okay to be thankful for that again. 🙂

 for the berries that are quickly ripening

potatoes!!!!potatoes!!!

And thank You, Lord, that my thankfulness is no longer reluctant. You are so amazing. I am continually blessed by how You change my attitude with my obedient heart. And thank You for the gift of that obedient heart. ❤

tough.

JUNE 7, 2012

 

It is so difficult dealing with my mother in law’s dementia. Tonight she told me it was MY influence over her son that made him put her in such a place. I know that isn’t true, but it still stings that she would say that.

rejoicing in trials....

 JUNE 4, 2012

rejoicing in trials…

I am sure I don’t understand why most of the time, why we are to rejoice in our trials. Our trials make us look to Jesus, that’s one reason. But why a musician should get arthritis is a hard one to be thankful for, and E’s dementia. Well, because of the episodes, K is finally convinced (I think) that it is time to put E somewhere she can be safe… I feel tremendously guilty that I can’t seem to deal with it… but the other night she was violent and attacking the caregiver, so we have to figure out how to manage it, at the very least. Be thankful? Lord I believe, help my unbelief, I will be thankful for whatever you bring my way, and do that in faith and not by sight. I can’t see. Such as where is my sewing machine cord… can’t sew without it, E’s machine is not functioning well. Be thankful? I am seeing that being thankful is not the same as figuring out why I should be. I have to be thankful NO MATTER WHAT. I go back yet again to the Holocaust. Living in a flea and louse infested place with very little to wear and a lot of hard work and maybe die there…. thankful? And yet.

Quotes from Corrie ten boom, a holocaust survivor…

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God you’ll be at rest.”

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves.”

“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”

“Don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.”

“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

“If God has shown us bad times ahead, it’s enough for me that He knows about them. That’s why He sometimes shows us things, you know – to tell us that this too is in His hands.”

“And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of Him.”

“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”

And so.

Thankful for this stuffy nose, sneezing, and pounding head

 thankful for the rain today

the snow peas I ate while I harvested… and that I got more than I ate into the house

there are still 6 more hills of potatoes

that I have friends who pray for me.

that E has a dr appointment tomorrow and we will make some progress finding E a permanent home…. bittersweet

that she has the money to do it

that I am making progress in the middle bedroom

that I have a wonderful bed to sleep in

thankful that I can be thankful for things more than one time… and thankful for the challenge that started this journey to having a thankful attitude… and thankful for the work that the Lord has done in my heart through this challenge.

So I am not exactly happy that I have this allergy/cold and that my fingers are getting more arthritic BUT I am thankful for whatever God is going to teach me through these trials. And I am not happy about the journey E is currently on, but I am thankful for the resources to help us.

Thank you Lord for birds that sing (even in the night)

Thank you Lord for everything.