Coordinating Coat...

Okay, I’m having some serious fun, here! The coat is made from a buttery soft microsuede-type fabric. I know that’s not authentic to the time period (late 50s – early 60s) but I liked how it coordinated with the dress. This particular pattern also includes pants, top, jacket and a skirt. I’m thinking I may try enlarging the pieces to fit my 16” dolls.

Vintage Fashion Sewing for Repro Barbies

There was an article in the 2009 August issue of Haute Doll magazine about collecting and sewing old patterns for vintage Barbie dolls or reproductions. My most recent doll acquisition is the beautiful bubble blonde repro below. She arrived sans clothing and needed something to wear, quick! I found a vintage pattern for a simple sheath but it wasn’t lined. Well, I really wanted to add a lining but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, so I searched the web and found this pattern for a lined dress for a larger doll and just followed the construction directions. I used “Silk Essence” as the lining material. Having never used it before, I’ve got to say it is wonderful stuff – lightweight, inexpensive and easy to work with – and comes in many colors! For the fashion fabric, I used a pretty scrap from my mom’s old stash. I'm not sure of the content but it is a very soft twill weave and is wrinkle resistant. The scale of the flowers is just right for Barbie. I love the way this dress fits! Next, I’m making a coat to coordinate with it.

Finally Finished!

I don’t know if anyone remembers this WIP/UFO that I actually started to work on before I ever started this blog – over five years ago! Finishing it has been on my “to do” list for several years and, finally, I felt motivated to just “git er done!” This will go into a frame/tray that I purchased on EBay. The bottom image is the full size (about 10x14 inches); the top image is a scan of some details.

Man & Machine...

I took this photo the other day of DH using the backhoe to remove a humongous tree stump. He’s clearing out dead pines and also making room for a dedicated shed to house the tractor and its various attachments.

Monthly Art Experiment for August

This is a quick experiment in embossing a lace design on quilt batting. The instructions are here and call for bamboo batting, but I got a nice, well-raised texture using an old piece of heavy lace on "Warm and Natural" cotton batting. I'm thinking this is another way to get more mileage from damaged vintage lace.