zippypops

happy mother's day!

we celebrated by doing some of my favourite things...

visit the cows...

scope out old, abandoned houses...

by being nosy and asking a nearby neighbor, I found out that this is an old school house, built in 1845. the owner lives in California, and refuses to sell it, rent it, or maintain it, despite repeated offers. oh well!

this is where Bob will end up when he is an old man. him and his books and a bushel of potatoes... he'll be just fine.

gorgeous.

we hit several antique shops. all I found is a new pair of glasses... but gee, aren't they swell?!

and the best present... I was lucky enough to receive this lovely poem, written just for me!

Those coloring books
    That you did in a day
Those puff ball people
    That looks like a cloud
Those jelly bean factories
    That you did during school
Then you got better and better
until you became really good
    What happened to the
good old days?

(*sniff*)

favorite house update

haircut!

who is this strange, new boy in my house?

additions

THREE ebay dolls arrived in the mail last weeks. yippee!

I like how the girls are all "don't look now, but I think he just TOOTED!"

fresh air

one day it's snowing and the next... summer.

forgive my absence, but we've had 2 ridiculous weeks of abnormally hot weather and I have been distracted with a sudden urge to garden. our poor yard hasn't had proper attention paid to it in I don't know HOW long. so, I've been raking, mulching, pruning, planting. hopefully all this hard work will pay off and we won't be overtaken by weeds mid-June.

last week was spring break. I barely saw my young Mr. Social Engagements, except for Friday, when I skipped out of work early and took him to the zoo. (zoos actually really depress me... look at that lonely elephant... but I didn't share that with Loo, he had fun)

dustbin

I stumbled on another great photo stash while out and about today; about 130 or so, one extended family, spanning 1910-1940. the seller told me the photos were from the estate of a 97 year old woman. (once again – where the hell is her family??? why are they letting these go???) I am assuming that the woman is either Estelle or Esther.

anyway, I have started a new blog... the link is over there... to the right (dustbin), for posting my vintage photo collection. it's still pretty rough, and I will be tinkering with it over the next few weeks.

free range kids

Lenore Skenazy has been making the news as of late for allowing her 9 year old son navigate the New York City public transit system on his own. she's obviously touched a nerve!

she started a new website, Free Range Kids and I applaud her.

my 2 cents:
I've heard many parents say that they believe it is their responsibility to protect their kids from the world until they are adults.
I believe that it is my responsibility as a parent to prepare my kid for the world.

shoe tutorial

once again, the pattern is in the right hand column, in the "patterns" category titled "doll shoes."

out of felt (or pleather or whatever) cut 2 tops, and 2 bottoms. (make sure you have a 'right' bottom and a 'left' bottom)

right top sides together, stitch the heel seam.

right sides together, carefully pin each top to it's sole. you might consider hand basting. I do that with the dolls' feet... all those pins can become cumbersome on such a tiny little surface, and it is important to achieve a nice smooth line of sewing. felt is pretty easy to work with though.

turn right side out. in order to give the shoe some definition, I usually blanket stitch around the bottom seam with either matching, or contrasting embroidery floss. and add little french knot flowers, etc., but since these are for a boy, we'll let them be!

cap tutorial

the pattern is in the right hand column, in the "patterns" category titled "doll cap."

cut 6 of cap material.
sew 3 sections together. sew the other 3 sections together. right sides together, sew halves together and there is the outside of the hat!

cut 6 of lining material and piece together the same way.

to prevent your sewing machine from "eating" the ends of your pieces, hold the string ends taught and gently pull if necessary. (I learned this trick from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing – brilliant!)

right sides together of the lining and outside cap (forming a little bowl), line up the section seams, pin, and sew all round, leaving a small (1 1/2 inch maybe?) opening so you can turn the whole thing right side out.

press the edge flat, and ladder stitch the opening closed. (does everyone know how to ladder stitch? I geeked out last winter and borrowed a bunch of upholstery sewing tutorial videos from the library. priceless)

sew a little button on the top, going through both layers of fabric, or, if the doll is for a young child and buttons are a concern, a couple of small stitches through both layers will do.

and voila! stylish young man!

I call him Harold

the young gent for whom Harold is intended has decided that he prefers bald! and who am I, Patrick Stewart worshiper that I am, to argue? Harold is rather jaunty, no? I am going to make him a cap, and of course he still needs shoes. I solved the whole buttonhole dilemma with the easiest solution of all... snaps! but not the cheap, wobbly sewn on kind; but the nice, sturdy indestructible punched in kind!

I just can not get the lighting in my little sewing room right. (top with flash, bottom without flash).

once he is fully complete, I will set up the seamless and spotlights for a proper photo shoot. right now I am too tired. that's what exercise will do to you, or so I'm told.