Tiny Tuesday!

This morning, I was checking to see if I had a couple of miniature charms. As I opened and shut some two dozen plastic containers, I realized craft organization works best when you don’t make a mystery of it. Out came the label maker! (And on the way, I better organized as well as purged a few things that found their way into my supplies and that I’m sure I’ll never use.)

No more wasting time on searches!

And I did find miniature charms that worked for what I wanted.

Love and peace, and if trick or treating is part of your evening, have a fun, safe night!

Threads and notions

Friday night, Tom and I ran out to do some errands, including a trip to Jo-Ann’s so I could pick up a few things. I’d been creating a doll kilt pattern, and I realized if I planned to do many kilts, I’d need more snaps. I’m also using hooks, eyes, and loops, but I had plenty of those.

Later, as I sewed, I needed black thread and couldn’t find any. I couldn’t understand this; I have a lot of thread, and it should have included black. Today, I started a list of other stuff I might need from the craft store, but I again questioned how I couldn’t have black thread. I decided to check Lindsey’s Aunt Gwen’s sewing case, because I knew it had some thread–but no black. Then I decided to reorganize all my thread so I could add other missing colors to my shopping list. That’s when I realized that looking at my thread in the sewing/craft room illuminated by sunlight rather than ceiling fan lights changed everything. I ended up having six spools of black thread that I’d seen as dark green, navy blues, and dark grays last night. It still gave me the incentive to better organize my thread cases, this time, red to purple in the order of the rainbow, then the other colors like whites, tans and browns, pinks, grays, and BLACKS.

I moved the spools that have almost no thread on them to Aunt Gwen’s case so I can use them first when I need those colors.

I never get rid of wooden spools, and I took the one that had been gnawed on forty years ago by my dog Hamlet, wrote his name on it, and put it in the curio cabinet where mementos (and ashes) of our dogs are.

I’m glad I explored Aunt Gwen’s sewing supplies again. Remember how we went to Jo-Ann’s for snaps? These are the snaps I got there.

The card of nickel snaps was $6.99 and the card of black snaps was $3.99.

Then today, I found all these snaps from Aunt Gwen in her case. D’oh!

I don’t know what decade Aunt Gwen bought her snaps, but it must have been the years when people sewed because they had to and not because it’s a hobby. The nickel snaps were still more expensive–they were twenty cents a card!–but the black snaps were only ten cents a card. I guess I’ll be set for a while. From now on, when I go thrifting or antiquing, I’m looking for old snaps.

Aunt Gwen also had cards with hooks, eyes, and loops, so I’m definitely good on those.

And now: Ta da! Below is my first attempt at a kilt, with new fabric I got when Lynne was here; from today’s shopping, some new black suede strapping I wove into a belt, and I added a kilt accessory I found amid my jewelry making supplies, a crafting charm flower petal pendant, along with Mattel’s shirt, socks, and shoes.

If you’re curious, nope! He’s wearing nothing under that kilt. =) I don’t plan to make underwear for my kilt-wearing dolls, but I am going to use Mattel’s socks as a pattern to make more of those in different colors.

Fun times at Houndstooth Hall!

Kilting

Whether it’s the pandemic, three years of intermittent quarantining, or retiring from the workplace, I can no longer multitask the way I once did. Now for my own sanity, I need to focus on and finish one project at a time, but it sometimes stuns me the number of different things I do on any given day.

I won’t belabor all of today for you, but I did a deep dive into researching kilts and how they’re constructed because I want to make some at 1:6 scale for my male dolls. Last week when Lynne and I went to Jo-Ann’s, I found some good fabric for this project.

I finally designed a pattern that I think is the right size, and I marvel again that something I never thought to see or use again after eighth grade comes in handy: a math compass.

Projects like this keep me from spending too much time reading the news, and this will definitely be a trial-and-error project with a learning curve. Stay tuned…

Tiny Tuesday!

Today’s post is about a different kind of button from Sunday’s posts. Here to demonstrate is one of my character dolls. Hi, Elle!

This is how the average human-sized shirt button fits in Elle’s palm.


This is how the average craft button I can buy locally fits in Elle’s palm. I’ve used these buttons for doll clothes, and they work great as coat buttons or buttons on purses and other accessories, but the scale is a bit large for shirts and dresses.


Last week, I found a US Etsy account (important because of how I pay and how they ship) that sells 4mm buttons in large quantities at a great price. While this isn’t exactly 1/6 scale (i.e., human to doll size), it’s much closer. I fear actual doll size is best left to the manufacturers of dolls and doll clothes and those companies’ machinery. I have old eyes and arthritic hands, therefore need larger needles to be able to do the job.

But all the colors!

I tried to find poems or songs that somehow use “button(s)” in titles or text, but I wasn’t impressed with my search results. I decided to go with common phrases using the word “button.”

  • Button up! (It’s cold out there.)
  • As easy as the push of a button! (Very easy.)
  • Bright as a button! (Either smart/clever or cheerful/happy.)
  • That’s a hot-button topic. (Don’t talk about religion, politics, money, or within family, anything that will ruin holidays, including flaws related to parenting, marrying/divorcing, keeping and feeding pets, cooking, or drinking.)
  • Button it! (Keep your mouth shut/opinions to yourself.)
  • You’re pushing all my buttons. (By doing or saying all the things I like or dislike. Tone matters.)
  • Cute as a button! (Very cute.)
  • On the button. (That statement or action is accurate.)
  • Press the panic button! (It’s time to take drastic action in response to a situation.)
  • S/he’s got a button nose. (An adorable little nose–like Elle’s!)
  • My boss is very buttoned down. (Stiff, serious, all business.)
  • My company’s culture is very buttoned down. (Conservative, no risks taken.)
  • Hit the button. (Send or start something; end or stop something.)

Can you think of others?

Button Sunday

Didn’t feel so great today and thought I probably needed to get some perspective on what I was writing now that I’m at least halfway through the final chapter of the sixth book in the Neverending Saga. I also needed more rest. So after getting up too early and taking care of some household things, eating breakfast, and showering, I took a long nap under the friendship quilt I posted yesterday. More rest did help, and I figured coloring would be a good way to think about what I’m writing.

I flipped through one of the coloring books I got in late May/early June and haven’t used yet. Of course I picked the 70s because I’ve been trapped there in my own fiction for years now.

When I saw a drawing of Debbie Harry, I knew that was the one. When I posted it to Instagram (that’s where all my coloring buddies and I follow one another), I mentioned that I can still remember the first time I saw Blondie and Debbie Harry on TV. Lynne may not remember, but we were at my house, watching “Midnight Special” because the Beach Boys were hosting. Blondie was was one of the bands featured that night, and Debbie Harry was really good (as was the band). Lynne may remember that Debbie was dancing on stage and nearly tripped, but recovered and never stopped. Attagirl, Debbie.

If Lynne doesn’t remember Blondie, she might remember me cussing as I sat on the floor capturing photos of Dennis from the TV screen. The cussing was because that’s when I found out our dogs had fleas, because I was being mercilessly bitten by them. Right now as I’m composing this, I’m being mercilessly bitten by a mosquito. The more things change, the more they stay the same?


Today, July 9, is Fashion Day, and Debbie Harry was a fashion trendsetter when she burst onto the scene, part glam, part punk, all Debbie. You may remember that back when I was doing Runway Monday, I found Mattel’s Debbie Harry doll not in a box and without her original fashion. But I quickly made her an outfit all her own.

Funny thing. In the work in progress, my record producer character mentions “Midnight Special.” Here’s the lineup and music from that night.

S07E24 Hosts: The Beach Boys
April 27, 1979 NBC
–The Beach Boys (hosts) – “Good Vibrations,” “Here Comes the Night,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Angel Come Home” & “Lady Lynda”

–The Beach Boys, Roger McGuinn & Wolfman Jack – “Rock ‘n’ Roll Music”

–McGuinn, Clark and Hillman – “Don’t You Write Her Off,” “Surrender to Me,” “Backstage Pass”

–Blondie (clips from 19-Jan-1979) – “Heart of Glass” (lip-synch); “One Way or Another” (live) & “Hanging on the Telephone” (live)

–Tavares – “Straight from Your Heart,” “More Than a Woman” & “Never Had a Love Like This Before”

Music videos: –Bad Company – “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” & “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” (concert footage)

And here’s my coloring page.

Tiny Tuesday!

If your memory is even better than my blog’s search function, you may remember that back in August of 2012, Lindsey brought her late Aunt Gwen’s sewing case to a craft night. She gave me carte blanche to go through it and take things I might need for all the sewing I was doing then, and I took some of the sewing notions and especially several spools of thread which I’ve used a lot and still have a supply of.

Last fall, when The Brides packed up their home so extensive remodeling could be done, they did a lot of purging, and Lindsey asked if I would like to have Aunt Gwen’s sewing case for keeps. OF COURSE I WOULD. I may have never met Aunt Gwen, but I feel a connection to her, and she was part of a lot of the doll fashion I made back then for Runway Monday.

I got to explore the sewing case again.

There was something new/different in it: this little black zippered case.

When I opened it, I found these beautifully crafted Marks cutting tools. SO NICE.

Please note the silver bullet, which is a needles case, and the thimble, both of which tuck snugly into their own places.

Such tiny surprises, and I hope that when I sew again, using these scissors, I can fashion something as beautifully crafted.

Thanks, Lindsey! <3

Button Sunday

This is true, but it implies that I mostly wear pajamas all day, every day, and that is not true. I may take one day a week as a “pajama day,” because from the time I get up, I’m cleaning or doing other busy work, then I fix brunch and start working. By the time I take a shower late afternoon/early evening, there’s zero chance I’m going anywhere, so I just put on clean sleepwear (could be pajamas, flannel nightshirts, nightgowns, pajama pants with shirts of one kind or another–it’s always a surprise to me, too).

Most stay-home days, I shower early and dress because I never know who or what might show up at my door: deliveries for any of us; exterminator; a lost soul at the wrong house; water guy; something of Debby’s requiring a signature. It stuns me how often the doorbell rings and creates utter havoc among the BatPack. Most days, I feel more productive and “take-charge” if I’m dressed when I sit down to pay bills, read email, journal, and create (writing or painting).

Today, I decided to take a little drive to be sure about an address where I’m taking Debby tomorrow. It’s close to home, in a place I’m familiar with, but not that particular building. I had long since showered and dressed, and I decided since I wasn’t leaving my car, it would be okay to keep my house-shoes on. See said house-shoes:

Except the location was next to one of the hardware stores we use, and there were a couple of cleaning things I need that aren’t in the grocery store. They are likely at Target and Walmart, but I was right next to this store, so I stared down at my house-shoes. I thought about all the times in the old ‘hood when Tim and I used to take writing breaks to go to 24-hour Walgreens and 24-hour Kroger in the middle of the night where people knew us and didn’t care what either of us might be wearing. We were all buddies there.

I bopped inside this store in my house-shoes, found the cleaning supplies I needed, and noticed they’ve put out patio furniture again (it’s coastal Texas; they’re saying winter is possibly over). Tom bought a chair last year he wanted to try out to see if we liked. We did, but when he next went back, all the outdoor furniture was put away.

At this place, I shot a phone photo of similar chairs the hardware store had in stock and texted him. He opted, when HE did errands, to check out last year’s store. They had chairs identical to the one we own back in stock, so now, we have a set of four. All because I threw my standards to the wind and shopped in my house-shoes.

Here’s what I’ve been listening to while I wrote–fully dressed in real clothes–the last couple of days.


Everlast, Eat at Whitey’s and Whitey Ford Sings the Blues; Michael Feinstein, Isn’t It Romantic, part of a package at a fundraiser; Fischerelle, Steel Innuendoes, CD likely a gift from Tom’s middle sister of a Birmingham, AL-based band; Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Ella and Louis Sing Gershwin, highly recommend; Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac, Rumors, Tusk, and Mirage.


Happy Full Moon! A good time to set your intentions for the month, especially if there are things you want to release. If it doesn’t serve you, let that shit go!

Crafty follow-up


A couple of projects from the past week. I found a box of wooden shiplap ornaments and painted a few to give away. Didn’t photograph them all, but here are four I remembered to shoot. Always feels good to paint again.

This little doll who I shared on this week’s Tiny Tuesday is Mattel’s 1994 Tommy, little brother of Ken. I bought him from eBay for a final Runway Monday collection in 2010. He had no clothes, but I made him this ring bearer outfit for Top Model Summer’s wedding. He’s so small that I literally sewed him into the outfit, which meant I had to cut it off of him. He’s had no clothes since. I’m trying to create patterns because if it’s challenging to sew for 11- and 12-inch dolls, it’s REALLY a pain for a doll only a bowl haircut over four inches.


Here’s a first attempt using felt for overalls so I wouldn’t have to sew hems, just put pattern pieces together and add a snap for the straps in the back. The pattern definitely needs to be modified for a better fit, but at least he has his own little outfit now.

Throwback Thursday

Follow-up on yesterday’s post. Here’s the new haircut (so much better bangs!), and I pulled out one of my beautiful scarves, this one knitted by Lisa in Iowa, to do today’s selfie.

I wanted to compare it to my first scarf selfie from 2007, with my actual hair color before I went blonde in 2016 and then fully gray and white in 2021–every last bit of hair color or bleach gone. I haven’t regretted it for even a moment.