Surrendering to the scarf


Today I took a selfie to post for a couple of reasons. The first: If all goes as planned, tomorrow my hair will FINALLY again be a few inches shorter and the mess I’ve made of my bangs over the last eight months will be corrected.

The second: I’m finally giving in to the idea of using a scarf on days like this. I have beautiful knitted/crocheted scarves that were gifts of friends, and they’re great when winter hits for its short season in Houston. Those scarves are too thick and heavy for the brisk days of fall. I like this shirt–it’s an old one that’s the ideal weight for this weather and has the three-quarter-length sleeves that I prefer. The V-neck offers me little relief from cold air, however, so today I added a scarf. It worked just as I hoped. Is wearing a scarf an old lady thing? That’s fine. I am an old lady.

Somehow, all of this brought me full circle to a post that’s been percolating in my brain provoked by a quote I recently read about kindness. Some of it is based on a thought I had yesterday in reaction to a news story: It’s like six years of an abusive relationship has suddenly spun itself into an infinite loop. It was the “six years” that startled me. It’s the number of years–1980 to 1986–that I was in two successive (albeit VERY different kinds of) abusive relationships.


The writer part of me wishes for a way to weave this all together. The private part of me is not inclined to do so.

Is the scarf protecting my throat or warming my voice? Maybe both? Bags to unpack for days… Like the ones under my tired eyes.

ETA: This post has been edited because I erred in what I remembered about a quote I read, and that led to a discussion in comments based on erroneous information, so that comment thread is now unpublished, as well.

A touch of normalcy

My cleanup of the blog is complete, and now we (which means, mostly Tom, the tech savvy person at Houndstooth Hall) are working with a couple of companies’ technical support to resolve various issues before I take the site live again.

It’s a profound relief not to be going through hundreds of posts a day, trying to clean them up. Instead, I’ve given time to leisure activities I enjoy. I started this book yesterday. Lady of Bones is the 24th in Carolyn Haines’s Sarah Booth Delaney series, and I finished it today. Set in and around New Orleans, it’s got a bit of everything, and it was nice to catch up with the Zinnia crew again.

I’ve listened to some of my recently purchased CDs while cleaning house, cooking, and enjoying time with my dogs. Music, as the Beach Boys sing, is in my soul.

Also, I finally, finally have returned to the Neverending Saga. One of the things I discovered as I reread my entire blog was how long these characters were percolating in my brain again before I took the plunge and decided to revise and rewrite those old manuscripts in 2019. In every way, I realized that I’ve reached the phase of peace and resolution I wanted. I’m writing for me. It doesn’t matter that others have not and may not ever read what I’m writing. It doesn’t matter that people used what I’m writing to project their own challenges or miseries onto me or my work. I’ll tell the stories. I’ll tell them in ways that honor my characters and who they were created to be. That’s all I can do.

It’s nice to be with them again after more than three weeks of being denied that joy.

Here are a couple of characters who help me celebrate friendship. The dress on the left is one I made way back when, and on the right, from Mattel’s 1962 black and white floral Fashion Pak, are this blouse and skirt and included another skirt and a romper. The entire set is almost certainly from Lynne’s collection.

Button Sunday


This button from my personal collection I first shared on here in 2012. I don’t know where I got it.

I might have said before that though “Dr. Seuss” began publishing children’s books in my lifetime, I never read any of them that I recall until I was a young teenager and Lynne introduced me to them. It’s funny, because The Cat in the Hat was written by Theodor Seuss Geisel at the request of a publisher after there was public grumbling about how the Dick and Jane books children were reading in school didn’t encourage them to want to keep reading more books.

I was one of those children who read Dick and Jane books in school even after the Dr. Seuss books appeared, and while maybe they weren’t riveting characters or stories, I was thrilled any time I could read anything. Everyone in my family read, and it was frustrating for me that I couldn’t. I think I didn’t realize that everyone has to learn to read. I wanted to be able to do what David (eight years older) and Debby (five years older) did.


In 2013, I first posted about this mug gifted with hot chocolate from Debby and commented on how it made me think of The Cat in the Hat. It still does, but the other day when I pulled it down, it also made me think of Eddie Van Halen backstage at a 1981 concert (especially because of the green shoes).


But hey, Elton John sported the look in 1972, which predated my own socks, seen below, hanging behind our Charlie Brown tree in the Tuscaloosa house on Twelfth Avenue when I was a college sophomore.

Not to be overlooked are these sock dresses I made for my Top Models.

Our lives are full of recurring themes and patterns, and apparently in my case, the appeal of red and white stripes.

Fourteen Patterns

Since the other day, when I posted those Barbie dresses I’d sewn, I’ve been wondering what pattern I used. The first seasons I did Runway Monday on this blog, I didn’t have patterns. Then I realized I wasn’t competing with anyone and no one cared, and I started buying patterns to make things easier on myself.

I thought you might like seeing how pattern makers tried to refresh Barbie’s look through the years. Judge them, mock them, or admire them, however the mood strikes you. Note the original cost of the patterns.

#5673, Simplicity, 1964, original cost 50 cents

I believe I used this pattern for Look 3 and just the dress on Look 1.

#9099, McCall’s, 1967, original cost 50 cents

I’ve used at least parts of five of these looks. I royally screwed up Look F recently.

#3429, McCall’s, 1972, original cost $1

I’ve used four of these looks. I particularly like the bodysuit B and the dress G. The year I took a bunch of Model Muses to Saints and Sinners and forced everyone to pose with them, I created many looks using these patterns.

#8333, Simplicity, 1987, original cost $4.50

I made my own pattern for my first cape, so it was great to get this one. I’ve made the cape and dress 4 for sure.

#7362, Simplicity, 1990, original cost $6.95

Nothing seems familiar unless it’s some piece of Ken’s formalwear. These dresses seem very TV “Dynasty” to me.

#7601, Simplicity, 1991. original cost $6.95

I created my own swing coat, but it sure was nice to get a pattern for one, and I definitely used this coat. Again, the dresses seem very 1980s. Of all the decades of fashion I’m familiar with, the Eighties would be my least favorite.

#5738, McCall’s, 1992, original cost $7.25

Pieces from seven of these looks were used.

#6317, McCall’s, 1993, original cost $8.50

I’ve used several of these. I think I may have bought this pattern when it came out, because I have a pair of overalls for a male doll. They are so well made that I’m wondering if Lynne sewed them for me back then. I can’t coerce her into making doll clothes now. That woman can sew, but nobody wants to deal with tiny seams, etc. It’s crazy that I do it. Sewing is definitely a case where I don’t enjoy the process. I enjoy the finished results. =)

#9838, Simplicity, 1996, original cost $8.95

Used I, H, and F, and I think F may be what I used for the dresses shown in Thursday’s post.

#9894, Vogue, 1998, original cost $11.95

Probably used E for Ken’s jacket and pants but had to modify them for the larger male dolls.

#5785, Simplicity, 2002, from the 1960s Simplicity pattern archives, cost of repro $13.95

Definitely have used four of these as favorites.

#4754, Simplicity, 2004, original cost $14.95

NEVER AGAIN those lab coats. NEVER.

#4702, Simplicity, 2004, original cost $14.95

Lots of fun stuff here. I know I’ve done dress D, and all the pants are great, so I’ve probably done some of them.

#1955, Simplicity, 2011, original cost $16.95

I’ve never used this pattern. I believe the fashions can be made to fit the much smaller, slimmer Monster High dolls, which is probably why I bought it. Those dolls are TINY.

Wayback Wednesday

Wayback to the 1800s or in this life, to 2010. I’ve been trying to find this photo for quite a while, but it wasn’t any of the Flickr albums I expected it to be in. Finally, I chose a really long way to look for it, and honestly, there was no point except that I remembered these as being some of my favorite dresses I made. They were easy to sew and they fit the dolls beautifully. So… a pointless post, but since I put so much effort into finding the photo, this was from my September 5, 2010 post for a Runway Monday challenge.

The dresses were not part of the challenge. I dressed my hosts in them. I want to sew more of this style.

Tiny Tuesday!

On this morning’s writing break, I searched through my patterns with an idea of what I wanted. It turned out to be the dress on the bottom right, which matches the design (in a bright print) of one I wrote for a character a book or two back.


Prep work.

Which kind of exploded later.

A little sewing using an old pair of jeans.

A little accessorizing.

A little fashion.

Boyfriend-approved. I made his shirt, too, but last week or the week before.

I was taking my advice as given in my previous post about writing breaks. When Mark asked me to “list the things!” I’d mentioned, I edited that post to include a list. =)

Tiny Tuesday!

I’ve had a pattern and a lot of T-shirts to cut up for fabric for quite a while to start making raglan sleeve jerseys for one doll in particular, but all my boy dolls can wear them. Decided to attempt to make the first one today only to realize the pattern might work for Barbie and maybe even the slender original Ken doll, but it’s way too small for my dude here.

While he puts away the toys of summer and starts writing some songs on his new dreadnought guitar (his early Christmas present), I’ll be trying to expand that pattern and make a few other alterations so this will be the 1:6 shirt I want it to be.

He’ll love his new wardrobe, because these shirts are all the character he’s based on wants to wear.