Hats Off

Well...

I'm making the final turn around home stretch. All that is left is to hem the skirt (this weekend while the wife is home). My lack of knowledge about hand sewing is taking it's toll, something I need to tackle.

The original thought for this post however is to say to those that can do this type of thing well are true craftsmen (craftswomen, craftspeople?). It ain't flippin' easy for sure. Also, I'm the type that gets bent out of shape if something doesn't line up right (something that happened a few times with this project).

Anywho, hats off, you truly have my respect.

I wonder how much I can sell the machine for on eBay :)

Reply to
Terry
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Giggle...

Nah, have another go. It gets better every time.

Oh, and even after 48 years of sewing, 12 as a professional, I still make mistakes. Today's was to put the wlt in the POCkET rather than the JACKET lining. (Wanders off to recut pocket lining... )

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Dunno what your background is, mine is (electrical) engineering. When I started sewing again a few years back, I tended to approach each project as an engineering project, with reading and understanding the pattern, converting the pattern into project pieces and then assembling the project. I know that's a bit of a simplification, but I found it helped me. The biggest problem is sometimes trying to make sense of the instructions and being able to visualise how the finished article is supposed to look - a few minutes thinking can save a lot of frustration!

Reply to
The Wanderer

I tend to make things in my head several times over before they hit the real world.

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I go through that as well, at least that's my excuse for not getting on and doing some work! I have a sitting child doll that I just *cannot* find the right colour material for the smock I want to put her in - I can vsualise it, I just can't find it anywhere! :-) There's a 36" male doll that I have to do a proper tailored morning suit as part of a wedding pair, been thinking about that for months and months! Then there's a 42" nubian doll in pieces, got to put her together so Audrey can dress her. Was actually I doll I wanted to do but the household authority made an executive decision, so I've been delaying putting her together! :-) Actually Audrey does agree that I put the bodies together much better than she does - I guess it's a firm hand to ram home the fibre stuffing in the soft parts of the body. And I like experimenting with resins to hold the armature centrally in the arms and legs.

I quite often make two or three bodices for a doll's outfit before I get one that I'm happy with! I guess it's the solidity, the unyeilding nature of the porcelain, the top especially has to be a damned near perfect fit if it's going to look right. The only good thing, the bodices don't use a lot of material and I learn and refine with each attempt.

Reply to
The Wanderer

I have been mulling over a couple of doll projects. I'd quite like to make these all-cloth dolls, and dress one in a miniature version of the green Elizabethan child's outfit I made last year. And another in an

18th C sack backed gown or a polonaise...

Long time since I made a cloth doll! But these were so cute:

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love the way you can get corset patterns! And the highland dress pattern...

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Mechanical contracting (HVAC /P) for 27 years and then in 2001 started my own company doing home inspections. Unfortunately with the Real Estate market as it is I have a lot of free time now.

Reading blueprints was a must for me in MC so that part comes pretty easy - it's just learning all the new things that are relative to sewing. Just the various hand stitches is a art in itself. The complexity however is what makes it interesting.

Reply to
Terry

You might like to take a look at some of Lynne Butler's patterns on ebay.

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We've seen some of her creations 'in the flesh' so to speak, as she attends the same doll making group we (occasaionally) do.

Reply to
The Wanderer

We-ell, I read most of what gets posted, although I don't often comment. As you get used to working with garments, I'm certain you'll begin to develop your own techniques, which aren't always what the experts tell you should be done. I got back into sewing a few years back coz my wife and I developed a keen interest in making and dressing porcelain dolls. The sewing can be quite demanding, because of the size and the fact that porcelain is unyeilding, unlike a human, where you can say 'Take a breath!' to get something done up, or get them to move a hand, arm to fit a top.

Reply to
The Wanderer

Those are dead cute. :)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I remember the time I did a beautiful job of sewing the right sleeve into the left armhole. I realized my mistake before I got the other sleeve sewed in, so I ripped out the sleeve and carefully sewed the right sleeve (wrong side out) into the correct armhole. I was so traumatized that I didn't want to do sleeves for years afterwards.

Reply to
Kathy Morgan

Ah, well, as we get mor experienced, our *mistakes* get grander!

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

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