Odd Dotty Dollymaker

I can explain!

So, I haven't posted anything all week despite my best intentions. For that, I am really sorry. I have had a great week, a very full but great week. And every day I thought I would have a chance to sit down and post during the evening hours, but the husband and I have started a new regime. The P90X regime to be precise. Have any of you heard of this? Well, the only time that we have had to do this new program is at night. And afterwords? I just want to shower and go to bed.

But, now I am stopping in to say that I am going to be gone until Tuesday. The fam and I are taking a trip to Florida for a long weekend. Until then, I will leave you with some pictures of the flowers the kids and I planted for Earth Day, and part of the worm and dirt pie we had for dessert on said day.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Gov'na gets his specs

So how was that for a week of in-depth posting? Did you like that? Feel like you are more acquainted with my inner psyche? No? Huh.

Sorry about that, I didn't mean to leave for a week. It just kind of happened. All of the sudden I was busier than all get out and I barely had time to keep up with all my favorite blogs, much less write a post on my own. And this week doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, so I am just going to have to plow through it.

I feel like a lot has happened, but mostly I think it is stuff that would be of no interest to you, my lovely readers. In other words, I have been feeling quite boring as of late. At least too boring to blog. At the same time, however, I feel like there is so much that I want to share. Would you like me to share? Well, I am going to anyway.

First up, the biggest change round these parts is as the post title says: The Gov'na got his specs! We took the boy to the eye doctor the week before last because of his left eye turning in. We first had noticed it as a baby, but thought it was just developing the muscle and would eventually not happen anymore...it wasn't always crossed. Then, as he grew older I would notice it a lot more in photos and then just more and more frequently in every day life. So, we thought it was high time to have it checked out. The good news? We were told that his vision in both eyes is remarkably good. The bad? Both of his eyes actually cross in and the short of it is that they are trying glasses first to see if it helps to correct it and if not? Then we talk about surgery. So, please pray with me that the glasses will do the trick.

In the meantime, the Gov'na has been great about it and was really excited to get his specs. I have to admit here, that I was a little on the heart broken side to see my sweet boy child in glasses. It just changes their whole look, you know? It seems as if they are becoming another person. And I know that that is not true and totally irrational, but my feelings wouldn't listen to my head and I mourned for a bit. Just a little bit, though, because if I had mourned any longer I would have had to slap myself silly, because really. We are talking of glasses here, not cancer or heart surgery or a terminal illness. But I just want to be honest with you, because I can do that here, right? Right. So yeah. My heart. It broke a little.

But just look how dapper he is:

And for good measure, the gorgeous girl:

On the crafting front, I haven't made anything since the opening of my Shop. That is so not cool, I can't even tell you. I am ashamed and embarrassed, so I have decided that starting this week, I am going to take some time every day and work on some sort of crafting project. Whether it be another dolly, or the costume for the girl's part in the play, or the costume for the husband's friend for Ren Faire, or my Ren garb, or even just some random ideas and projects that I have been sewing and making in mine head for what feels like months now. And I will photograph my progress and post it every day so as to serve as an accountability. That is my hope anyway...but sometimes life happens, and the blog gets a bit of a back seat. I hope that I can count on your forgiveness if that happens. Can I?

Speaking of photography...??? was I just speaking about photography or was that in my head? Anyway...one of my favorite blogs, hey lucy, has posted some tips on how to take better pictures of your pet. I read them and gave it a go. These are my favorites from the other day. What do you think?

I feel like there is so much more that I wanted to tell you, but it is slipping my mind at the moment. Well, I am sure that I will think of it later, and then I will have fodder for another post. So, yay! It's good to be back, I hope I haven't lost too many of you with my lack of bloggy presence. I still love you!!

Happy Day Part 2!

You know it's going to be a good day when dinner starts with this much garlic:

Stand back everyone I am going to stink pretty good for the next couple of days!

Also, there will be more in-depth posting starting next week. The husband is off work this week and we are taking this time to spend as a family and work on the house...and eat lots of garlic. Mmmmmm.....garlic.

Happy Day!

You know it's going to be a good day when your cereal's smiling at you!

Happy Monday everyone, and thank you all so much for the shop love! You all are the best!

A day of Firsts!

Happy April Fool's Day!

This is, indeed, a day of firsts for me! The obvious one is the date. But also? It is the grand opening of my very own Etsy Shop! I am excited, nervous, tired and...excited to open it up. There is always the fear that no one will care. That my slaving over the sewing machine and pouring out my heart and soul into each creation will be for naught. Well, it's not really for naught because I do love the whole creating process, and I love what has come out of it lately...but I would feel a little red in the face if there is nary a bit of interest from anyone else. I am, however, ignoring those feelings and just flat out going for it! So, please go have a look-see at what I have to offer! I hope there is something there that you love!

Another first? I am going to post a wee tutorial...in fact, it is an Itty Bitty Tutorial! When I first posted these little creatures on Craftster, I was asked to make a tutorial for them. I have never made one before, so forgive me if it makes no sense or seems all muddled. If there is something that doesn't seem quite right to you please send me an e-mail and I will try to answer all of your questions. Also? I know it shouldn't need to be said, but please please please only use this pattern for your personal use. Do not make an Itty Bitty Oddity to sell, that's my job. :)

Ok! So, here we go....

First, download the pattern, print it out and cut out the pieces.

Download itty_bitty_oddity_pattern.pdf

Gather all your supplies:

You will need fabric, I used Alova Suede for the head part and cotton fabric for the bottom part. The pattern pieces, a chopstick or tweezers for turning and stuffing, 6mm safety eyes if you so choose to use them, a pen, an iron and thread.

Use the pen to trace the pattern onto the fabric, making sure to mark the dot at the top of each of the body pieces. You will cut 6 body pieces from each fabric and 8 of the arm/leg piece.

Now arrange them in a pretty flower pattern. Don't skip this part...it's fun!

Okay, so now we are going to sew the head pieces to the body pieces right sides together. I like to rotate which one is on top as I sew...also for fun...and I sew them all at once so that they are connected. I use a 1/4" seam allowance for everything.

This is what they will look like...see how fun? It's like an Itty Bitty Oddity pendant!

Now do the same for the arm and leg bits.

Next, we iron! Iron the body piece seam open, and turn and press the arms and legs. First detach them, and I also trim the seam on the arms and legs before turning and pressing.

Take two body pieces, right sides together, and match the seams up. Pin the seams...this is one of the rare occasions I use pins. I don't like pins. I find the whole pinning process tedious and time consuming. But! You know what I like even less than pinning? Ripping out the seam and having to sew it again, so sometimes? I concede with the pinning.

Did you remember to put those dots on the pattern? If not, go ahead and do so now. I'll wait...did you get them? Great. Now we sew from one dot to the next, like so...whoops that was punny...can you tell it's late? *sigh*

Sorry about the cruddy pictures, my camera likes to pretend the background is what I am trying to focus in on, but I hope you can get the idea from these. Now do this again adding to this piece. You should have three parts sewn together. This will be the front. Using the last three body parts, sew two together as usual, but when adding the third piece leave a hole of about 1 1/2" for turning. I didn't take a picture of this one, sorry. This is when I usually put the face on. For some I use 6mm black eyes, for others I simply embroider everything...you do what you want. Here is my example:

You still with me? We are almost done, I promise! Again, I am going to apologize for the quality of the photos...I really had no idea they were this fuzzy until I pulled them up on the computer. But, anyway, now is when we pin...again! with the pinning! First we pin the arms and legs to the front of the body ah-like so:

And then we pin the back to the front, right sides together,  matching the seams as closely as possible. I didn't take a picture of this part either. Sorry.

All this is left is to sew the back to the front all the way around, turn right-side out and stuff and close using whichever closing stitch you prefer. Stuff the dickens out of it. The more you stuff, the cuter they are I have found. You should end up with something like this:

You can leave it like this if you so choose. Or? You can accessorize! With things like hair!

Or wings, even. Which I did, because this one is a fairy that was made for the girl. She named her Kiwi.

And there you have it! An Itty Bitty Tutorial. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves, folks! And if you use this tute, I would love to see what you create! Send me a link or an e-mail! I would love to see an army of Itty Bitty Oddities taking over cyber-space.

Here is another example of how to make them different. I made this one for the boy, he named him Cooly. He has the power to ward off monsters...it's the mohawk.

And if you are, like me, too tired to make one right now but would instead like to adopt one, here is an example of what is now available in my Shop!

 

I hope to see you there! And happy sewing!