Moving On To Meet My Goals

 I finished "Amy" and forgot to post a picture of it. 

I've been busy with many thoughts going through my head about sewing. Am I meeting all my goals? Am I happy with what I am doing in the sewing room regarding the dolls? 

I have to say that I am not pleased with how the doll sewing is going. I am spending way too much time testing patterns and not enough time enjoying the process or doing tutorials on techniques. That has been upsetting me to the point that I had spells of sadness and anger. Once I got through that I sat and mulled over the pros and cons of testing. 

• I enjoy testing as I get to see what new ideas testers are going to have published. But, I have also noticed that only one or two of my favorite designers use the forum I'm on. The rest have their own private testers and do it through private groups or via email. 

• Testing means fast sewing and I'm a slow sewer. I spend a lot of time fussing over details and making sure everything is correct. I'm a hand baster and sewer. I do miss some deadlines because of this but I do post what I've done and my comments about what needs fixing.
  

• I don't sew 8 hours a day as I don't have to. I have no business and I have a life outside the sewing room. Many testers sew the patterns and sell the outfits. I admire them for that.
  

• I love to do other types of sewing and coursework. 

I have decided that I will leave the world of testing sewing patterns and do more of what I want to do in the sewing room. The goal is finish by Dec. 31 but it could be sooner than that. 

One of my goals is to sew more of the patterns from the pattern stash. I have lots of patterns to sew. I have also decided that if I want a pattern, I will buy it. 

My other goal is to sew up the fabric and notions stash. I like to match pattern to fabric and if I can't find the fabric to go with the pattern, I look for another pattern. It is part of the process that I love so much. 

And I want to get back into the world of course work. Couture sewing, photography, and pattern drafting. I want to do it as they are part of my goals for this year. 

Thank you for reading my thoughts as I reaffirm my goals this year. I hope to do more...

Happy Doll Sewing............................

Living The Dream - Historical Doll Clothes

 I forgot to show the green dress completed. It is such a delightful dress. 

Using what I learned from making this dress, I tested the Civil War Day Dress for Thimbles and Acorns. I had some issues with the back of the dress not because of the pattern but because of me. I got them fixed and am very happy with this dress. 

Unlike the green dress, the bodice of this dress is lined. I do like lined bodices. Keepers Dolly Duds does not line her dress bodices, something that I will live with.

Both dresses button close which I do like. I'm getting better at making buttonholes. 

As I love sewing historical clothing, another Civil War era dress has been released for testing. It is Amy by Keepers Dolly Duds. She showed it on her Facebook page months ago. Not only I am living my dream of sewing historical clothing, I'm testing the patterns also. 

I will continue to use what I have learned from the other two patterns when making this blouse and skirt. Though the timeline is short (7 days for an intermediate pattern), I hope to do a good job on it. The blouse is like doing the bodice of the other patterns. The skirt is fairly straight forward which is nice and is like the blue dress. I should be able to finish it in good time even with the hand sewing I have to do. 

Do you have favorite patterns you like to make? Does making them several times allow you to become better at how they go together? 

Happy Doll Sewing.............................................