Susie Sad Eyes

Susie Sad Eyes is new to our house. Vintage 1972, this little darlin' has had her toes chewed by some pet (or maybe a child) in her former life. Must have been well loved! Think her name will be Nibbles.Standing at 8", she is thicker of body than Blythe, and a bit shorter in the torso, but some of my Blythe items will fit her well. That's good; means a bit of tweaking of patterns here and there, but will be relatively easy to outfit the Susie Sad Eyes dolls for listing in ssmartraggs.etsy.com.

Argyle Sweater for Kelly doll

Just a little something I knit up for Kelly doll on 4/0 needles and lace weight misty alpaca. Traditional argyle would have separate balls of yarn for the blocks, which I did; but I stranded the background blue and then backstitched the XXXs across the blocks.. not authentic, but easier to do!

Knitting for adults is such a treat for a change! I came across this super simple design in Ravelry by Martina Behm for a little scarflette that called out to be knitted up for fall wearing. The scalloped edge was a bit tricky at first, but after watching the video (link is in the pattern) and completing one or two scallops it was a piece of cake!

So, on a road trip I knitted up the solid teal 22.5 Degree wrap using 3 balls of vintage yarn from my stash... it's a bit heavier, being a sport weight, but a yummy texture using size 9 circular needles. 50% Kid Mohair/ 50% Wool blend.

The wrap is knitted from the top down; the last two rows are the knitted shell and bind off.

The designer calls it "22.5" Degrees as it is just that! Not the normal 45 Degree scarf, or shawl, which hangs long in the back, but, rather, it is intended to sit on the shoulders, wrap around the neck and be tied or draped. Perfect to add just a bit of warmth.

If you follow the pattern using sock yarn, you will end up with a width of 165 cm (65 inches), and a depth of 35 cm (14 inches). My first effort is using Ty-Dy sock yarn, which patterns beautifully and has a wonderful soft drape knitted up on US size 3 circular needles. I used up the ball and now the project is sitting aside as a WIP until I get to the local yarn shop for another ball.

Hanging out at Ceder Camp, listening to NPR on the radio.... Clair never goes anywhere without her Pookie bear.

Unfinished Object now Finished

This was a good day for getting to an unfinished project. My mom stitched the animals years ago. She used to stitch directly onto shirts for my brothers, but she's not here anymore.. so this is what I did so that they would have new shirts with "old stitching".


I ironed "heat N bond light" to the back of each stitched piece; then cut them to the desired shape. Basically, this means simply cutting around the design, leaving about 1/2 inch all around.

Note: Use "light" rather than heavy duty Heat N Bond.... the heavy duty will gum up onto the needle later when you stitch the design in place. Very annoying!

After the piece has cooled peel the paper backing off. Position the piece right side up on the center back of the shirt. I folded the shirt and gave it a slight crease to insure that the design would be placed in the center, and straight.

Then, iron again. I ironed from the front, then turned the shirt over and ironed from the back to insure a good bond.

Note: Ironing from the back of the shirt raises the stitching slightly giving it a bit of dimension.

Once the shirt with bonded on stitching has cooled you can move to the sewing machine. Set the machine for a 3.5 mm zigzag stitch with a buttonhole stitch length. On my machine, that's about #1. I put a buttonhole presser foot on the machine, mostly so that I would have a good visual of where I was stitching. Also you will want a size 12 or 14 needle in your machine.

Begin stitching at the bottom... keep stitching around the edge till you come back to where you began. Then, stitch over it a second round for better coverage. Trim threads, and Done!!

Voila!!
I used new shirts that my brother brought to me, and he selected which animal print for each shirt.... come to think of it... I have 4 brothers, and only 3 completed shirts! Did I agree to get the 4th shirt? Guess I'm not finished with this project after all!

The shirt with iron-on can be washed and dried by machine. Because it is stitched, it will not come off, in the way that it might if you simply ironed the design onto the shirt without the zigzag stitching. The stitching will probably outlast the life of the shirt. This could be a good thing!

When ironing the shirt (if you must), be sure to iron the stitched area from the back as your final step. Just turn the shirt over on the ironing board and give it a good steam/press.

Dipping into my stash of vintage hankies, I found this wonderful blue with red rose border. It cried out to be used as the skirt portion on a sundress, so here it is! The bodice is cotton with beading at the neck edge; neck trim wraps to the back as straps. The sundress has a snap back closure. The skirt has a white underskirt with heirloom quality lace at the hem; the skirt wraps in front... matching scarf is super long and beaded at both ends. Great as a scarf, wrap, belt or headband!

Newest Sundress... I made several of these; expect to see more at my table at BlytheCon 2011 in Portland. The artist "manni" is added here to show the backless back with snap closure. Huge red star button accents the front. The bodice is made from a wonderful cotton with textured stripes. I don't think you can see them in the photo, but the stripe is bordered by a metallic thread for a bit of sparkle. Subtle!

I make my bias trim for the neckline /straps from quilting cotton. Easy peasey! Cut strips 1.25" wide on the bias; iron to crease in half lengthwise, then open, crease again on each 1/2 of the strip; finally, close the strip and iron one more time!

Have I said before that the iron is the most useful tool in the sewing room other than the sewing machines of course! ??