The Making of Trick R Treat Sam for Calico Critter

 I'm happy to finally be getting back to sewing work just this week. The sewing/doll room is still a WIP as is the rest of the house, but things are slowly and surely getting more and more organized. I am very much looking forward to when things are under control enough where we can start painting.

Any return to normalcy is nice, and where sewing is concerned, I've really missed it! Not to mention having a back stock of orders is always a stress in the back of your mind, even if all your customers are very nice and patient with the delays.  (Commissions are also a bit behind, but progress will be happening soon.) I have mailed my final late orders out today. Whew! What a relief! I finished the rest of the sewing on those yesterday. And since those were all finally done, I figured it was completely justifiable to start working on some new Critter items. Me being me, that just so happened to be something Halloween!

Since cutting down my Calico Critter families to a much more sensible number of 12, I really want to work on developing each Critter. Most of them have no clothes, so my original plan was to start making them outfits, simply doing one a day. But as I was sewing an order of Halloween clothes, I got to thinking - just how much fun would it be to actually have each Critter have their own Halloween costume this year? And to set up a Halloween party scene? I love seeing other collectors Halloween posts, and I have never been to where I could do it myself, or even enjoy trying to. This year will be different. :D 

I immediately started thinking about my Garden Bed family. They were my first (those ubiquitous Hopscotches) and also some of my very top favorites. I cut down their multitude to simply 4 adults (my child sized figures are just adults who are smaller in stature) and then a reasonable 6 babies. That was initially hard for me as I just adore the baby Hopscotch so much. I just needed to do it for my own sake. I want each baby to have a personality and a name and the only way to accomplish that was to simply cut down my 18 plus to something much, much smaller. I'm so glad that I did it. Here are the Garden Beds:

Twin boys named Lettuce and Spinach (larger adult size)

Middle sister Asparagus (big sister)

Youngest brother Brussel Sprout (child size body)

The babies are as follows, in 3 sets of twins, each a girl and boy:

Turnip and Potato

Parsnip and Carrot

Radish and Green Bean

As I was sewing that Halloween dress for an Etsy order, visions of making a Freddy Krueger costume for Brussel Sprout flashed through my mind. I had briefly thought about that earlier this year, but pretty much forgot about it in the ongoing mayhem. I could make the twins Jason and Michael Myers. But after thinking about Michael Myers, I got a little hung up in how to accomplish making that mask for a Critter. That's when I thought about Sam from Trick R Treat! (Terrible movie, BTW. Great concept, really poor execution. Sam though, Sam is forever.) How perfect would Sam be on a smaller Critter? I got so excited, and therefore, I had to start with that one.

After eating supper and reading my Latin chapter (that summer goal is going well! I have about 7 chapters left and will have reached that goal. Yay!) I got any remaining Etsy sewing done, and then, it was time to sew a Sam outfit!

With freshly washed orange cotton fabric in hand, I reworked my blouse and pant pattern into Sam's cute little jumpsuit. It took a couple of tries until I was satisfied with it. I found some light orange on yellow tonal print (it's hard to describe) that was perfect for the patches. I fray checked around the edges of the tiny squares instead of trying to hem them before sewing them on. The first square I pretty much drowned in fray check, so I had to recut it. (My fray check is especially temperamental this time around. The slightest pressure sends a geyser!) Those little patches I sewed on by hand with black thread. I wasn't sure if the black was too much of a contrast, and while I like it, I might try a darker brown. Or maybe I am nitpicking. I always have to nitpick. Once I got the suit done, I was really happy. Sam was coming together!

The hood was the part that I was the most uncertain of how to make it. I had to make it to go around Brussel Sprout's ears and that's always a little nerve wracking. I drafted the hood pattern into 4 pieces after measuring Brussel's head both across and from ear to down where I wanted the hood to end, keeping in mind that it needed to bush out a little. From there, I drew what I felt was the right proportioning for each ear hole. I didn't bother with fray checking the first hood as I was expecting to need to redo it. I hemmed first around each part of the ear hole - each piece had a notch to hem. Then, I sewed both the front and the back of the hood together. On Sam's hood you see some stitch detailing down the middle of each half, as well as a stitched mouth in the front and 2 button eyes. I decided in the end to simply zig zag this detailing. I started out with a wider stitch then I wanted, so I took that out, and readjusted my stitch width and then re-stitched my seams. It turned out even better than expected. I did the mouth in the same manner. Once the mouth was done, I sewed the hood sides and top together. After that was done, I slipped it onto Brussel's head, and viola! It fit perfectly!!! I figured out the placement for the eyes and marked that spot with a pin. I luckily had tiny little 2 mm buttons in brown, which I stitched onto the hood with black thread. The sewing was now done! All that was left was to figure out how I wanted to tie it on.

My original plan was to tie it on using embroidery floss. Unfortunately, I have no idea where on earth that ended up, so I had to go to plan B. At this point it was nearing 10 o clock, so I wanted to get the outfit wrapped up so I could quit for the night. The quickest thing that I thought of and also actually found was some golden brown thin yarn. Yay for it being in some unexpected place right in front of me! I got the hood tied on, and Brussel Sprout is now ready to go trick or Treating. 

I think after I am done with this post, I'll get to work on the big 10 tee shirt order that came in  the other day on Etsy and just maybe I will start on a second Halloween costume! :) 

Sorting the Rainbow Highs - where are the missing ones??

Desperately needing a break from the Critter sorting, I was determined that today would be the day that I would find the Rainbow High clothes and accessories. I knew they were out in the storage building *in some box.* That's all I knew. Last time I was in the building, it wasn't all too happy and threw 2 stacks of boxes on me. The building must have been in a better mood today as I only had a little crashing today. :) It turned out to be most profitable. Not only did I find the RH stuff, I also found my missing G3 ponies!! But there was one small tragedy. Somehow one of the RH Poppy Cheer dolls - this one happened to be my absolute favorite - had gotten separated from all the others. I had kept her out while I was working on a little sewing the last few days before I moved and unfortunately for her, she had then been put into a box of random debris. And then that box of random debris - which included screws that had spilled out of their box -  had a heavier smaller box put on top of that box's contents. As I was stacking the boxes I intended to haul inside onto the ground out of the building, I just happened to glance down see a pair of RH legs sticking out of that debris box. With a sinking feeling I pulled the doll out. She had been face down on screws and those screws had left serious indentions in her face. And her head was squashed! I was pretty upset. Even if my intention was to sell off these dolls, I in no way want them messed up or soiled.

I just left poor Poppy outside in a different box while I went inside and began sorting through the RH clothes and accessories. I unfortunately still have no idea where the stands are. I only have 2 stands ATM, and I know I had stands for everyone. I had wanted to sell the dolls as complete as possible, though it's actually okay to not include stands. And here we find the next tragedy of the day. Dolls have gone missing. Before we moved I had stuck 4 dolls into a container. I cannot find it. I couldn't find it before we moved, and I still cannot find it. I am hoping it shows up, but at this point, it's a total mystery as to where it could have gone! And now, to add to that, we have dolls missing that were recently accounted for. They had been moved into the To Go stack. Now, where are they? Did they mistakenly get put by the side of the road and picked up with the Critter houses? Or did they get mixed up with trash? I really don't know. I am hoping that they show up, but at this point, once again, it's a total mystery. That's about 16 or so dolls - maybe more - just gone. I've been a little sick over it, but what can you do? There's always stuff that disappears in moves. The good thing here is that I wasn't going to keep them any way.

Even with the missing dolls, I had a LOT of stuff to sort through. The pic here looked far better on my phone - it really doesn't show the extent of the pile whatsoever. The dolls had all been separated from their clothing and shoes, and while it wasn't in the state of the Critter stuff, nothing was put together. So I spent quite a few hours sorting the original outfits and their extra outfits that go with each doll, dressing each doll and sealing her and her extra outfit in a gallon storage bag. The extra clothing that no longer has a doll to wear it all has been sorted and bagged up as well. It was honestly a blast. The smell of RH dolls is scrumptious and sitting there surrounded by piles of dolls was fun, even if towards the end it was feeling extremely tedious. 

I have to confess that I did end up keeping some of the dolls. Ha ha, it's what happened the last time that I went through the dolls to sell them. I kept 4 Violets - 2 Cheer, 1 Series 1 and the Jr.; Series 1 Ruby and Jr. Ruby; 2 Cheer Jade and Jr. Jade; Cheryl; Daphne; Margot; Series 1 Poppy, Jr. Poppy and Cheer Poppy. I, of course, had to keep her especially after I maimed her. :'( I got all of them dressed in their original clothing even if I do redress them in my own clothes when I can finally think about sewing doll clothes again. I am so tired of clothesless dolls, there are truly no words.

And now we come to some excellent news! Cheer Poppy ended up having a miraculous recovery. I brought her in to re-inspect the damage and amazingly enough, the smashed head and deep indentions were gone!!! She still has a couple of very light indentions and scrapes, but I'll take it. I'm so relieved that she is okay. I really wish that I had taken a picture of her before she somehow fixed herself - it was truly a sight, I tell you.  I guess being out from under all that weight she just naturally recovered her previous shape. Who'd have thought?

Now I just have to figure out where in the bloody blue blazes I am going to store these dolls. That's one reason I was so encouraged to part ways with them. At least the numbers have been dramatically reduced, so there's that. I'll figure something out! 

Sorting through Calico Critters, Part 1

We have been moved in now for a couple of weeks, give or a take a day or so. And still we are drowning in post mess/down size disaster. I haven't really had a whole lot of time to even get back to working on the curtains. I have done more on them, but not enough to update that particular subject with. 

Believe me when I say - and I will probably keep saying it - this move has been the biggest disaster ever was. I have spent all afternoon and a couple hours after dinner sorting through the Calico Critter boxes that I finally found in the storage building yesterday and brought in after 2 rows of boxes decided to just rain down on top of me. Our little outside storage building is obviously angry at its state of complete disarray as well. (And it used to be so nice! Hold on, little storage building. We will get you organized too.) These Critter boxes are hopefully the last remaining bit of Critter we will have to sort through. We made the decision sometime last week to simply set out by the side of the road nearly all of our Critter  houses for people to pick up for free. We simply do not have the room to store it nor the energy to try and list and sell all of it. Do I regret that decision? Not for one second!!! I hope whoever picked them up is really enjoying them. They got some steals. 

The stuff I had to go through today was the accessories and furniture pieces. Can I use the word disaster again? The boxes were not packed in a neat and organized manner. Oh no. No no no. It was all thrown haphazardly in there. Thankfully some things were actually in bags, such as the chocolate set, but basically everything was in a ruckus. I remember clearly the state of mind I was in when these boxes were packed in such a way. I really can't look back on myself and pass judgement. It was not an easy time. And the only solution that we had at that time was to throw stuff in boxes and get it out. Which has now led me to have the pure joy of spending literal hours sifting through it all and organizing what is being kept and what is going. 

I am fairly pleased with the progress. But am I done? No. The living room is still littered with get rid of bags and the stuff that I still have not sorted. ;"( At least there is some progress. I decided after a few hours of that to take a break and go through my Critters themselves and just clear out the extra families and figures. I really have to think about who I have the space to keep at this point. I kind of surprised myself with what I decided on. All of my Woodzeez, gone. My few Honey Bee Acres, gone. As for my actual Calico Critters, I decided to keep just a dozen families. My goal at first was maybe only 7 families, which soon grew to 10 and finally, 12. That's it. 

I am quite happy though. It has been such a battle with myself of grabbing everything cute and feeling desperate for more and more Critters. I really wasn't enjoying them. I couldn't do much with them, and having them closed away at a storage building in town, or in boxes and containers in my then room, really wasn't very fulfilling. I suppose the only way I was "connecting" with them, if you will, was to buy more. Stress buying. Sheesh. It's never a good idea! I even cut down my baby collection. I now only have a few babies per family and let go of all the extras that I have been hoarding. (Who needs 18 of one baby kind?) That's really huge for me. In reality, I want to be able to make all of my Critters more than one change of outfit, and considering how many I had, that would take forever.

After I sorted everybody out, I had some fun and worked on naming everyone. Most of the names I used I had already come up with, even if it was for a family that I am no longer keeping, so I didn't have to think of much that is new.  I'll write a list later on  and post it of who I have and how many of each family as well as their names. I'm kind of Critter listed out right now and still have a few more to name. My last family I do have to think of something new, and my brain is in grind mode ATM. I'll enjoy doing that later.

Once I am done sorting through Critter Disaster, I would like to get all of my Rainbow Highs listed on eBay. I started listing a few things yesterday. I am keeping my Shadow Highs, just not the Rainbow Highs, but all of this is a subject for another post. I just hope the storage building doesn't throw more boxes at me when I go out to find the Rainbow High clothes and stands!

Curtain making begins! Gothic Home Project #1

Since I have turned over a new leaf and am beginning a new chapter in life, I decided to just start a new blog. I'll keep my old one, but will no longer be posting on it.

 So, what's new? Well, the most exiting thing has finally happened. I finally have moved into a cute little trailer. While we are still in the middle of organizing and down sizing, we really haven't had a chance yet (it's only been a week) to begin any of the redecorating plans we have to turn are little trailer into a sophisticated gothic lair. The style we plan to go with is an eclectic mix of Victorian, industrial, Halloween and a few other elements. While it's a mix of styles, the most important part of this theme idea is cohesion. Everything will be cohesive. All rooms will have a mix of blacks, greys and whites. It will be fun to see how each room comes together, but cohesion and cool relaxing tones are the name of the game.

My first project is making curtains. :D I've always wanted to make my own curtains, so I am super excited. I've also never really done any real official curtain making and as I am winging it, I think this will be fun. We just want a simple curtain - no fancy drapery, so winging it is pretty much fail proof.  I'll just be doing one room a week, so this week I am going to work on my bedroom space.

Yesterday we went to Joann's and picked out 2 fabrics. One for the window covering, and one for the closet. I really want to remove the closet door. It's a pretty small space, and eliminating the door needing space to open just seems ideal to me. Plus the plain white door just isn't really nice to look at. I want to bring in decoration in space saving ways, and for this room, no door and a lovely skeleton print fabric is perfect. This will be the only room the closet door gets removed. 

I got 2 and a half yards for the closet curtain. This will be super simple as there is no point in lining it like the window curtains. I should have that one done pretty quickly.

For the window curtain, I got 5 yards - each curtain will be around 2 1/2 yards with a little fabric being set aside for tie backs. I don't think I actually need that much, but we will see. I'll be better prepared after I do these for when I get the next round of curtain fabric. I also got 5 yards of plain white muslin for the lining. 

The fabric has been prewashed, dried and then ironed. (Let me just say, for the record, I really do not enjoy ironing muslin. It's like, once it's been washed and wrinkled, it cannot be undone. At least not totally.) Ironing the fabric took me over an hour! I'm not sure how it took my that long, but I gotta also say that I adore my new iron. <3 It only cost around $20 -24 from Walmart and it is glorious! It's got a heavy weight to it and that makes ironing so much more effective. It's truly a joy to use. :) :) :)

I'll do a progress update once I get to work on the cutting and sewing after dinner. I also need to find my camera so I can take pics. TBC!