Good Days

I went to an Austin Stitchery Guild meeting Monday. We basically stitched and chatted, it was really nice. I think I'll become a regular. It's only once a month, though. At least for the distance I'm willing to travel.

Today was lace class, which is EVERY Tuesday. I LOVE lace class. We make lace and chat. I feel so fortunate to be part of this.

I made a new set of head impressions, but with older clay. It dried really fast and shrank too much. I'm trying another with fresh clay in a room without a ceiling fan. If this one shrinks, I'm using it anyway. I think tomorrow is a doll day.

I got a coveted prize today: a book on Tønder lace. It's a point ground, like Bucks Point (the kind I make), but it has different design motifs.

The box comes back out of the closet...

Well, I had a little success this morning with the needle sculpting, and that was very exciting. I went on the tweak my pattern to improve the shoulders and neck. Then it was time to make a head pattern, so I got out the last head I worked on. When I put it away before, I thought it looked awful. But today it looked really nice to me. Now I've messed that one up and I'm making another set of impressions.

The horse previously considered dead now takes a small breath

Last night I was practicing roll-and-whip and hand stitched tucks. Again I started thinking about how much I want to sew for my own dolls. I just can't give up the quest.

But I also had one last idea. A smaller needlesculpted head on the body I've finished already. I've finished a doll with this technique before and really liked it. On that doll, I stitched embroidery floss to the head for hair. It was pretty cool.

So this is what I've got now. I have to experiment with feature placement and the nose size. Right now the eyes are too small and there's another stitching line I like to include, but it's a start.

EGA

Oh such high hopes I have today. Working on the embroidery of this little dress has inspired me to give a go at French hand sewing. I'm going to try the Austin Stitchery Guild this month to see if I like it. I would like to get some constructive feedback on my embroidery. I can attend two meetings without paying. It is hella expensive to join. I would like to work up to doing a program at EGA (Embroiderer's Guild of America--including Canada!) on plain and fancy work. The first requirement is shadow work, which I've never done and will have to really think about a design I would like.

I feel so much more relaxed since giving up the doll. I'm not sad about it anymore. I really like what I'm doing.

Sewing for Kish again

It is decided. I will sew for Kish again. I have tried making these dolls since November, and I find it impossible to combat my anxiety and follow through. I am trying to buy a Bethany-size doll, hopefully, keep our fingers crossed, an Olivia, to go with the 14" girls.

I am breaking out my cotton mousseline finally. The whole bolt needs to be folded in half, and then I will cut some 1/2 yard pieces for dyeing. I have so many lovely colors, and this fabric is totally fabulous. You can see your hand through it.

I feel OK about this. Sewing clothes is much safer. This time I will make OOAK outfits, with matching shoes.

I am full of wonderful ideas for how to make a doll, I just can't do it myself. It's sad, but it's good to be decided finally.

Indecision

I don't like the way the needle sculpting looks. I could work on it, but I just don't think it will have the look I'm going for. I love the idea of a half scale doll, but if I sculpt from clay, it will be difficult to make the fabric smoothly cover it. The one third scale doll is practically done. The body has been designed, I have three extra heads nearly ready to mold. The dresses in one third scale would require shorter lengths of lace. There are more arguments for one third than for one half. Maybe later on I can do the bigger dolls. I'm so full of frustration, so I will continue my guilt-free vacation and read The History of Lace.

Break

I'm taking an official break from lace and from feeling guilty about not making a doll yet. The lace is harder, as it should be in a progressive book, but I'm not quite feeling the inspiration right now. This has happened once already, and the good feelings did come back, so I'm not worried. This is really a very pretty pattern, just a little complicated. I think I'm about half-way through the book now, but it will take longer on the remaining patterns. I went to the local lace guild meeting on Tuesday night! The meeting place isn't exactly conducive to bobbin lace making, but it is great for a social gathering. I got high praise from someone whose opinion matters to me, and that felt really good, especially when others joined in. Then later I started to suspect that I was having my ego stroked. I'm always worried that my lace isn't good enough, and certain people know that about me. At the time, though, it felt good, and I'll try to just accept that. I was planning to do a lot of cooking today, but I'm having a glass of wine and rethinking those plans. I may just read some lace books.

Lace 13

I think this is a really pretty pattern. I worked it all the way around, because I was planning to do the sewing, but I hated the sewing so much that I just cut the threads off. I will never do a sewing.

The next one is ugly, so I've decided to skip it. This is difficult for me because I'm neurotic about doing things in order. ORDER. Order is important. But I realized that life is too short to make ugly lace. Lace 15 is another really pretty pattern.