What I'd rather be doing is working on this:
Back when my nieces little M and little A were visiting we were at the Hello Kitty store in Hollywood. Both girls had been given a bit of spending money by their auntie Colleen. Little M walked around the store trying to figure out what she could spend her money on. She saw a display of Hello Kitty plush dolls, there was also a rack of clothes that you could purchase to add to Kitty's wardrobe. Little M's eyes grew wide and she said excitedly: Maybe I should buy this!
I sort of rolled my eyes (she didn't see) because I felt like it wasn't that cute, the quality was definitely poor and it was a total rip-off pricewise. I kind of muttered: I could make you that.
And so of course Little M got really excited and said: Do it! Make it for me for my birthday! Or for Christmas, it's sooner!!
I got excited too. I didn't make it in time for Christmas, but her birthday's in February and it's what I've been working on lately.
I decided to make a bunny rag doll instead of directly copying the Hello Kitty doll. I like Hello Kitty, don't get me wrong. But I'd love my nieces to have something a little more original. What you see above is a few drafts in the making. I made one bunny last week and wondered if it might be too small. She's a little odd looking, but I grow to love her the more I see her around. I made a bigger version at about 19" from the tip of her ears to the soles of her feet and you know what? That was too big. So I'm sticking with the original which comes in about 15" from ears to feet. Right now I'm tweaking the design a bit. The arms are a little too short, I'd like for her to have ankles and toes instead of just pointy feet and if possible arms that hang a certain way. I'm picturing a kid holding a rag doll by one hand and the rest of the doll hanging from that position. In my mind it's a charming image. Right now bunnydoll's arms just don't hang that way. We'll see if my obsession with the charming image outlasts my patience for ripping seams.
Once done I'll make a second bunnydoll. The first is a prototype for me to keep (hee hee) and also, the fun part of all this is coming up with and making cute outfits for bunnydoll and Little M. So once I send off bunnydoll to live with Little M I'll need a model to work off of for future outfits. This is very important. I want to knit wee little socks and sweaters too. I'm totally getting obsessed with this. I'm okay with that.
2 comments:
Remember a billion years ago when we made the list of characteristics that either made a person a "Jean" or a "Jenn?" I don't have that list. Do you? I'd guess it needs some updating, though I can't at the moment remember any of the things that were on it.
However. If I were to add something to it today, it would be something about having the required patience to re-do some task repeatedly until perfection is achieved as opposed to forging ahead and trying to make something out of a mistake you've already made. (I mean this in a crafting sense, not a larger metaphorical sense. I'd have to think more about it before being willing to commit to the larger metaphorical meaning.) I discovered last night while working on the stocking that I had put the left snowman leg where the right snowman leg should have gone. To fix it would require removing not only the leg already attached, but the snowman's scarf, body, and hat. It would fix all the misaligned pieces that I had applied since the leg mix up happened.
A "Jean," of course, wouldn't hesitate or grumble about fixing the error (arguably, she might not have made it in the first place.) The "Jenn" response was to think..."Hmmm, is there any way some trimming and a few more sequins could make this passable?" I'm proud to say that I did indeed follow the Jean route in this instance, inspired by your repeated attempts at bunny perfection (and Nathan's offer to run upstairs and get the scissors for me.) I've now got everything reattached in the right place. All the re-sewing gave me time to reminisce about our list making habits. My favorite comment on our attempts to categorize the world as "Jeans" or "Jenns" came from NSL, who said "There are two types of people in the world: Those who try to divide the world into one of two groups and those who don't."
This is the longest comment I've ever left on any blog, ever.
Oh jenn, I've learned to asses when it's better to cut my losses and rig a way for the mistake to "work" with the design and when I need to give up and start all over again. There's always grumbling going on ;)
Sometimes I find it helps to put the project aside for like a year or something to help dull the pain. I imagine that Chonies' first xmas stockings can't get shelved in the same way. I salute your bravery to undo all the hard work to fix an error. It's going to be an awesome stocking!
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