I'M OUTTA HERE!

I finally put the first shipment of things for Korea into the "mail" today!  I sent only the things for our one little girl at this time.   I have two other finished quilts ready to go, and only the binding to put on two others, but I decided to hold those until I get back from vacation.

I want to do at least two more "juvenile" themed quilts before shipping any more if at all possible.

I had never decided what to do with my first class-project quilt--the reversible baby quilt.  I decided to send it for a lap robe for our little girl.  So I sent her big quilt, the lap robe/baby quilt, her dolly and it's quilt and outfits, the yellow and black 2-piece outfit I made for her, etc.  Then I stayed up until 3 a.m. this morning writing a story for her about her "American Family".  (oh my.....)

Isn't she adorable?


Our shipper is from Korea, so he was an amazing help to me.  He checked all the options to see whether I should ship them to someone to take back with her in August, or whether to use Korea Express to ship them directly.  I will decide for sure when I see how big a box it takes and how heavy it is.

I decided to go into the educational store almost next door to search for a very simple "sticker book" to include.  I was delighted to discover they had sticker books in Korean--as well as other books and games, etc.  So I got a book, plus an educational toy/game to send at Christmas.  The lady kept saying, "they have the BEST sticker books in Korea, you don't need to send them THERE!"  I explained that I didn't know if the orphanage had a great deal of money to spend on such things.  I think she was so excited about what I was doing, that she gave me a Korean alphabet book to include in the shipment!  What a nice lady!  I will definitely patronize her store...  (I should "yelp" it, shouldn't I?)

I think there are about 20 residents in the little girl's house, so I plan to make at least that many quilts.  Then I found that a lot of people could use "lap robes" as there are many in wheelchairs and they have to move long distances between buildings in the winter.  It gets very cold.  So my work is cut out!

[I am also supposed to be getting on with my family history/family trees projects, and transcribing my husband's "book" from his letters mailed from a 5-month trip to the Middle East in 1965-66.  Where will I get the hours and still have time to spend with my precious grandchildren???]

Anyway, my bags have been packed for three days (except for one liquid med and this computer)!  My paperwork is nearly done (I would be finished, but one website is down tonight), the shipments to Indonesia and the Congo are done, the stuff for Korea has gone.  I still have a note to write for our cleaning lady (seems a silly thing to call someone who is a "friend"), and I will not be able to finish some sewing projects I had hoped to complete before leaving, but I'm doing pretty well.

Speaking of our sweet lady, she is now raising six children all on her own.  Her husband passed away just about the time her last baby was born. She is godmother to three children whose mother abandoned them.  So she imported the children, for a total of six.  I don't know how she is doing it.  What a great lady!  My Christmas sewing includes three quilts for their beds as well!

My hand became really unhappy because the "steam" button on my fabulous iron began to stick (I think it got tired of ironing and steaming quilt fabrics!).  My thumb especially was unhappy--so I aim to give it all a rest for three weeks and have some fun!

You all have fun while I'm gone,and do some sewing or quilting!

A dolly needs to be able to dress like her "Mommie"

After accidentally beginning a series of dolly outfits from different countries and cultures (shown in a previous post--see "Dolly for a Sweet Girl in Korea"), it occurred to me that I really should include a traditional Korean costume as part of the first shipment.

This my first attempt at creating a kid-friendly "hanbok" for a dolly

It would look more authentic if the bodice were a tad shorter and fitted under the arms snugly.  But I won't make things so fitted as I want kids to be able to dress their own dolls.  The shoulders should be narrower for this dolly and the sleeves should be longer, but both things make it harder to put it on the dolly, so I have avoided those details.  It would be more gathered at the waist that way, too.  But it's not too bad for a first try, especially given my constraints.

The bodice is a polyester blend "shantung", so it's all been washed.  The stripes are a designer fabric I found on a sale table.  

I'm rather hoping the piece of designer fabric will be large enough to make something for the princess, but she's growing so fast I'm not sure if that will be possible.  I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure it is partly cotton.  The black part is almost sheer--very unusual.

I don't think the braid will do too well being washed very much, so hopefully it won't be necessary too often?

The neck band is bias binding, folded and hand-sewn.

For this one I had to break several of my "rules".  Normally I would not "gather" (unless by serger), but both the skirt and sleeves at the cuff had to be gathered.   Also, I would not completely "face" the bodice, but with this fabric it was necessary.  The stuff "shreds"--thank goodness for sergers!  Normally I would not use any braid that wasn't very durable either.  And hand sewing the bias binding is a major 'no-no', but I did--I wasn't messing with the shantung on the machine any more than necessary!

Also, it took possibly 5 hours to accomplish this chore from choosing fabrics, cutting, to completion--another HUGE 'no-no' for dolly clothes!   But she is Korean--so I tried to make it as authentic as possible.

Of course the back is open with a velcro closure--easy on and off for kids...

The diaper/panties with elastic front and velcro closure are made from a stripey yellow/gold cotton fabric (left over from the reversible baby quilt).  I used the same as a "facing" for the back bodice, so I could fasten the velcro into something more substantial than shantung.  I also put a piece inside the shantung on the side you see in the photo above for reinforcement.

So, in this shipment we'll have covered an American slightly Western outfit, a rather Chinese dress with Fishmen's pants, a somewhat Japanese kimono, and a Korean hanbok -- happy accident!  

I'm curious to see what countries may be represented in the next shipment--but I'm already mulling a Swiss costume or Dirndl, and I'm sure I'll get around to a pioneer or Wild West costume eventually.

My "muse" seems to work thematically--sometimes it's a rather unified color scheme or, as in this case it began with several coordinating fabrics and grew into several cultures.  In any case, it seems to sort of "flow together" as I ponder "what's next" as I work...  I rather like my "happy accidents".

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Sat., July 27, 2010

I am SO excited.  My nice Korean shipper recognized the hanbok!  So I did an ok job with my interpretation.  He said the white band around the neck was the "cincher".  He told me that part is often replaced during the life of a garment--makes a lot of sense.

Little Girls in Wheelchairs need some "Flexible Clothing"

This is going to Korea. I am leaving all the elastic pinned so they can adjust to her size. I made it big, so it may not fit her this year, but I think it will probably work for 2 or 3 years because everything that matters is elastic and the rest is fairly large for an almost 8-year old.

What am I ever going to do when ric rac goes back out of style?

The top is VERY easy, and easy to make larger--just a little longer top and bottom, and place the pattern a little further from the fold.

And I'm still LOVING my serger ruffler foot. I thought it would ruffle this fabric more because it is very light weight, but it is also very soft and the foot wasn't very fond of it.  (You can barely tell that the top layer is tiny white dots on a black background.)

Hope I guessed the size sort of right!

Dolly for a Sweet Girl in Korea

The quilt part of this post is repeated on my companion blog:  Nana-B's Quilting Fun.
http://nanabs-quilting-fun.blogspot.com/2011/01/look-what-few-scraps-will-make.html

Before I took a quilting class, I would have thrown these narrow strips left over from her "big-girl" quilt into the trash. Just look what they made for her dolly!

And every dolly needs her very own cosy quilt--made with batting, quilted like the big one, and backed and self-bound with the scraps.

Back

Dolly's Asian dress with Fishermen's Pants

Dolly's jamies are the matching flannel print which is in cotton in the quilt

Western dress with decorative stitching and matching diaper/panties

Japanese-type kimono with matching green diaper/panties

Thick, fleecy bunting

I didn't start out to make "ethnic" dolly clothes, but the quilt inspired the outfits, and they just birthed themselves. Now that I've started down this path, I'm thinking that in the future I shall send her outfits from more cultures. I shall have to think about how to make a Korean "hanbok" as well.

The kimono was the difficult one--everything else derives from my basic modular patterns, but I should have started from scratch for the kimono. Oh well, live and learn. In the end, with lots of tucks and pleats, it turned out fairly well--perhaps even better than it would have been had I not put in the pleats and tucks as they really help form the arms. If the dolly were alive, it would have lots of movement in the arm area!

(Stay tuned for a greater manifestation of the kimono fabrics...)

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Sat., Jul 17, 2010

I am SO excited--my nice Korean shipper recognized my hanbok!!  He said it was the white band around the neck that cinched it!    yeah!