Almost Spring & some Doll Torture

Spring must be just around the corner when this happens in our garden -
lovely old-fashioned SnowFlakes. This happens too -

A native Australian orchid Dendrobium teretifolium, commonly called Rats' Tail Orchid in NSW and Bridal Veil Orchid in Queensland :-) I've had this lovely orchid since 1982. Love the way the petals curve backwards making the flowers look like a child running with their arms out and I love the perfume of these flowers. Sorry we don't yet have Blog-a-Scent but many native orchids have gorgeous scent - D teretifolium is like a lot of the Dendrobiums, sweet with a powdery quality. Wish I could bottle it!

And now for some Doll Torture - avert your eyes if you are squeamish! No I've not been customising Blythe Dolls (not brave enough) but I'm plotting and planning a project which requires 1/2 a doll. So off to large store toy department where I was bewildered by the amazing array of plastic ... mostly Barbies. BTW they've changed her face again and she looks exactly like Paris Hilton ... very apt! But I bought another sort of doll for a whole $6.

Hubby ripped her legs off, then he amputated half her bottom with a hack-saw, I cooked her arm in hot water



so I could bend it, then we drilled holes in her hips, finally I sandpapered the rough bits ...


More on this project in future posts.



Well perhaps as punishment for all that, there has been a little human torture too. This last week I've been busy sewing for a private client; making among other items, a slip dress in a very soft silk fabric. A really pretty fabric but a nightmare to sew except when perfectly on the straight of grain and this is a bias cut slip dress - the straps are probably the only parts on the straight. I had planned to hem the frock with a neat little machine hem - impossible, the sewing machine just wanted to eat the fabric, I tried all my tricks and nothing worked. SO - I consulted my lovely old "Encyclopedia of Needlework" for a quick brush-up on the technique for a hand stitched rolled hem. It isn't all that slow but my left hand gets the sore from holding the fabric taut.