I did another show the first week of August. It was the hottest day so far this year. It was also humid so it made it almost unbearable. Not a lot of people shopping; most of the people were on the beach. Another thing I learned… no more August craft shows. I’ll be looking for one in the fall and one closer to Christmas (inside, of course).

One thing I do find that is interesting at Craft Shows is watching people. Many people were happy that I didn’t have jewelry. I have nothing against jewelry (I have a lot of it myself) but there are a lot of booths selling jewelry.

One woman came in my booth and looked over my American Girl doll clothes. She made a comment that with a coupon, she could get the clothes for practically nothing at AC Moore. That may be true but my clothes are made in the good ole USA and don’t fall apart after many washings. I really didn’t get offended because I probably make the clothes better than I should and like to finish all the seams. It’s just me… I like to make quality items with extra details. Sometimes I think we Americans have gotten used to a lot of the junk out there.

After craft show #2, I learned even more things. Mostly I need to get sides for my tent and other props for displaying my items. Wish me luck for the next one!

Yesterday I had my “creations” on display at the Strawberry Festival in Orange. I bit the bullet and took a booth. I haven’t done a craft show in many years and wanted to get my name and website out there.

I packed up my car (I no longer have a SUV) to the gills on Friday. The event was to have taken place on Saturday but it rained so they moved the event to Sunday. This event is put on by my church so they had to change the Sunday service. I got there bright and early to set up because I wanted to go to church.


I set up my tables and tent in the exact spot I was suppose to within the markings. I loved the spot because I had shade from two lovely dogwood trees. I went to church. When I got back, the people on either side of me were setup with tables way out in the aisle. My little booth was set way back missing a lot of traffic. I was bummed. The tent was staked down and I couldn’t move the tables by myself. My friends had trouble finding me.

I don’t think my hidden booth was the only reason I had trouble selling things. Most people were walking around not buying anything. The strawberry shortcake was the big seller.


Well, it was a learning experience. It was a beautiful day and I had a lot of positive reactions to my creations. I guess I will try another one later this year.

As a courtesy with the purchase of my new sewing machine, the store offered me free lessons. The first two lessons were on how to use the embroidery features of my machine. The last three lessons were mastering my  sewing machine. Even though I have been sewing for more years than I care to admit, I learned a lot from these lessons.

The last lesson on mastering was all about presser feet. Any machine I had came with a package of presser feet that I had no idea what they were used for. The instructor showed us how to use a ruffler, gatherer, pin tuck, narrow hem, and pearl/piping feet.

The two feet that caught my eye were the narrow hem and pearl/piping. The narrow hem is not an easy foot to learn how to use. It makes a beautiful narrow hem without all the effort of folding and sewing. It will take me some practice master it. I may have to stop by the store and get a refresher from the instructor.

The pearl and piping foot is another wonder! It has a groove on the bottom of the foot that goes over the piping or cord. If you have ever used a zipper foot to make cording, you know that you don’t get very close to the cord. You not only can make the cording, you can also use it to attach the cord to the pillow.

Next time you get a chance, take out all those strange looking presser feet that came with you sewing machine. You may find a time saving tool.

You have many options for ragdoll hair. You can choose the packages of synthetic hair or wigs. I don’t  particular care for the curly synthetic hair and find it had to work with. Also when I glue the on hair (using a hot glue gun), I get glue lumps on the doll’s head. For most dolls I make I like using yarn to give the best results. 
 
If you need curly hair, you can purchase curly yarn or use wool yarn and wrap it around knitting needles. Wet the yarn while on the needles. Let dry and remove from the needles. It makes great curly hair.

For other types of hair, you can wrap hair into loops using cardboard or your hand. You can then hand sew or glue the hair into place.

Whatever type of hair you make be sure you mark your doll’s head with tailors chalk for hair placement before stitching or gluing. There are great videos on the Internet that give you ideas on different styles of ragdoll hair.

I have not purchased a sewing machine in over 20 years. I have a Brother XL2021 with 21 stitches. I had another Brother previously that was also 20 years old before I replaced it. The older Brother was just a basic machine with straight and zig zag stitches. I bought the newer one mainly because it had more stitches and made buttonholes. I was so happy with that XL2021, until now.

I started looking around for a new machine. Boy was I in for a shock! Not only the prices but what these machines can do. They thread their own needle (a wonderful invention for my older eyes), cut the thread, reverse
without holding down a button, and probably can dance if I let it.

I decided on a Baby Lock that also does embroidery. It didn’t make sense to me to purchase a machine without the embroidery. Now I have to learn how to use the machine. Fortunately the place where I purchased the machine offers lessons. You will soon see embroidery on my doll clothes.

Baste, baste, baste! I still remember those words from my home-ec teacher in grade school. She was right. Basting has saved me numerous hours of seam ripping even though it takes longer to baste than just pinning and
sewing.

Collars
Baste, using long hand stitching, down collars before pinning the facing to the neck edge. This keeps the collar from shifting during machine sewing. The collar stays where you want it. I usually use contrasting thread so I can easily see the basting stitches to remove them.

Zippers
After machine basting the center seam where you are placing the zipper, press open the seam. Next hand baste a zipper (regular zippers; not particularly invisible zippers) using the guides on the zipper and contrasting thread. Turn the garment to the right side. Sew the zipper using the basting stitches as a guide. This will make your stitches more even on either side of the center seam.

Let me know some of the other things you baste. Whether you are making doll clothes or an outfit for yourself, take the time to baste, baste, baste!