PEERING INTO THE FUTURE

Well, here we are peering anxiously into the future, and hoping “something will turn up, Mr. Macawber.” – Ethel Dobson Robinson to her brother Vance on Jan. 3, 1937.

It’s only the 6^th of January but already the holidays of 2022 seem long ago. Mike and I removed our outdoor Christmas lights on January 2. We used our old projection light on the front of the house and added some solar string lights to the trees on the bank and in the side yard. I like solar lights and also the battery-operated timer lights.

I’ve put away the most Christmassy of my holiday sweatshirts and will now wear the snowy, wintry themes for the next several months. I stacked the Christmas cards and tossed the holiday catalogs. I used to feel sad as I went about these things, but today I’m anxious to move on to a new phase – various projects in the sewing room with Christmas 2023 in mind. It’s a well-known fact in my family that I love getting ready for Christmas better than the actual event, so why not get started? I’ve neatly listed ideas in my new engagement calendar. This enthusiasm will fade away naturally as spring appears. As if on cue, our Burpee’s catalog arrived earlier this week, but until the days are longer and the temps warmer, I will keep busy in my workshop.

Sewing doll clothes has been in a lull since Hazel grew up and became a cheerleader. It shouldn’t matter that I don’t have a little girl in mind as I sew because I have plenty of ideas anyway, but I do miss the girls. I can’t complain. I had a good run with Elizabeth and Hazel.

Anyway, I still like to make doll clothes, and this holiday season I discovered the work of doll clothes designer “Oh Sew Kat” and became inspired to use up some of my stash in experimenting with her patterns. “Kat” keeps it simple, and I vowed to myself that I would, too, but wouldn’t you know it! I became distracted with a green costume satin which I paired with a sheer overlay. Could I have made it harder!? Costume satin frays! I threw the little dress in the trash one day only to dig it out the next and finish it, even though I think it was a waste of time and products. Still, you can see that Shirley Anne, American Farm Girl, loves being dressed up.  

I like to think that no matter how a project turns out, it doesn’t leave me where it found me. I must have learned something –right? – but I don’t promise not to take on a challenge again. (Maybe I can make it better.)

[The doll dress is from the pattern “Sugar n Spice” by “Oh Sew Kat.”]