Louise is finished and Thelma is GLAD!

All week long I've been making lists and crossing things off.  Sometimes I feel so tired of always needing to be on task.  

Louise, the doll I started making last Saturday, sat all week with her unfinished hair and unfinished face.  

I was not at all happy with her wig, so on Thursday morning before work I took time to make another one, but I didn't have time to sew it onto her head.  My dining room looked a mess all week.  I remembered why I quit sewing when my kids were little.  

Finally Friday evening I had time to work on her.  Her hair just caused me no end of problems.  It fell apart, it fuzzed up, it put little brown hairy things all over her body.  I got her eyes, nose, and mouth stitched on before I quit after midnight and decided she was good enough, and I was NOT going to make her any clothes.  I had seen doll clothes at Joanne Fabrics last Saturday when I got the materials to make her, and I decided that's where I would go to get her some clothes.  At least she had a housecoat that I found in our doll clothes.  

This morning I decided that the eyebrows and eyelashes that I had drawn on her face were not good enough, so I picked up a needle and thread once more and stitched some onto her face.  Then I restitched her incision (where I had sewn her shut after stuffing her)  and put some more stitches in her head to hold her hair on tighter.  I was feeling happier with her.

Then I was off to Joanne Fabrics.  The doll clothes they had were for 18-inch dolls, the American Girl variety.  Poor Louise is not their body type.  She's only 12 inches tall and her feet are kind of fat.  But I bought a few outfits and a pair of shoes.  I dressed her up in one of them for her trip to Florida.  I was feeling really happy with her now.

I packed her up and took her to the post office, and they said Sophie will have her by Christmas.  I wish I could see her face when she opens that box.  

Now I need to tell the back story of why I made a doll for Sophie's Christmas present.  Remember when we were in Florida in November I was helping her to clean up this doll that my mom had made for Lisa when she was little?

That evening when Lisa was tucking Sophie in, she explained to Sophie that this would not be a doll that she would be playing with a lot.  It was special to Lisa because it is the only thing she has from her grandma, who died when Lisa was just 8 years old.  Poor Sophie had a little meltdown as she cried about the fact that she doesn't have any doll that her grandma made for her.  

When Lisa came out to the kitchen afterward and told me, we both laughed, knowing that this was something I would definitely try to do something about.  Now she'll have a doll made for her by her grandma, hahaha!!

This evening Dick and I gave the house a good cleaning.  We're expecting guests tomorrow!  Bjorn's dad, Kris, was at a medical conference in NYC last weekend, then drove to Manheim on Monday.  He's been there at Fred and Deb's this week, getting a view of Bjorn's life in the US.  

Tomorrow morning they will be driving up here and spending the day with us and Anthony and Lori. On Monday morning they'll head for the JFK airport, leaving in the evening for Sweden.  Bjorn will spend his Christmas vacation at home in Sweden, then return to Manheim Central for the rest of his senior year.  

Now I gotta do some practicing on the piano for tomorrow morning.   Good night!