Going through my mother’s extensive collection of handicraft supplies and projects was to step back in time. I remember when she was using acrylic paints and decoupaging everything that didn’t move. That was in the early 70’s. Then I found the unfinished sewing projects. The fact that she had started them and not finished, it broke my heart a little. She was always busy with some project or another, and happy at it, but these sequined, felt, Christmas ornaments, and the little doll really did me in. The doll I remembered my mother telling me she had begun when I was born. She got distracted and didn’t finish it. I have my precious grand girl now. Maybe she would like what MeeMaw began so long ago.

First, I had to figure out the directions. There weren’t much to them. There were a few pictures, this wasn’t quite as hard as putting a desk from Ikea together. I stuffed the pieces and sewed them together. I sewed the shirt together using a little hand-held sewing machine. I don’t expect I’ll be doing a lot of sewing projects so having a real sewing machine won’t be in future purchase plans. The little hand-held machine made this a cinch. Except there is only one strand of thread instead of two and so if I happen to pull too hard at the end of each turn the entire seam would come out. Hmmm.

Then I came to the yarn hair. After about five strands I believe I have discovered how to hide the part and make the hair look like it’s part of the doll’s head. I got this!

I was smoking, until I came the trousers. There were pockets for crying out loud! I’ve never done pockets on anything. The directions were completely missing for the little bluejeans. I couldn’t figure out how to piece the parts together. It took me an hour of working and growling until I thought I had it right. I used the hand-held and began to sew, but then something happened to the little machine. The thread kept coming unthreaded from the needle. I kept rethreading it. I would try again and it would come apart again. Enough already! I hand-sewed the trouser legs. I turned it inside out and realized it was all wrong. I picked out the seams and tried again. This was such a lesson in patience. This time giving up completely on the machine and hand-sewing everything. I finally had it right. However, the seams on the blouse were coming undone – like me. That’s when I pulled out the big gun.

It’s called glue.

The little baseball mitt and the ball and the shoes…I glued. And forget about the pockets. I think it might be even be childproof.

Along with the sewing projects I now have tried decoupage. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds and certainly is a great way to use my old stamp collection.  And 100 year old music magazines my mother had kept.   Yes, I’m decoupaging everything.