New Pandemic Hobby

Too late to join the mask-making movement, I discovered an old Singer sewing machine in my aunt's garage.  A testament to the sturdiness of its construction, after dusting it off, it fired right up.  This did not solve the larger problem in that I have no idea how to use it, but I've made some minor strides by practicing making Barbie clothes.  (Yes, I spend time with a 6-year-old).  My mother (an expert sewer and maker of well-constructed, lovely Barbie clothes back in the day) would have been entertained by my efforts, I suspect.  I certainly appreciate her skills in a new way given my recent attempts.  

Fruits of my labor so far: 

The Ballgown

Made from an old pillowcase, I used a pattern I found online...and made quite a mess of it.  The top had so many seams going back and forth that it looked almost embroidered.  I was working without a model (no, I don't yet own my own Barbies), so the initial attempt needed some crucial modifications.  The 6-year-old and her mother added in straps so the top would stay up -- and also all the beads, because hey, glue guns are fun.  

The Pinwheel Skirt

This one, I didn't use a pattern, instead making it up, which worked moderately better than I would have thought.  But the waist top is still a lump of crooked tangled thread, and I likely should have hemmed the bottom all at once, rather than piece by piece before connecting them. And the seams don't lie flat because I didn't sew them twice.  And I broke a needle. There was some swearing involved. But I did figure out how to wind the bobbin and thread the machine, so progress nonetheless.  I also had a borrowed Barbie to work with so I could adjust the size appropriately.  

The Slinky Purple Faux Velvet

This was a free-for-all patternless event which worked somewhat more than I would have guessed largely because the material is an old shirt that stretches, and I was able to cut it out so that I could keep the original bottom hem (rather than my inevitably crooked lumps).  Adding in some darts meant that the dress actually stayed on.  The feather boa (fluff taken from the top of an xmas gift bag) perhaps changed the style a bit from Starlet Barbie to Hooker Barbie, but I couldn't give up the boa once I'd found it.  The 6-year-old repurposed the boa into a cat toy, which is probably for the best.