As many of you know, I cut back on my blog posts during August so I could take some time off.
I did have time off from the blog but I had so much fun making a variety of creative side trips that it wasn't exactly the vacation I'd planned! But I had the best time: I wouldn't change anything!

Let me fill you in on some of my adventures.

I spent a lot of time on the Spoonflower.com website in August. More about that next time. I found some great fabric designers on their site. The pillow cover above was made using Hootenannit's fabric design "Chase!" The beagle is totally foxed by the fox! It's such a fun design. The designer asked me to send a photo of my completed project, which I did. She posted my pillow cover photos in her shop. How cool is that? If you would like to purchase this fabric, just click on the link above.

I also spent a lot of time doing Work-Alongs on Creativebug.com. There are a number of DYI craft websites that offer on-line classes. I have to say, Creativebug.com is my favorite! Their Work-Alongs are amazing. They offer a free 2 week trial period so you can check it out. Then it's $4.95 a month if you wish to join. For each month you are a member, you may permanently keep one class in your Creativebug.com library.

I've been trying to design clothes for my Waldorf dolls but I'm not a pattern designer. So I decided to take the "Master Pattern Drafting" class taught by Cal Patch. So much fun. Cal teaches you how to measure yourself so you can draw your a pattern which exactly fits your own body. And no, you don't need another person to help with the tape measure! Cal is fun and easy going and she's very skilled professional pattern designer. I got myself measured up and created a "master" pattern for a dress/tunic. Then I made a muslin (a quick trial of the pattern) of the tunic length to see if it fit. It did--like a glove. But I sewed my muslin out of muslin (I had a lot in my stash) which has zero "give". It fit so snugly I nearly couldn't get it off! I'm still chuckling about that! I like my clothes loose. I clearly need to add a bit more "ease" to my measurements than Cal suggested, or I need to sew with stretchy knits. Here are photos of my dress pattern and the muslin see-if-it-fits test tunic. (No, it's not supposed to be cute or finished)!

Week 3 of the Master Pattern Work-along focuses on making a skirt from your master pattern. I've watched the video but haven't made the skirt yet. But I expect this will work well. Plus, her design has a zipper so I definitely will be able to take it off!

Does this relate to making doll clothes? Yes, absolutely. The doll can be measured the same way as a person and Cal Patch's directions can be used to make a master pattern for a doll's dress. I haven't had time to do that yet, but now I know I can!

This post is already getting long and I've barely scratched the surface. And in fact "Surface" is a good word. I spent the majority of my August learning to create surface designs by drawing, painting, using Adobe's Photoshop and trying (though not yet succeeding) to use Adobe's Illustrator.

I had such a great time learning new skills in August that I'm not ready to stop. So for now, I'm going to continue to post to the blog about once a week. I will bring you along on my creative adventures! Next time: Learning to Design Fabrics for printing at Spoonflower.com.