New Acquisitions: Insomnia Edition

Friends, unlike you, I can't talk about men's shirtmaking endlessly without the occasional break; I'm simply not a shirt-obsessive.  With all the focus on our Sew-Along, I neglect to mention all the other exciting things going on.  Since I'm wide awake at 3 am, I'd like to share a few of them.

First of all, look what arrived in the mail yesterday -- or should I say who. 



Reader's, I picked up this 12-inch vintage vinyl Viking on eBay and can I just say this was one of the best $20 I ever spent in my entire life?  I don't know why I never bought a Ken before.  I have a few vintage Barbies somewhere and a Skooter (Barbie's sister Skipper's friend) I picked up in a thrift store out West.  Somehow Ken never interested me though we're roughly the same age and I don't mean seventeen.

Until Sassy Lassy.  Readers, surely you are familar with Sassy, of Sassy Lassie's Vintage Life. Now I am considered by many to be a bit of a kookie collector, but Sassy...well, Sassy puts me to shame.

Last January Sassy ran a series on her blog about her doll collection.  A few highlights:

Midge.

Barbie.

Ken.

Whoops, wrong photo -- that's Mr. Sassy and quite a doll himself if you ask me.  This is Sassy's Ken doll.

Sassy wrote a loving tribute to Ken that moved me to tears -- and to eBay.   After much inner debate, I decided against the original flock hair model in favor of painted hair (just like Sassy's, I mean, Sassy's Ken) and, Troy Donahue fan that I am, I opted for the butternut blonde.



Friends, I am in love with every painted hair on his injection-molded vinyl head.  And look at that suit.  It's even lined.







And the shirt...





Sure he could use a sloping shoulder adjustment, but who couldn't?

I am fortunate to own this book, which I've had for 17 years.  It's full of color pics of all of Ken's Male Pattern Boldness-worthy outfits, with detailed descriptions of each.







Readers, if you are looking to find a home for your priceless Ken doll wardrobe, please think of me.  Remember: decluttering is next to Godliness!  More Ken pics here.

Let's move on.

Good news from the penitentiary -- Cathy is nearing the end of her sentence and should be out by mid-March.  It seems she's lost a little weight and could use a frosting but I think she'll be back in fighting form pretty fast.  In honor of the occasion I picked up 3 yards of this cotton sateen on Tuesday -- should I have bought 6?



I'm envisioning something like this.  What do you think?

I've already bought this, to give it the poofiness it deserves if I go in that direction.

The alternative is this type of thing, which has a bit more of the Doris Day-in-Jean Louis look to it:

I'm not sure which way to go.  Thoughts?

I also bought some cotton shirting.   This sort of had an anime vibe and seemed so utterly inappropriate for a man's shirt that I had to have it.  It's what I'll be making my final version of Negroni out of, though it probably belongs in a baby's bassinet.



Finally, friends, I picked up a dozen of these transparent sewing machine needle plate decals.



Neither my Singer 66 treadle nor more Pfaff 30 has any measurements on the needle plate and they don't sell the measured plate, though you can line things up with various screws for accuracy. But really, this seems so much easier.  I suppose I could have measured the various distances myself and used colored tape, but I'm lazy.

Friends, this little insomniac needs to return to the land of Nod. 

In closing, two questions:

1) Should I collect Ken's entire vintage wardrobe?  I fear another vintage luggage debacle.  Please don't suggest I sew for him. 

2) Cathy's comeback dress: wiggle or bouffant -- or something else entirely?

Thanks, guys!