Do you like the idea of manufacturing a doll’s dress for your own doll or a friends? Or how about some other articles of clothing like a trouser suit, pyjamas or a night shirt?
If you have never done it before, it is not that difficult to create a decent job of making dolls’ clothing, but you will have to take measurements, just as in real life.
It is a good idea to know the full length of the doll, but there are no garments that actually cover from head to toe unless you are designing a ghost’s fancy dress costume for the doll. Be cautious with the chest measurement too.
You cannot guess it because dolls, both male and female, tend to have larger chests than proportion would imply that they ought to be. Just look at Barbie and Ken, they could probably hold their breath for ten minutes!
Likewise, the inside leg measurements tend to be exaggerated and the waist way undersized. This is why it is so essential to measure the doll or if the dolls’ clothing is to be a surprise, measure one like it. From waist to the hem is enough for a skirt or from neck to the hemline for a dress.
If you are manufacturing trousers, you will require the inside leg and the outside leg to the waist band or hips, depending on the fashion. Then you will also need the waist or the hip measurement and the combined thigh measurement for skirts and dresses or individual thigh measurements for trousers or slacks.
If you are measuring for a top or the top of a dress, you will need the measurements from the sternum to the centre of the armpit and from there to the centre of the other armpit.
In many ways, measuring a doll for clothing is equivalent to measuring humans, but on the other hand, the dimensions can have a great deal more tolerance because seams do not come under stress from movement with dolls. It is fairly easy to merely use common sense when measuring dolls for clothing, but practice will make perfect.
One of the best habits that you can get into is keeping notes and making sketches. After you have become proficient enough at making dolls’ clothing, you might be able to sell your produce and maybe even sell your pattern book too, if they are all your original concepts.
Tailoring or dressmaking for dolls can be great fun and children will certainly appreciate a new, unique costume for their doll, but then you will see that for yourself the first time you present your little niece, nephew or friend with one of your latest creations.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you would like to know more, please go over to our web site at Doll Prams.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Dec 13th, 2011. Comment. 
A lot of people get a real thrill out of manufacturing dolls’ dresses and other clothes whether they be for their own dolls, a relative’s or for sale. However, as with every hobby or craft there are a couple of ground rules, a few dos and don’ts which will help you enjoy your new hobby right from the start until you gain enough experience to make your own judgments. In this piece we will explain the fundamentals of how to create dolls’ dresses.
The first thing to do to make making dolls’ dresses easier is to think that you are making a new outfit for yourself. This is easier for you because you already know yourself and have improved from making mistakes in the past, but how well do you know the doll for whom you are going to be making clothes?
If you are making clothes for your own doll or for retail, this is not a difficulty but if you are manufacturing dresses for a friend’s doll, it would be a wise idea to see her, hold her and get a feel for her before you purchase any textiles.
You might prefer to get a pattern for a doll’s dress if this is your first one, but you can almost certainly make it up as you go along, or be really professional and make a couple of sketches with notes first.
This is certainly very useful, because you can change the pattern in light of experience and create notes about problem regions. Who knows, once you have twenty of them you may be able to publish them.
The apparatus that you will require to facilitate manufacturing dolls’ dresses is basically the same as any tailor or seamstress would require. That is: a sewing machine, pins, needles, shears or a rotary cutter, glue, pinking scissors, thread, tracing paper, pencils and a marking chalk or pen.
You will probably need other things as well depending on what you intend , but they could include: ribbons, elastic, sequins and lace. Then you are ready to prepare your sewing machine for use. If you have not used it for a time, give it a quick service as described in the handbook that came with the sewing machine.
See your handbook if you do not know how to set up your machine to pin tuck otherwise look it up on the Internet. It is a good idea with some fabrics to spray the cloth with starch before you start this stage.
After you have finished your doll’s dress or even before that stage, you should take into account whether the style calls for any lace, ribbons, embroidery or sequins. You can create or purchase tassels if they are called for.
You can get a great deal of fun out of manufacturing dolls’ dresses for yourself or a niece and the look on their face while they comprehend that you have taken the time to make something so special and unique just for them and their doll is reward enough.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you would like to know more, please go over to our web site at Doll Prams.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Nov 12th, 2011. Comment.
Acne is one of the most common skin problems afflicting the human race and it affects people irrespective of age, caste, colour or gender. Acne is a tremendously embarrassing and troublesome problem, because it is so obvious and off-putting. Acne can be defined as red eruptions on the skin, sometimes containing a white substance, causing itchiness and irritation. The most common form of acne is called acne vulgaris or puberty spots.
Acne vulgaris can be described as: an inflammatory disease of the skin, caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland) . Acne lesions are commonly referred to as pimples, spots or zits – [source: Wikipedia]. It is a problem over which we do not have complete control. There are different ways to treat acne; one can go for medication from a skin specialist or one can also try home or natural remedies.
Home treatments are less time consuming, less expensive and have no side effects. However, they do require a little more patience, because certain routines have to be followed diligently in order to cure the problem for good. A natural cure for acne is just as effective as medication. Here are a few natural cures to eradicate your acne. To start with, your daily consumption of water ought to be a minimum of eight to ten glasses. This helps you to detoxify your system and destroy the harmful bacteria that cause acne.
Too much oily food also leads to acne, so fried and spicy food should be strictly avoided. Complete abstinence of fried and fatty food will have a marked, beneficial effect on an outbreak of acne. Furthermore, including chromium and zinc in your diet also helps to eradicate acne. There needs to be a combination of the right nutritional balance and proper, hygenic skin care.
A solution of ground nutmeg with unboiled milk regularly applied on the afflicted area also helps to cure acne. Cinnamon powder and honey is just as effective in treating. The cooled liquid from boiled Neem leaves applied to acne works as a disinfectant. [The Neem Tree is a tall, usually evergreen East Indian tree (Azadirachta indica) widely cultivated in tropical Asia for its timber, resin, bitter bark, and aromatic seed oil, which is used medicinally and as an insecticide (source: 'Free Online Dictionary')].
The infected area should be washed with anti-acne soap at least three or four times a day. Make-up should be strictly avoided when one is suffering from acne. Make-up makes an acne condition worse. Acne should never be squeezed as it may cause infection or / and become worse. Squeezing your acne could also lead to permanent scars on your skin, which results in your skin looking unsightly. Don’t let your hair fall onto the acne-affected area too.
Hair ought to be kept tied back to avoid contact with the acne. Pillow covers should be washed on a daily basis to prevent the germ spreading. The regular cleansing of your skin should be done to keep it free from bacteria. Apart from this, a healthy lifestyle ought to followed with a proper balance of food, exercise and sleep. Remember if you take proper care of yourself, ailments will have trouble afflicting you, especially such a small thing as acne!
Are you having trouble treating acne skin? If you are or you’d like to know more about acne, please visit our website called http://treating-acne-scars.com Check here for free reprint licence: Acne Problems.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Nov 18th, 2010. Comment.
Dogs are just about the most intelligent of domestic pets. If you take the time to look, you will see that they have the ability to communicate with humans, other dogs and even other animals. They do this with body signs and voice. Their signs are made with the their eyes, ears, eyebrows, head, mouth and tail.
Their voice is clearly not the same as ours, but they use pitch in their barks, whines, whimpers, pants, growls and howls and their gestures are made with their entire body and every element of it.
You can always differentiate a confident and therefore higher ranking dog, because they hold their tails aloft. Dogs, like all other animals, including we humans, have an inborn sense or their position in society. This is because dogs evolved in packs in the wild, just as we evolved in villages. which is why they integrate well into our human society.
There is a pecking order within their group, as within human society. The subservient dogs submit themselves to the stronger dogs, which is why dogs lower their tail when they feel unsure of themselves. When dogs fight for dominance, the fur on their tails stands up and they have this trait in common with other animals. They do it to show that they are being serious in front of their adversary.
A dog that is unsure what to do will wag its tail slowly. A bit like you or I might give a weak smile, unsure whether to smile openly or glower. They are in a process of working out whether they should recognize the status quo or fight. Excited dogs wag their tails very fast and if the dog’s hip moves along with the tail, it means that the dog is in submissive mode to a higher ranker. A pet should do that to its owner, as you have become the leader of its surrogate pack.
When dogs get aggressive they show their fangs, the same as humans. If all of the teeth are visible, it indicates that the dog is prepared to bite or attack. We do the same unconsciously. People often bare their teeth and snarl insults, before a fight. However, they also show teeth when they smile but this is an indication of submissiveness, again as we do – compliance here meaning a recognition that a fight is unnecessary.
With a dog, the number of teeth on display shows the difference between a smile and a snarl. In a smile, a dog only shows the front teeth, but in a snarl the dog reveals all his teeth and gums and makes an aggressive sound.
Ears are a good indication of the dog’s degree of attention. When the ears are vertical and forward facing, it means that the dog is concentrating. But if the dog is relaxed, its ears will lie flat. However, some breeds do not have as much control over their ears.
Dogs bark to protect their territory, which comes to mean their boss’ territory, which should signify your property. However, barking is their usual language so you will have to learn the difference between friendly play barking and aggression in your dog. It is pretty apparent though.
Study of your pet is the key, because, although all dogs are the same as in all humans are the same, there are minor differences. They are not hard to learn, just spend some time with you dog and keep your mind open and it will become very obvious to you.
If you are interested in dogs or Welsh corgi puppies, or even Wales in general, go to our website at Welsh Products Online
Filed under Uncategorized by on Oct 18th, 2010. Comment.
Just like with regular off-line relationships, online relationships need to be tended and to be allowed to grow over time. Here are some quick growing tips:
1. Take Time and Make Time: Does your online partner get in touch with you often? Do you do the same? Neglecting to get in touch is considered not nice, so treat each other’s time respectfully. If that respect is lacking, it could mean that it is time to move on.
2. Communication Needs to “Feel” Right For Both of You: If one of you is being too pushy about having a meeting, for example, that can create ill feelings. So, please, don’t rush; take your time to learn more about each other and engender trust.
3. Respect Each Other’s Privacy: Don’t send the other person’s email addresses or digital photos to your friends, for example; especially if your online friend emailed you the information privately.
4. Share Special Online and Offline Fun Items: when online: send online greeting cards; links to favourite websites where you can upload digital photos of your favourite pet or car; download music and video clips; post on favourite forums of mutual interest. When offline: if you’ve swapped addresses or post office boxes, send printed greeting cards and postcards and/or small items from your area (like a key chain with your state motto).
5. Share Recipes: People get tired of talking about the weather, so a popular subject to take refuge in is food. Sharing information about favourite foods and recipes helps to break the ice and even helps form friendships over your culinary skills, or the lack thereof, and tastes. Search your favorite search engine for free recipes to share and take photos of your culinary creations and share them with your date too.
6. Bidding at Auctions: Ebay auctions sell just about everything, don’t they? There you go then, surf around and enter searches like the dates you were in high school and share cool photos of old games, toys and TV shows from when you were young or when your parents or grandparents were small.
Online dating should be an educational and fun experience. So, go on, take the time to learn more about each other and have fun while youre at it! Take a cyber-stroll down ol’ memory lane together and see what’s cookin’. Look after your online friendship, water it with care and over time it can sprout and grow.
Are you a senior dater or have you been out of the dating game for a time?? If you are get some great online dating advice at our websiteOld Fiddles Dating This article, Tips For Growing Online Dating Relationships has free reprint rights.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Oct 18th, 2010. Comment.
There is a wide array of lighting fixtures in the shops and they make great bathroom accessories. The types of lighting include the soft touch and the highlights. It is up to you to pick the right lighting to suit your bathroom, however you should bear in mind that lighting contributes a great deal to the ambiance of any environment.
Selecting your bathroom lighting: It just depends on your needs and conditions. Some people will have physically-restricted lighting choices, because their wiring system is inaccessible. Others may have a more flexible situation. Despite this, people can enjoy a wide choice of lighting to improve the atmosphere in their bathroom due to technological advancement. You can now select from different light bulbs and fixtures to meet your requirements, no matter what those requirements may be.
How do I pick the right decor for my bathroom? When choosing a style for remodelling your bathroom, you ought to think about the range of fittings and light bulbs. Lighting enhances the character of any room, which is something to keep in mind as well. If you have a hard time seeing, you may want to select more powerful lights. On the other hand, if your eyesight is still good, you may prefer fluorescent lighting, which is softer in nature.
In addition, there is the choice of mood lights, which help you to produce a relaxing atmosphere. Mood lights produce similar results as candlelight. You also have the option of bright or gentle lighting. You should look into these forms of lighting seriously, since they have a greater effect than other forms of lighting. Kerosene lamps are still available too. These soft, flickering lights create an old-fashion atmosphere, but even better still, lamps create an outdoor atmosphere.
How do I know which beam of light to use? Once you select the style that you like, it becomes easy to work out the right width of beam to use. The different kinds of beams are the narrow beams, which are between 3 and 25 degrees wide and the wide beams, which are over 40 degrees. These beams are similar to floodlights. The forty-degree floodlight is in fact the preferred selection of most people.
What effects can you get from lighting? You can also pick your effect. Natural light is based on tone, texture, and colour. Florescent lights cast a blue-greenish or black-purplish beam. However, there is a wide selection of colours available. Wall lights, which are lights mounted on walls, are pretty versatile too. similarly, ceiling lights are hung from the ceiling and there is a widearray of fancy designs there too such as chandeliers made of pure glass, crystal, plastic or whatever. Standard lights enable you to move the lamp anywhere you like. However, almost any light you pick can be modified further by the sort of bulb you choose.
You will find a wide selection of lighting on the Internet, including the fixtures to match. You have another advantage online, since you can see images of your selected lamps, lights and fixtures. In addition, you can choose other bathroom accessories to contrast or complement your new design. Ultimately, if you think about it, you could purchase the bits and pieces separately and manufacture your own lights.
It does not matter what you are attempting to accomplish these days you have many options. Whenever you are selecting bathroom accessories such as lighting and fittings always consider what your bathroom is primarily used for first of all. For instance, it would not be a good idea to put a lovely stand-up light in a child’s bathroom, you would only be putting your children at risk.
Are you redecorating your bathroom or are you looking for bathroom decorating ideas? If you are, please go along to our web site called Stylish Home Decor Check here for free reprint licence: Bathroom Lighting Accessories.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Oct 5th, 2010. Comment.
There are several different kinds of acne, depending on how or why the acne developed. Some of the forms of acne are: acne conglobata (chronic boils); acne fulminans (an extreme form of conglobata); acne cosmetica (caused by cosmetics); acne keloidalis nuchae (from shaving); acne medicamentosa (caused by starting or stopping a medication); acne rosacea (redness on the face); baby acne; hormonal acne; cloracne and the common variety: acne vulgaris (better known as ‘puberty spots’). We will concentrate on acne vulgaris.
Acne vulgaris can be defined as: ‘an inflammatory disease of the skin, caused by changes in the pilosebaceous units (skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland). Acne lesions are commonly referred to as pimples, spots or zits’ (from Wikipedia).
Acne is most usually found in white Western teens, although it is to be found in every country in the world, so there could be a genetic weakness to it. It is possible that it could be an exceptional reaction to fairly normal levels of testosterone. For most sufferers, the condition lasts only until the age of twenty or so, probably only a few years or at the most ten. For other people, however, it can be a life-long problem. It most often appears on the face, upper-chest, upper-arms and back. However, an occasional spot does not constitute acne.
Acne vulgaris manifests itself in many forms, including: whiteheads, caused by pores which are completely blocked, trapping sebum (oil), bacteria, and dead skin cells, causing a white appearance on the surface; blackheads, caused by pores which are only partially blocked, allowing some of the trapped sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells to slowly drain to the surface (the black colour is not caused by dirt, but is a reaction of the skin’s own pigment, melanin, with the oxygen in the air); papules, which are inflamed, red, tender bumps with no head and pustules, which are similar to whiteheads, but are inflamed, and look like red circles with a white or yellow centre.
Whiteheads do not often last for a long time; blackheads do last a long time and pustules are what people usually refer to as spots or zits. Severe acne vulgaris is distinguished by nodules and cysts. A ‘nodule’ is a rather larger and much more painful sort of pustule and may sometimes last for months. Nodules are large, hard bumps just under the skin. They frequently cause scarring and should never for any reason be squeezed, since this could make them last for months longer.
A ‘cyst’ can look similar to a nodule, but it is full of pus and has been described as having a diameter of at least 5mm and, again, can leave scars and cause irritation. Squeezing an acne cyst may cause a more severe infection and more acute inflammation which may last quite a bit longer than if it had not been squeezed. Dermatologists have methods of reducing the swelling and preventing scarring with both nodules and cysts. It is just not true that acne sufferers are not careful about washing.
In fact, over washing can exacerbate acne. There are many, many useless ‘treatments’ on the market and many, many old wives’ remedies. However, any honest dermatologist would tell you that there is no sure-fire remedy for acne and that the sufferer should follow a deliberate regimen of cleansing until the acne just ‘disappears’ of its own accord.
Are you experiencing problems treating acne? If you are or you would like to find out more about acne, please go to our website entitled http://treating-acne-scars.com Also published at Acne Is Not Spots.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 21st, 2010. Comment.
Astronomy is an interesting science to many people because it is stuffed with loads of astronomy fun facts. Everything from the size and temperature of our own star, the Sun, to the make-up of distant planets has been recorded. All of this information can be retold to entertain and enlighten people.
The Sun is a fantastic source of astronomy fun facts. Our own star, which provides us with all our heat and light is between 91 and 94.5 million miles from Earth. It’s not that nobody knows the precise distance. It’s because the Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical, uneven, orbit, so the distance varies depending on where the Earth lies in that orbit.
The Sun is only an average size star, yet it’s size is another terrific source of astronomy fun facts. As average as it is, it accounts for about 98% of all the material in our solar system. Even with the huge planet of Jupiter on our side, we’re still a tiny 2% of non Sun material.
It would take the diameter of about 100 Earths to stretch across this average Sun. The solar winds produced by the Sun reaches out about 50 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Or put another way, those solar winds reach out about 50 AU’s. An AU being the distance from the Sun to the Earth, which is quite an amazing fact, isn’t it?.
How about astronomy fun facts that don’t have anything to do with the Sun? How about our Moon? It’s the only non-Earth object upon which man has walked so far. And one man actually travelled to the Moon but never left it. Dr. Eugene Shoemaker loved the Moon but was rejected as an astronaut. After his death he was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the moon by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft in 1999.
There are lots more astronomical fun facts about the Moon. It’s the site of what may become the oldest footprint known to man. Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind left a footprint or shoe print in the Moon’s dust that will probably still be there in 15 million years time.
Lots of people, in fact about 13% of those polled in 1988, still thought the Moon is made of cheese. And finally, the suits worn by the Moon-walking astronauts weighed 180 pounds on Earth but only 30 pounds on the Moon, because of the Moon’s reduced gravity. Talk about losing weight, eh?
Astronomy fun facts aren’t limited to our close astronomical neighbours. Looking at stars is like looking into the past. Some of the stars we see nowadays in the night sky are so far away that their light takes a million years to get to us. Some of the stars you see may literally be images of stars a million years old that aren’t even there in the present. There are over 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe. That’s a 1 followed by 22 zeros. And all their planets. The number is really quite staggering.
There are millions of astronomy fun facts and we could go on about them forever. But unfortunately, this article can not. So, please, walk out there and learn more about astronomy for yourself.
Do you like to read about astronomy, then please visit our website at: Astronomy Today This article, Astronomy Fun Facts is available for free reprint.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 16th, 2010. Comment.
Acne is ghastly. However, it’s not something that cannot be dealt with. There are loads of acne skin care products around. We can classify acne skin care products into 3 broad categories -
1] Deterrent or all-purpose acne skin care items; 2] Over-the-counter, specialised acne skin care products; 3] Prescription acne skin care items.
The general acne skin care items are the ones that are used as an acne-prevention measure. These include cleansers, make-up removers and similar items that help prevent acne. In the real sense, these acne skin care items are those that ought to be part of your daily routine anyway. However, some of these are more orientated to act like an acne skin care product.
These acne skin care products act against the reasons for acne e.g. limiting the production of sebum/oil and avoiding the clogging of skin pores. Essentially, these acne skin care items inhibit the oil from becoming blocked in the skin and consequently hamper the escalation of the bacteria that lead to acne. General acne skin care items also take in exfoliation products like skin peels. These work by exfoliating dead skin cells, hence reducing the possibility of pore-blocking and bacteria development.
Then there are specialised acne skin care products that are available over-the-counter i.e. without the need of a prescription. These embrace products like vanishing creams which extract the extra oil from the skin. Most of these acne skin care products are based on benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, both of which are the enemies of bacteria (and therefore acne too). You must start with a product that has a lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide (e.g. 5%) and see how your skin reacts to it.
Alpha-hydroxy-acid based moisturizers are also popular as acne skin care products. You may have to test a few, before you discover the acne skin care product that is most successful for you. If nothing seems to work, you should contact a dermatologist.
Prescription-only acne skin care products are the ones that are prescribed by a dermatologist. These include ointments that can be rubbed on the affected area or oral antibiotics or just any topical medication. Dermatologists might also recommend a minor surgical procedure to remove the contents of pustules. However, never try to squeeze or do this by yourself, it can lead to the everlasting damage of your skin.
Your physician could also prescribe a hormone-based treatment (since hormonal changes are also known to cause acne). Such acne skin care items are known to be very efficacious in many circumstances. So, with all those acne skin care items, tackling acne is really not all that difficult.
Are you experiencing problems treating acne scars? If you are or you’d like to know more about acne, please go to our website called http://treating-acne-scars.com
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 4th, 2010. Comment.
Acne scarring are a sad reminder of the having suffered pimples or even acne before. They are intolerable because of their seeming permanence and their non-complimentary look. Normally speaking, acne scars are quite hard to treat, but tissue regeneration is not impossible these days with all the fantastic technological developments.
Generally speaking, by acne scars, we mean the healed lesions caused by an acne breakout. While most scarring is temporary and will probably disappear on its own in time, scars from the more severe forms of acne can be permanent.
Acne scarring can be prevented if the sufferer sees a doctor when it is in the incipient stage, especially if nodules or cysts accompany the red pustules on the skin’s surface. If the breakouts of acne have marked your skin, you will have to approach the issue from a different perspective, which usually involves surgery.
Laser resurfacing is one way of removing the damaged skin areas and stimulating the natural regeneration of the tissue beneath. This procedure only requires local anaesthesia and can take between a few minutes and an hour depending on the extent of the problem.
Fractional laser therapy is one of the most recent forms of eliminating acne scarring. It involves surgical intervention at deep skin layers. The treatment is better than both dermabrasion and laser resurfacing in terms of quality and has a much reduced healing period. Nevertheless, fractional laser therapy remains within the reach of only those few fortunate people, who can afford it, since it is the most expensive acne treatment available so far.
It can happen that further sessions are necessary to improve the condition of the upper layers of skin, before they can start the deep level treatment of the acne scarring. The doctor may inject collagen into the scarring in order to elevate the existing skin level or she/he may recommend micro-dermabrasion for the same reason. Trying to carry out chemical peels at home could be a bad idea because of the chance of aggravating the condition by irritating the scars even more.
As for the types of acne scars, they can be classified by the way they look. Scars can result because of an increase of tissue or due to a loss of tissue They both have an adverse impact on the way the face looks. Specialists’ evaluation of the nature of the scars is a very important factor in deciding on the adoption of one type of treatment or the other.
Are you experiencing trouble treating acne scarring? If you are or you’d like to know more about acne, please go to our website called http://treating-acne-scars.com This article, Treating Acne Scars has free reprint rights.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 3rd, 2010. Comment.