lenam - I saw leg warmers in stores this last fall. I just about fainted. I had them in about a dozen colors, including the rainbow stripes, back in the 80s... they were about the only thing that got me to school wearing a skirt during the winter, since I lived in Maine and NH and from fourth grade on walked a minimum of a mile each way (high school was two miles), short of wearing sweatpants under your skirt like a lot of girls did. harriethomeowner - hey, I wore knee-highs under MY wedding dress! Durn thing was practically body armor (the bodice literally stood up by itself and the floor-length skirt and petticoat made something like six layers of fabric) and was hotter than Hades even in October. (It was borrowed, and beggars can't be choosers. The original owner wore it in July - I think I would have died of heat prostration!) I figured I wasn't going to be doing the can-can, so what the heck, I wasn't going to roast in full pantyhose. Not to mention it was tough enough to go to the bathroom in that pile of meringue, but wriggling back into pantyhose while keeping a handmade silk gown out of the toilet? Not gonna happen. Thigh-highs are a NO WAY for me - since I'm plump I get the "burst sausage" effect at the top, way nasty. So knee-highs it was. Didn't wear a bra either - didn't need it with that bodice! My grandmother was horrified. "Almost every single dress for a woman is some sleeveless or strappy or bare thing." Sorry, but I say "Piffle" on that. I don't wear sleeveless/strappy/bare things to "nice" occasions for the most part because some people find my tattoos offensive, but I have several dresses in my closet with sleeves ranging from mid-bicep to wrist-length, not counting dressy blouse-and-skirt or sweater-and-skirt - including short-sleeved lightweight sweaters for summer - combinations, jacket dresses, and a skirted suit that I basically only wear to funerals. :-) (I'd probably have more if I had reason to wear them, if we go shopping DH loves to go all Carson Kressly on me and always tries to put me in dresses.) Coldwater Creek is usually my go-to place for dressy stuff - while they have sleeveless dresses, they also typically have plenty with sleeves. I absolutely covet this dress, but I can't afford it, I'm not sure the 16 would fit, and have nowhere to wear it anyway. Last time I had to shop for a dress for a wedding (last summer) I ended up at Fashion Bug which is where I usually go for things I'm not going to wear much because it's generally very inexpensive, where there were plenty of dresses with sleeves - short sleeves (mid-bicep), yes, but it was also August. Since the wedding was outdoors and expected to go well into the evening, I picked up an openwork lacy sweater to wear with it when it got chilly and the bugs came out. Goes great over a fancy tank top and skirt. The Chadwicks catalog has cute things that don't cost the earth, while if you have a lot more to spend Talbots has some special occasion dresses that are pretty drop-dead. IMO jacket dresses are very attractive if they fit well and are in a nice fabric, and there are usually very pretty ones out there. Penneys has a pretty good selection. That's just scratching the surface.

hello my name is mary. I only found out about the Annie's Attic doll patterns last week totally by accident when I found this website while I was looking for answers to ?s about the different doll Annies Attic doll collections. Any way I'm trying to find someone that would be willing to email me a copy of the ones they have of the ones that I need and trade with me some that I have that they don't have. To start with I'm looking for the rest of the Ladies of Fashion. There was a lovely lady on this website down loaded the ones she had for me and I'd like to find and get the rest to finish my collection and give her the ones back that she needs if at all possible. The following is a list of the ones in the Ladies of Fashion that I would like to find and get. I have the others and would be willing to share with others. 1. Dolly Madison. 2. Priscilla Hostess Gown, 3. Patricia of Nashville, 4. Renee of Baton Roque 5. Megan's Wedding Gown 6. Eliza Sunday Promenade 7. Rebecca's Party Frock 8. Cariss of Bainbridge 9. Deborah of St. Louis 10. Silva of Sacramento 11.Jasmine of Louisville Nanette of New York 13. Catherine of London 14. Nadine of Albany 15. Julia of Richmond 16. Susanna of Nacogdoches 17. Victoria of Rochester 18. Kimberly of San Francisco There is 27 more that I already have that I can share. Please if anyone can help I'd appreciate it very much. I am disabled and can't work outside the home because no one will hire me with my disability, so this is the only way that I can afford to give my 18month old granddaughter presents as she grows up and get into dolls and such. There are others in these collections that I'm looking to and planning to finish but this is a good place to start. Thank you to anyone out there that is willing to help. Mary.

When I read about people spending a great deal of money, or working so hard to clean a wedding gown, I have to tell my story. After our wedding, I had my dress cleaned and put into a "Heritage Box". I stored it in our basement. A few years later, my then four year old son and a few friends were playing in our basement. I heard this shrieking laughter coming from downstairs, so thought I better check to see what they were up to. When I walked into the room they were in, I gasped when I saw they had found my wedding gown, and laid it on the tile floor, and were using it as a slip n slide! They all stopped and looked at me, waiting, I'm sure, for an explosion. All I could do was laugh! I only have boys, so I knew the dress would never be used again, but the story has given many a good laugh over the years! Good luck with the washing--I know a woman in our community who makes wedding gowns, and she always recommends washing them.

What a great idea for a whole bed. Keep those catapillars off the cabbage! I use tulle bags for seed saving on tomatoes. They work great! I have used the heavier nylon netting from the fabric stores to cover my tomato cages prior to a hail storm. The hail just bounces off the netting... Unless it is too big, then it tears. I have had success with 1" hail and no damage to my plants. I keep a big garbage bag in the garage full for just that purpose. I have been know to be covering my garden DURING the storm, which is not too smart. :) Hit by hail is one thing. Lightning strikes are a little more serious. :)