Cindy Rice

About Cindy Rice

My wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, and I live in northeastern Illinois with our two sweet chihuahua boys. For as long as I can remember I have loved dolls and making things. I got my first Barbie when I was only three years old! My mom sewed for my Barbie dolls and taught me how to use her sewing machine when I was only seven. I cannot believe she let me near that needle, but she did. Not having enough money for my clothes habit in high school and college led me to start sewing all of my own clothes. There were so many fabric stores around back then and fabric was so inexpensive. I would wait for the 99 cent pattern sale and go crazy. Sewing for myself continued well into my 30’s. (I even made my wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses.) Shortly after I got married I left my full time graphic design position and started designing cross stitch patterns. I called my company “The Lilac Studio” and sold my botanical patterns at trade shows, through distributors which sold to retail shops, and mail order. My most popular pattern, “A Bouquet of Pansies” sold 5000 copies and won a J&P Coats Golden Needle Award! I was also featured in various cross stitch magazines and designed special projects for the magazines. When my daughter was born I didn’t have the time needed to cross stitch and design patterns all day long so I let my pattern design business slip away. And then I started discovering dolls again and I now had an excuse to start buying them. The only problem was that they were for my daughter and not for me. I soon discovered all of the adult collectors out there and decided I would be one of them. I started small at first, collecting Mattel Kelly dolls. Soon I collected over 100 Kelly dolls! After Kelly, I discovered Helen Kish’s Riley and Tonner’s Ann Estelle. I have since learned to knit doll sweaters and love an excuse to knit so most of my doll outfits include a sweater and/or hat. I love creating miniature outfits for dolls and enjoy sharing them with others. Currently I create doll ensembles for Ruby Red Fashion Friends, Kish Bethany, Dianna Effner's Little Darlings, Wilde Imagination's teeny tiny Amelia, Kaye Wiggs BJD, Boneka 10", Linda Macario's Penny.

I received a new shipment of pretty fabric a couple of weeks ago. It was my after Thanksgiving (Cyber Monday) order. Who can resist a sale on fabric especially when tempted with such cute prints and colors? Certainly not me so I placed a “small” order. I had been ogling some of these rose prints for weeks. They reminded me of vintage pillowcases.

I took one look at my little Victorian bamboo shelf where I store my fabrics that I love to look at and the ones that I want to use very soon. What a mess it was! I definitely needed to straighten it up to welcome my beautiful new eye candy.

I fold my fabric around a 10-1/4″ x 6″ cardboard rectangle pattern which I remove after folding. I found this idea online from the ladies that use comic book backing boards to wrap their fabric around. The boards work very nicely if you plan on standing up your fabric vertically. Since the space between my shelves isn’t tall enough for my fabric to stand upright I have to lay it flat. It still stays neat, but is harder to pull out a piece from the middle of the pile.

Here are the boards in case you’d like to check them out and a You Tube video on how to fold here.

In case you feel inspired, happy straightening up!

I grew up watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer every year at Christmas time. It was my favorite Christmas special. I must confess that I still enjoy watching it. In those days there were no DVDs or even video tapes to be purchased so the show couldn’t be missed when it was broadcast on television. We only had one chance a year to see Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and we made sure to watch it. It’s great that this classic is still so popular today.

My Talyssa cannot wait to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the first time. Her excitement is contagious. I made Talyssa a very special dress out of a Rudolph and Clarice cotton print and she just loves it. What little girl wouldn’t be thrilled with two of her favorite reindeer on a Christmas dress made especially for her? I found a stuffed deer miniature in my props drawer and wanted to turn him into Rudolph for Talyssa. I think she likes him, don’t you?