Author Archives: 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.

Amelia Christmas Dress and Hat Sets

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With Thanksgiving about a week away the Christmas season is practically upon us! I’ve made a couple more Christmas dress/hat sets for Amelia Thimble dolls. This first set is called “Tiny Elf”. Amelia is dressed and ready to help Santa with whatever tiny tasks he needs a hand with. Her bell even jingles to add a bit of merriment to all of the work that needs to be done.

“Naturally Pretty” is the second set. This dress is embroidered with beautiful flowers of the season. A pink poinsettia, evergreen boughs, and berries are arranged in a pretty asymmetrical bouquet on Amelia’s dress. Her hat has a large “fur trimmed” border and more embroidery.

Such a helpful little one Amelia Thimble is! For more information on these sets please visit my website.

The New Girl

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I’d like to introduce my new girl, a Fairyland Pukipuki doll named Sugar. She is 11cm tall so is only 1 cm taller than Amelia Thimble, but has a wider body and limbs. She is not as delicate by far. Her hands and feet pop off and on very easily with the help of magnets. This makes it so easy for dressing or even adding a bracelet, no clasp needed. I stuck a metal lid underneath my white fabric that I use for photographing and she stood without any fiddling around. Love her!!!

I just finished this dress for her. I asked Sugar what she would like for her first dress and she told me, “Roses in lots of pretty colors.” I guess it’s because they’re as sweet as she is. I love how her first dress turned out. Because she is a wider doll I found more space for embroidering her special roses.

It didn’t take long for Sugar to find a special friend.

It’s Starting to Feel a Lot Like Christmas…is Right Around the Corner

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My little Amelia Thimble has been very, very busy lately. I have a handful of tiny “Christmasy” dresses made and she has had to model all of them. I must say that she did a very good job, looking as cute modeling the last dress as she did modeling the first. After Amelia’s job was done I told her that it would be a good idea to lie down and take a nap. She is such a little thing after all. However, my dear tiny Amelia wanted to chat with the new girl, who isn’t much bigger than she is. More on the new girl later…

Here is my first set of dresses. They are all knit out of super kid mohair/silk lace weight yarn. This yarn is so soft and fuzzy. I love it, but the fuzziness of it requires some patience when embroidering on it. I found myself always pulling those long mohair strands out of my embroidery. Grrr! Well worth the bit of aggravation though, don’t you think?

This trio of super kid mohair/silk dresses all have holiday themed embroidery. The pink dress is embroidered with a large red poinsettia at the waistline, mint green evergreen boughs, and clear seed beads. The lilac dress is embroidered with smaller poinsettias in pink and red. I added clear seed beads to this dress also. I think they give an icy effect to the embroidery.

I love this shade of blue. I know blue isn’t typically a Christmas color, but it seemed to work as a holiday dress when embroidered with holly. I just had to add some pink roses too.