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 Thimble’s Everlasting Garden Dresses

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Remember that handful of dresses in one of the previous posts? Well, here they are completed. I needed to photograph the dresses as a group. I am a color nut and love seeing them all together. Just yummy!!!

I took a picture of all of the hats together too. I have these small old wooden spools of silk thread and thimbles. They show just how tiny these hat are.

Here are some pictures of Amelia modeling the dresses.

By the time she had on the 4th dress she needed a break and sat down. I really couldn’t get her to stand up anymore. (honest)

Then, after a pep talk from me she put on the last dress and gave me a beautiful, if tired smile. She had quite a day.

For more information on these dress/hat sets please visit cindyricedesigns.com.

Amelia Thimble in the Apple Tree

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There’s been a lot of excitement over here having to do with our apple tree. After six seasons living here (the tree is much older) we have apples. Now they are not the most beautiful apples, but they are apples that we can actually eat. Anyway, teeny tiny 4″ Amelia Thimble couldn’t contain the excitement in her bitsy doll body and wanted to experience the apple tree for herself. She is such an agile little thing and held on tight the whole time. I grabbed some pictures of her climbing amongst the apples. Thought I’d share these with you. She looks quite proud of herself, doesn’t she?

A Handful of Amelia Thimble Dresses

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Half a dozen Amelia Thimble knit dress sets are hot off my knitting needles. They are so tiny that all 12 pieces fit in the palm of my hand. I thought they looked cute all bunched together and wanted to share a picture. Now for the time consuming part, making them all extra special with hand embroidery.

Here are the dresses and hats on my blocking board. They get dampened with water and then pinned down to get rid of that curling you see in the picture above. Once they are dry the dresses and hat are nice and curl free.