Author Archives: Cindy Rice

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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.

“Summer Sweetheart”

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My end-of-July fashion show continues with my Kaye Wiggs MSD sized BJD, Gracie.

I know I’ve shown you little peeks at this set in progress, but it is all finished now.  Yay!  Would you like to see it?  Well, Gracie would love to show you her new ensemble; she is quite excited as she has been waiting for her special day for weeks.

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Gracie is wearing a summery dress made out of a tiny Japanese cotton print.  This floral print features blossoms in rubine red, deep pink, pastel pink, golden yellow, and grass green.  White cotton tassel-like English Cluny lace decorates the skirt.  Around her waist, a vintage green satin ribbon sash ties in a bow in the back.  Her dress features a wider neckline and waistline darts for shaping.

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In case it turns cool, Gracie has a deep pink hand knit cardigan to throw over her shoulders.  It has short sleeves, clear glass iridescent bead buttons, and coordinating hand embroidery on the front.  The embroidery is done freehand with no patterns, and is a one-of-a-kind composition.

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Gracie has a pair of (mirrored design) floral hair ties that will work with all different hairstyles.  The blossoms are crocheted, the leaves are knitted, and the blossom’s centers are faceted glass iridescent beads.  Each ties around a section of hair with the attached crocheted ties which have beaded ends.

A crocheted mesh drawstring purse holds a white hanky (handmade from white cotton lawn with fringed edges) folded into triangles and a pink comb (from stash).  There is even more room in Gracie’s purse for another tiny treasure that you may have for her, or  perhaps one that she finds for herself.  I decorated the bottom with a pink blossom bead and a center bead that matches those used for the hair ties.

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Gracie’s other accessories include white cotton Lycra® anklets, panties (with bow), and a bracelet.

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“Summer Sweetheart” will be available tonight (July 24, 2017) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

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I’m Finished with my July work! and “Summer Meadow”

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It’s hard to believe, yes it is!  I feel like I’ve been working on these 6 projects—well, all month long!  Having 6 doll outfits in the works all at once was an interesting experiment, and one I will most likely not repeat.  I did not work any more efficiently, which is why I tried it in the first place.  And, this experiment made my creating seem like work.  When I work one-at-a-time, or almost that way, I enjoy the process so much more.  The only task that I enjoyed doing all at once was the embroidery.  I found once I got into embroidery mode I happily worked from one sweater to the next although it took the same amount of time!

So without further ado . . . my first Little Darling, Gina, is here to show you her new ensemble.

Gina’s drop waist styled dress is made with a pure white cotton floral print.  The blossoms are in clear and simple colors: blue, red, green, pink, yellow gold with black outlining.  A blue organza ribbon ties around the waistline and the hemline is prettied up with white cotton edging.

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Gina is wearing a hand knit blue bamboo cardigan.  This shade of blue is sort of nautical, sort of periwinkle, kind of in-between.  At any rate, it matches the blue in the dress print.  I chose to stick with white embroidery to keep the look crisp and clean.  I’ve never embroidered with only one color before, and I like the result; it keeps things from getting too busy.  It also keeps the colorful focus on the dress.  The sweater can be worn open, or buttoned with the white gemstone bead buttons.

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Gina’s cutting basket is crocheted with natural hemp in the shape of a typical cutting basket.  It has a braided handle with a silk bow.  After a visit to a nearby meadow, Gina picked flowers to match the flowers in her dress, clever girl!  Her blossoms are kept together with a  clear elastic, but can be rearranged, or put in a little vase.

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Gina is wearing a crocheted beret made with white bamboo.  It features a mix of crochet stitches for interest, and it frames her cute doll face perfectly!

White cotton anklets, panties, and a bracelet complete the look.

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“Summer Meadow” will be available tonight (July 22, 2017) at 7 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

I really and truly enjoyed hearing from so many of you after my last post!  Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

I hope all of you have a relaxing summer weekend with lots of sunshine.  Bye for now, my friends.

 

Working, Working, and More Working

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Hello there!  Oh my gosh, how this past week has flown since I last checked in with you.  I have quite a pile of work completed, but no completed outfits.  I still am not sure I like working this way, probably not, I am thinking.

Gina is the closest to having a completed outfit.  Her dress, sweater, beret, and crocheted flower cutting basket are finished.  She still needs some anklets, undies, and a bracelet.  So close… I know Gina would like for me to get her outfit completed so that she can show it to you in its entirety.

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I found sewing 5 (Gina’s was already completed) dresses all at once feeling laborious for me.  I spent one day for the bodices, one day for the skirts, and not quite one day for hand sewing the facings and snaps.

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The photo below was taken today of 4 of my 6 ensembles-in-progress.  The navy ensemble is missing from this pile.  I am still knitting the cardigan.  (I found I must always have knitting-in-progress for those times when I NEED to knit.)  And, as you already know, Gina is wearing the white floral dress.

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Below is a cardigan for Gracie, and one for my Little Darling, Alice.

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I was very pleased with how these darker cardigans took the embroidery, bright and colorful.  I do love them!  The heathered plum cardigan is for Patience, and the heathered tan cardigan is for Patsy.

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I couldn’t resist showing you “sacked out Morris” napping in our ground cover.  I guess it makes a nice bed.  I had to be quick to capture this moment; he moves around very often throughout the day.  He has now matted down another part of the ground cover.

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Oops, woke him up!

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And, original feral kitty hanging out with my mom’s squirrels.

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I hope you’ve had a very nice week.  Hopefully, not as wet as ours has been.  Thankfully, we are fine at our house, but after the torrential downpours within the last day and a half, many roads are closed, basements flooded, houses turned into islands, and power outages in many suburbs.  Our county got hit the hardest, the storms just kept on coming.  On the radar, we were in the “red zone” practically all of Thursday a.m. and then into the afternoon as well.

Bye for now, my friends. ❤  Take care!