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.

“A Little Wish for Spring”

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So far winter has not gotten the best of me. It should have really; we’ve had a LOT of extremely gloomy days! However, I am enjoying the coziness inside my house with cups of tea, twinkle lights around the window, and a fire in the fireplace.

So . . . Alice and I are only sending out “A Little Wish for Spring”. It is so nice to see roses, even if they are the embroidered kind.

I chose Alice to model this ensemble because she looked the prettiest in it. Her coloring goes perfectly with warm, neutral, and rosy colors. This pink yarn is a little bit neutral—it is a heathered yarn with very faint hints of lavender and warm red. So all three primary colors are accounted for to make this yarn a neutral color even if it is “pink”.

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Alice’s beret features a hand made silk ribbon bow in a hand dyed warm lavender with ecru pearls decorating the center. (Alice’s beret is knit from my beret pattern which is available for your knitting pleasure.)

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I chose the embroidery colors from my notes when I made Patsy’s sweater dress. I added the very pale peachy pink colonial knots for a pop of light. You can see Patsy’s sweater dress set here.

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I am currently working on this sweater dress knitting pattern which will be ready for purchase very soon. It will have two sleeve length options and two dress length options. This is the short sleeved and shorter length version. The Little Darlings have adorably shaped arms and legs which I like to show off.

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Alice’s “A Little Wish for Spring” will be available tonight (January 12, 2017) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

How about you? Are you faring well this winter? I’d love to hear about your winter where you live.

In Progress Around Here

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The first week of January has, of course, flown by! With my daughter still home (by the way, I love having her home; I am not at all complaining, just mentioning it. 🙂 ) I am not getting as much done as I normally do, but I am making some progress on a sweater dress for the Little Darlings, and also writing a pattern as I go.

I finished up the embroidery on the sweater dress yesterday, and got the buttons sewn on. I chose a pink wool heather since I needed some pink in my life after all the red and green Christmas colors, and before that, autumnal colors. The very subtle shades of lavender and warm red in this pink heather make it a yarn choice that I go to again and again.

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This is the only piece of the ensemble completed. I’m still trying to decide on either a headband or beret.

Right now all three of my Little Darlings are clamoring to model this ensemble for me. Hmm, I wonder whom it will be . . .

On another note, yesterday was a day of putting away Christmas and making an “Unthanksgiving Dinner” to get rid of extra Thanksgiving ingredients that have been hanging around in the freezer and pantry. The end result was so much like a real Thanksgiving dinner; the only thing we didn’t have was a pumpkin pie!

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My daughter turned her dinner into a healthier version with turkey (no gravy) and a zucchini sliced like spaghetti. She uses a spiralizer to make her “zucchetti”.

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Even though it’s great to get the house back in order, it’s sad to put all of the decorations away. The house seems so dark without the Christmas tree lights twinkling in the living and family rooms. We do leave the strands of white lights around the kitchen bay window; I enjoy them very much on these dark days.

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Sigh . . . I cannot wait until next November when we do it all again.

I hope you all are having a great weekend.

Thanks for visiting! Bye for now!

New Year, New Pattern, New Ensemble!

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By now it is 2017 everywhere in the world, so a Happy New Year to all!

My husband and I went for a brisk walk in one of the nearby forest preserves today. The paths were a little treacherous in places, but we were careful and the sun felt so nice. It was the perfect way to start 2017!

My Little Darling, Lucy, is also here with her bright, smiling face (and her itty bitty snow baby) to wish you all the happiest start to 2017! Before most of our snow melted last week Lucy and I made this tiny snow baby. She is still trying to decide if this snow baby is a boy or girl, so she can give it an appropriate name.

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While outside she told me that her new sweater coat, hat, and scarf kept her toasty warm.

Lucy is wearing a dress made out of my most favorite snowman print. I LOVE this print! It’s colorful and a little bit primitive looking. There are “zillions” of snowmen lined up on this fabric; all looking equally cute, don’t you think? Snowman lovers will find this print adorable.

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I previously used this fabric in 2014 (“Snowman Luv”) to make an ensemble for Gina. I decided to make it less Christmasy this time, so it could be worn more as a winter ensemble.

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Isn’t this the cutest fabric! I think they are the happiest little snowmen!

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Lucy’s ensemble will be available Monday, January 2, 2017 at 7:00 pm CST on my website.

“My Little Snow Baby” is a one-of-a-kind ensemble, but if you’d like to knit your own sweater coat, the pattern is available on Ravelry. The instructions include a step-by-step guide to add your own patch pockets. Once you see how easy they are to make, you’ll be putting patch pockets on everything! (lol)

Thank you for visiting with me as we start this new year together. Bye for now!