Welcome!

I am a knitted, crochet and sewn apparel designer, I make clothes for American Girl, Cabbage Patch Kids, Kidz ‘n’ Cats. I’m sure that photography and some of my personal life will be working its way into this blog from time to time, but the main purpose of it for now is for me to be able to talk about what clothes I’m making at the moment. When you choose to purchase my clothing, you are buying art. Each piece is carefully handcrafted by a person, not a machine. I present my own designs which are well-thought out, and materials chosen with purpose. No other piece is precisely the same. I also take custom orders, do you have a special dream outfit in mind? I am happy to make custom outfits upon request!

Natascha, Minouche by Kathe Kruse Overview

Today I am going to write a small overview on my newest girl – Natascha. Natascha is a 34cm Minouche doll by Kathe Kruse. Here’s how she looks now –

 

She is my tiniest doll so far. It took me a while to get used to her size.

Here’s how I first saw her –

 

I was toying with idea to get a Minouche doll for a couple of years, admiring their pictures on the Internet and expected her to be perfect so when I saw her in quite a messy state after a bumpy ride home I was rather surprised.

Here’s how the box looks like from different sides –

 

 

The box looks sturdy, well made and design is classic and rather minimalistic, which I like.

Finally out of her box –

 

Natascha’s outfit is very beautiful and well made. The only thing which surprised me is that she has stockings on, not tights, which in my opinion would be more age appropriate for her.

 

 

A close-up of her pretty expectant face –

 

 

The bodies of Minouche dolls are fully vinyl and look very cute.

 

 

 

Her hair is not as silky and shiny as some other dolls’ hair, American Girl, for example. But its a rooted hair of very high quality and it nice to touch, and it is also thick and heavy and falls down beautifully. And I love that colour!

 

Natascha had painted eyes, which I normally don’t quite like on my dolls, except for my Cabbage Patch Kids, but her eyes are very pretty and she looks so peaceful.

 

Natascha poses like a charm too! Very naturally and easy.

It took me a couple of days to get used to Natascha before I made an outfit for her. But now I have bonded with her fully and love her to pieces!

 

I have listed this outfit in my ETSY store too. Come visit!

[LINK]

 

 

 

Midsummer Halo outfit for Maru and Friends

Midsummer Halo Outfit for Maru and Friends

ETSY LINK

This Midsummer Halo Outfit for Maru and Friends features dark green eyelet embroidery skirt and top, completed with light green vest with green ruffle and brown embroidery. The outfit looks perfect for summery, folksy style girls.

Matty holding a Kokle:

Thanks for looking!

Muñecas Antonio Juan Overview

Muñecas Antonio Juan is a family business which was founded in 1958. All Juan Antonio are manufactured in Spain. With the experience gained over many years in the industry, Antonio Juan dolls are innovative and quality toys at competitive prices, meeting the highest European standards. Antonio Juan dolls currently export to over 30 countries.

I have received my first Antonio Juan doll today; it is Farita, a 38cm doll, which I have named Flanna, because of her hair colour. She is made to present a 2-3 years old toddler.

 

Here’s a bit of unpacking details –

 

 

The box is sturdy and well made.

Front:

Side:

I actually liked the back of the box better than the front:

There was a clear plastic cover under the paper cover (which gave this photo a glare):

 

Inside she was tied with clear elastics which were rather easy to detach:

Finally free:

 

She came dressed in pink outfit. The fabrics are nice to touch, the design is cute and age appropriate, but none of the seams are finished, and fabrics shed like crazy. The coat only has lining on the front. The shoes have soft soles, like pre-walker shoes do and are made of very thin patent leather. All of the clothes have Velcro closures, which snap the hair and stockings. I am positive that I will not use her original outfit except for the stockings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really like her hair, it is very child-like, but if you like to style hair a lot you might not like it due to limited playability.

 

She has the cutest chubby toddler limbs. Arms are a bit short in my opinion.

 

 

She is sturdy, surprisingly heavy. The vinyl is too tan, orangey, but very soft and silky to touch.

The toes are sculpted beautifully.

 

 

 

Straight out of box she had some sort of dark spots on her tush:

 

They came off with the simple finger rub:

 

Vinyl colour comparison with my Maru and Friends doll:

 

To summarize: she is a very cute little chubby toddler, with adorable half-smile and life-like freckles and a nice body. I really like her and cant wait to play with her more!

 

 

Autumn rose outfit for Kidz’n’Cats

This Autumn rose outfit for Kidz’n’Cats is made in shades of rose colours and includes:

– Dress
– Knitted cardigan
– Knitted headband

ETSY LINK

Blue waves outfit for Kidz’n’Cats

This Blue waves outfit for Kidz’n’Cats is made in many shades of blue colours and includes:

– Knitted skirt
– Knitted crop cardigan
– Knitted rib hat
– Knitted scarf to match a hat
– Crochet lace top
– Crochet handbag
– Crochet leg-warmers

ETSY LINK

Colour Be Gone Outfit for American Girl

Colour Be Gone Outfit for American Girl

This gorgeous outfit is made in many shades of white, grey and black.

The set includes –

– Silky tunic dress in black and ivory print
– Long grey V-neck cardigan with belt
– White tweed hat with grey flower detail

ETSY LINK 

 

The Grand update

So, long time no see! It was a very long spring here, we have plenty of news! First of all, we have moved, hence the lack of posts/new outfits. Second, we now create apparel for Lee Middleton and reborn babies too, yay! And last but not least, we are working on our new collection, woohoo! And to greet everyone who reads this, we have listed an outfit in our Etsy Shop, it’s our notorious Bohemian Rhapsody, be sure to click HERE or picture to visit sales page. Thank you and we are so happy to be back!

 

Rieke loves spring!

Here’s my Rieke enjoying lovely spring morning –

Creative process

I am repeatedly asked where I get inspiration for my designs, so I decided to write a post about the creative process behind my outfits.

 First of all I watch for trends everywhere. There are various social factors that shape fashion trends. In the most general terms, it is possible to describe it as a way of life of people and their current needs. Life creates trends – places we go, where we work, people we communicate with, how we have fun, movies we see, books we read. It is only necessary to feel what’s important to people at the moment and translate these things to fashion. There are several approaches to forecasting fashion. The formal approach is based on an understanding fashion cycles. Monitoring changes in fashion over the years brought together a vast statistical material and to identify major and minor periods of return of certain silhouettes, colours and forms. This allows forming a base for the future of fashion. Another approach is observing the society. The freshest trends are not born in the workshops, so it’s useful to observe public and read popular blogs, to study lifestyles and attitudes of target audiences. So fashion is a social phenomenon. It does not pop out of nowhere, and designers do not invent it. I, as a fashion designer try to present silhouettes, colours and materials which correspond with current expectations of the public.

Little pink cardigan

Marietta models little pink cardigan with arm-warmers:

 

More pictures HERE