Starting today, our Thimbles and Acorns shop has officially moved over to Pixie Faire! Earlier this year, we decided to move our patterns over to Pixie Faire because we wanted to spend more time working on patterns and less time figuring out how to manage our online store. The move was just the motivation we needed to take care of some much needed editing on our earlier patterns so that they would all have the same style covers and layouts. We still have three left to finish, but they will be available on Pixie Faire very soon. In the meantime the full collection of patterns published by Thimbles and Acorns, including Keepers Dolly Duds Designs, VintiqueDesigns, Flossie Potters Patterns, and Kindred Thread are still available in my Etsy shop. There is still more coming with this transition, so keep watching to see what is next!
In April, Frances from A Girl for All Time headed to China to meet with her factory team to work out all the final details with Lydia and her wardrobe. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to be a part of the whole process… though being on the other side of the world, my day ended up starting at 3:00 in the morning. Still, working as the wardrobe designer for A Girl for All Time has been an exciting experience from the start, and having the opportunity to work with the manufacturer was no exception. When I choose materials for a project, it is all about estimation… and generally over estimation… about a yard or so of fabric, a spool of thread, a card or two of buttons, and whatever trim catches my fancy. When I begin sewing, I may or may not choose to follow the directions… isn’t it really all about interpreting a pattern? Manufacturing an outfit, however, is a completely different affair. Each and every cut, stitch, piece of trim, and length fabric has to be figured out precisely to come up with a final price. Then, to get the price to meet the budget, alterations need to be made and the price refigured. Getting a beautiful doll wardrobe to fit a set budget is a combination of artistic ingenuity and mathematical gymnastics. We overcame our language barrier, thought outside of the box, learned of new and innovative techniques, and came up with a final prototype we were were delighted with! Lydia is now in production and expected to be available in September… a year from the time I first began working on this project. For a limited time, you can pre-order Lydia to be among the first to get her on this first run. The offer is only good until July 22nd, so order soon.
Can’t wait to see the finished product. Congrats for all your hard work. I am sure it will be a success. Love the dolls. Have Clementine.. Hope to see more patterns for these dolls.