12" Kish Bitty Bethany doll clothes

A LITTLE ABOUT ME

I feel like I have been sewing "all of my life." Learned to sew at age
10 and took to it immediately. By middle school (junior high in my
day!) I was helping the teacher with the other students because
I was already making fully lined suits. Yes, in those days we
wore dresses and suits to school! In high school I began desiging
my own creations/designs by combining pattern elements.

When I entered college I decided to volunteer in the theater arts
department helping to make costumes for productions. I ended
up eventually majoring and getting a degree in costuming. Also
set up the very first costume shop and storage for the school -
it was a small school and I was the first person to be interested
solely in costuming (most students majoring in theater wanted
to act). After graduation I moved to CA with my husband and
spent a year working in the University of California, Santa
Barbara costume shop. I learned so much working with some
very talented designers and doing costumes for not only the
theater department but also the dance and music (opera) departments.

After my sons were born I started a dressmaking business in my
home and operated that for 12 years. During this time I taught
several sewing classes from beginning to advanced for a local fabric
store. In the 1980s I switched my home business to making exercise
and dancewear. These were sold mostly to Jazzercize class members. Through this business I made contact with a lady who ran a dance school and I would make up to 500 costumes for her spring receital each year.

While living in Utah (1998) I started making clothing for my god
daughter's American Girl doll. I then expanded to make
clothes to sell and did quite well at local craft fairs. We moved
to Ohio in 1999 and I ended up across the street from a lady
who owned a doll shop! She suggested I start sewing for fashion
dolls - and I sold some things through her shop. Along came
Yahoo groups and I suddenly had a connection with hundreds
of doll collectors. I started selling through my website, on Ebay
and to members of the Yahoo groups I was a part of. Things
just sort of took off and here I am still making doll clothes.

Check out my auctions on Ebay!
ID-Dollsewr