One of my readers Lily let me know about this great Etsy shop called http://www.etsy.com/people/MicheFinds the lady behind this shop Meg, turns out to be one very talented lady in our Doll world. In addition to her Etsy shop Meg is also the creator of the new Wizard costume you can purchase through Liberty Jane at http://libertyjanepatterns.com/2011/08/wizard-robe-pattern-for-ag-dolls.html
Meg also has a You tube channel www.youtube.com/user/charmed031584 and face book page www.facebook.com/#!/pages/MicheDesigns/248813741812320?sk=wall
Meg very kindly shared with me a bit about her love of American girl dolls and how she started out in the doll world.
"I have had AG dolls since i was 11, but just started designing for them when I found my old AG dolls in my parent's basement storage last year.I started by fixing them up and have bought several since. i currently have 9 AG dolls.
I have 2 young boys and also watch 2 brothers during the day, so my dolls are sort of my "girlie time." I told my husband that for every year I don't have a real little girl, he has to buy my a new AG doll...he's gotten me 2 so far!
I found out about etsy and the huge "doll couture" phenomenon through Liberty Jane Clothing and Patterns in the fall of 2010. I found their website randomly while searching for doll clothing besides AG brand. when I saw the LJ design contests, it took me 3 months to get up the nerve to enter! once i got the 1st entry posted on YouTube, the feedback was very encouraging and I ended up posting 16 more design entries for both Liberty Jane and Britlyn Madison over the next few months. I received 4th place in my first LJ contest, and one of three 1st place spots the second contest.
About a month after I started entering designs, i decided i wanted to give sewing my own doll outfits a try. i had never sewn before, but I downloaded a few free patterns from the LJ website, and started handsewing (i didn't have a sewing machine yet). i got through my first tee shirt and 2 pairs of jeans before my husband broke down and bought me a sewing machine for my bday! I was really nervous to try using it (i am technologically handicapped), but once I got started, it was love at first stitch :D
I love making one-of-a-kind fashion outfits like something I could see wearing myself. I also make all my own doll jewelry, which is a lot of fun as well! my biggest seller were the Wizard Robes. they were my first pattern I created on my own. they got so popular, it felt like that was all I was doing so I now have the pattern listed for sale on Liberty Jane's pattern site. that felt like a huge acheivement so go from finding their website and being in awe of the outfits, to being part of it myself!
I also just listed my first outfit on ebay. I started the bid at $0.99 and advertised it through both youtube and dollabee. I have several other etsy outfits advertised on dollabee and facebook as well. www.dollabee.com is a great website idea!
M youtube has been the biggest advertisement to date though.I post all my outfits there in video format and get feedback within 5 min of uploading! I have great subscribers and have made many young girls with talents of their own! It's great to get feedback from that 9-16 age group to see what will sell. once I got a good idea of what girls and even mature collecters liked, I started posting things on etsy (which I also found out about through youtube).I also gave away a free outfit by me (MicheDesigns) when i reached 200 subs on youtube. I am giving away another free outfit when i reach 400 subs...almost there!!! the winner is drawn at random from amongst my subscribers.
I want to thank Meg for sharing with us her experience and talents in the doll world and hope that you will check her out on Youtube, Etsy and Dollabee!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave your comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
Meg does amazing work for someone that just recently started using a sewing machine!
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