One of my favorite things I get to do on my blog is share behind the scenes looks at Etsy Shops, Designers and People in the Dolly World. I am thrilled to share with you about JenAshley Doll Designs and pattern designer/shop owner Laurie.
"I
have three grown
children (two boys and a girl). I recently retired from my job in the
educational field. I started sewing and crocheting simple doll clothes
when I was around 7 years old. By the time I was a teenager, I had
started making my own clothes as well as household items."
'When
my children were young, I made mostly dress
clothes for the boys and all types of clothes from play clothes and
school clothes to dressy dresses for my daughter. Doll clothes are my
favorite items to sew, because the they are easier to fit, the cutting
layout covers a small territory, and it is lots of fun."
"My Doll
Shop and Pattern Inspiration: My
daughter collected American Girl dolls when she was growing up. I made
several matching girl and doll outfits for her and lots of doll
clothes. I also made doll clothes for her friends when they celebrated
their birthdays. During that time, I made doll clothes for charity
events which were used as auction items, door prizes, gifts for needy
children, etc. as well. After my children grew up and moved out and I
was getting ready to retire, I
remembered how much fun it was to make doll clothes. Since I still had
my daughter's doll collection, I decided to create an Etsy shop and use her dolls as models. I named the shop after my daughter by using a combination of her names (JenAshley Doll Designs) https://www.etsy.com/shop/
"I made some of my own patterns for the doll clothes as I had when she
was growing up, and I discovered the Liberty Jane Patterns. I began
buying patterns and became a Liberty Jane partner. For the first few
years after opening my shop, I did not really think about
publishing my patterns. I made them as needed for special orders, etc.
but they
remained as rough paper and pencil drawings. In February of this year,
I took the Liberty Jane Design Academy. For one of my little
assignments, I made a pattern for a pleated summer top which I ended up
developing into a pattern to publish. Our main assignment was to find
an inspiration outfit that exemplified the design elements we covered
throughout the month and make a similar outfit. My outfit included a
cinched waist military jacket with a detachable hood which I have also
published. So far, I have eight patterns on Pixie Faire' s two
sites: http://www.pixiefaire.
"I have a few Patterns
in the
works: I added a couple of 13-14 inch dolls (a Hearts for Hearts doll
and a Les Cheries doll) to my daughters'
collection. I am currently working on a couple of patterns for 13-14
inch dolls (a football jersey and a soccer uniform in the same design as
the 18 inch doll outfits). I also have a new idea for an 18 inch doll
pattern in the works. I plan to keep most of my focus on the 18 inch
dolls for now and occasionally make variations of those patterns for the
13-14 inch dolls."
"Above is my 18 inch doll military
jacket, and the second shows a couple of girl and
doll dresses I made for my daughter when she was around seven years
old. The ideas for the girl and doll dresses came from heirloom sewing
magazines that specialize in sewing for children"
You can find out more about JenAshley Doll designs and her up coming patterns by visiting the link below.
Thank you Laurie for the behind the scenes look at your shop and your designs!
As with all our posts we would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
