I came across this wonderful shop offering items for all three types of American girl dolls and easily fell in love with the shop. My nieces Laura and Thea got Bitty Babies for Christmas this year from Santa, and with :Laura's birthday now almost a month away she has found a few great items for her doll that she has put on her wish list.
I also loved this set and
My niece Laura is doll shoe obsessed and loved the colors and selection of shoes offered.
I loved that they have a no slip bottom!
I also interviewed Barbara of 2 Sweet Peas Boutique and I share with you now that interview
Q: How did you come up with your shop name
and asked everyone for ideas for a shop name. It was fun throwing ideas
out there but we didn't know whether to focus on a name that was doll related
or to pick a neutral name in case I wanted to branch out into children's items.
After many rejects, my sister pointed out that I was always referring to my
children as sweetpeas. We tried several variations of the name because as it
turned out a lot of people also refer to their children as sweetpeas. LOL. So,
that's how 2sweetpeasboutique was born.
Q:When did you start to create for Bitty Babies?
A: I actually started out making doll clothes for my niece, Natalie, when Cabbage
Patch Kids were popular. I still can't believe we managed to find one of the
dolls for my niece's Christmas present. We went to so many stores but they
were always sold out. We were ready to give up and look for something else
and decided to try one more toy store. My sister and I happened to be in the
doll department when a clerk came out with six Cabbage Patch dolls. We
finally got one! The clothes weren't very interesting (maybe because I'm a
sewer and picky) but I decided to buy the patterns and make my own. I
enjoyed making them for her and her friends. I still have all my original
patterns.
Q: What was your motivation?
A:. My daughter, Lindsay, received a Bitty Baby doll as a Christmas gift from her
Uncle. Future Christmases and birthdays brought her Felicity, Kirsten, Molly
and Addy. I happily dusted off my sewing machine and started creating outfits
for the dolls. I enjoy making the time period clothing for the American Girl
dolls but the emphasis is now on the girl of today clothes. Kirsten and
Molly are my favorites because I love the clothing from those two time
periods. Kirsten was fun because I could design "Little House on the Prairie"
outfits. One year, my daughter and Kirsten wore matching outfits to the
Halloween Parade at her school.
The dolls had more outfits than they needed, so I started selling them at
craft shows. My daughter jumped on board to be my helper. Her job
was to dress the dolls and fix their hair. Lindsay also made bead jewelry
for the dolls. At break time, she would go shopping and check out all the
other crafters - and the bake sale! We had a lot of fun at those shows but
after making over 1,000 doll outfits I decided to take a break for a few years.
Q: How did you end up with an Etsy shop?
A: I actually ended up with a shop on Etsy because of my daughter. Lindsay
also loves to sew and was considering selling at craft shows until a magazine
article about Etsy changed her mind. With the success of her second Etsy
shop, Pinkglitterboutique, (makeup bags and accessories) she convinced
me to open 2sweetpeasboutique. We both love Etsy for selling and
shopping!
Q: What do you prefer to make Bitty Baby/Twin or18 inch?
A: I make doll clothes for Bitty Baby and the American Girls but I prefer making
Bitty Baby outfits because they're so much like baby clothes. The fabrics I
use most often are cotton and flannel. I look for colors I think young girls
would like and baby prints. It's hard to find prints that are cute and small
enough for the dolls. The prints have to be to scale or the outfits won't look
right. I want them to look like miniature baby outfits.
Q: What is your top selling item?
A:My top seller is actually a tie between any outfit with a cupcake print (who
doesn't love cupcakes?) and a white flannel with tiny pink roses that I use
for Bitty pajamas. The dress, bib and matching booties sets are popular
and the footed pajamas. For the American Girls, the capri sets and
sundresses are popular items. One of my favorite outfits was a St. Patrick's
dress for the American Girl doll. The fabric was gorgeous - black with tiny
sparkly green shamrocks. I trimmed the sleeves and hem with white lace.
The dress looked really pretty on Felicity with her red hair.
Q:What can we look forward to from your shop this year?
A. My daughter recently convinced me that I need the Bitty Twins, so they're the
newest models in my shop. I've only made two matching sets for them so
far but will be focusing more on them this year.
a toddler boy would wear it but still coordinate with his twin sister. I'm also
going to focus more on matching sister sets for girls who have both Bitty
Baby and an American Girl doll.
It's hard to believe that Lindsay's Bitty Baby is 21 years old. We think she
looks good for her age. My niece had a baby girl last February. We
figure in two years (or less) we'll be giving Delaney her own Bitty Baby
and lots of outfits, of course. Another reason to keep on sewing!
I hope you will stop by and see all the new fashions for Bitty babies, Twins and of course our 18 inch dolls at \2SweetPeasBoutique
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
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