Mouse Color

"I had mice that I kept as pets when I was very young, and I've always liked the way they look. Even rats. I'm not scared of them."

       Catherine Deneuve


The girls are getting fancier!  I am having such a fun time with the little mice.  This week I made 3 mouse girls and a very fancy guinea pig, all in bright colors.  

Normally I like to use colors that are a bit more faded, more vintage feeling, but honestly, I think the bright colors on the rodents makes them very festive and just a little more fun. Who doesn't need a little pop of color for a bit of fun?

"All this is only for the mice and myself to admire!"

      Catherine the Great


Not really - you can get a mouse, too, if you know where to  shop :)

Ladies and Gents in Waiting

I finished up a batch of ratties over the weekend, inspired by the ladies and gents of the 18th Century. That is really the era that I take most inspiration from.  I love Victorian garb, but honestly, there is nothing like the fashion of Marie Antoinette or the Duchess of Devonshire.  The flounces and the frills!  How I love them.  My rats are not an exact representation, obviously, as I am a whimsical sort, after all, but let's say loosely based.  The rats -  I really love them!  They make me laugh.  I don't know.  I guess I am just plain goofy.  I am a grownup person, and this is what I do!  Not even just as a hobby, I actually charge and rely on sales for this craziness :)  Let us say that my ratty dress shop, House of Rodentia, is up and running :)

I sometimes feel like I have the weirdest of things that I do during a regular day.  Whenever anyone asks me what I do, I start with the usual, "I'm an artist."  No one ever leaves it at that, though I feel like it would be so much easier if they did!  Once they hear, "Artist," they want to know what that entails.  They always ask, "What kind of things do you do?"  I think they are imagining I am a painter or perhaps a potter, if my hands are any indication. I generally shuffle a bit, sizing up the person who is asking to see how much information to give.  I don't want to overwhelm or frighten anyone, after all!  After years of just answering, "Doll artist," which no one seems to have a clue about, I still haven't come up with a good response.

Sometimes I say I design costumes in miniature, which then causes the questioner to ask what I mean by that.  If I had said, "I make miniature mice and rats and costume them," I am pretty sure they would be a bit alarmed!  If I had said that I make dresses for big headed plastic dolls, I think what I actually make isn't what they would be picturing.  Despite the fact that the Blythe dolls and ball jointed dolls are super popular around the world, people usually don't have a good grasp on the idea of dolls for grownups.  It's too out of the ordinary for most people to comprehend. People who work in miniature are kind of their own odd lot, I think.

Well, then, all that being said, I love what I do.  I have been making little dolls and dresses and things since forever.  The rats are my favorite.  The Blythe dolls I am grateful for that - it really got me into a much better groove with dressmaking in miniature.  If I hadn't spent so much time on the 1/6 scale dresses, it would have been really difficult for me to get a handle on 1/12 scale with the level of detail I like.  For now I do both - the dresses for Blythe dolls, the rats and other tinies for myself and anyone I can cajole into getting hooked :)  I think the ratties may be starting to catch on, though. Time will tell.

It's about 95 degrees here today.  Whew!  I am decidedly NOT dressed in 18th Century garb.  I am wearing shorts and flip flops and the lightest weight tee-shirt I can get away with.  It really does get pretty warm in Charleston.  Not complaining, just saying :) Enjoy whatever season you are in!  Hugs - Cindy

House of Rodentia

I don't really know how many folks these days take inspiration from Beatrix Potter.  A lot maybe, but  have never really bothered to query anyone.  I have always been a huge fan of small animals in human clothes.  Probably something weird about my brain, to be honest. The story of the Tailor of Gloucester is a favorite.  I especially like the opening paragraph that reads:  

In the time of swords and periwigs and full-skirted coats with flowered lappets - when gentlemen wore ruffles, and gold-laced waistcoats of paduasoy and taffeta - there lived a tailor in 

Gloucester.

It turns out that the story was based on an actual tailor, one John Pritchard.  Apparently he had a similar situation to the tale (he had been given the task of making a coat for the mayor, but then, unfortunately, took ill.  Upon his return from his sick bed, the tailor found that his assistants had made up the coat for him in his absence).  He supposedly spread the story that fairies had done it, but Beatrix Potter liked the idea of mice assistants and so her version of the tale reads that way.  The opening words Potter used in her story, "periwigs," "lappets," and "paduasoy," hark back to the 18th Century, which is the style and era I like best to borrow from in my own miniature dressmaking work.

When I was a child, my parents took me to see Disney's Cinderella, or at least that's how I remember it.  I was pretty young on my first viewing of the movie.  What I most remember is the dressmaking assistants.  The mice!  I have kept that in my mind over the years, as well as the mice from the Tailor of Gloucester and always imagined that my own little dress shop should have mice and rats to do the assisting.  

I have been making rats and mice as miniature dolls since about 2015. I have sold quite a bundle of them.  Over time I have tweaked the ears and shape of the head over and over and over, and finally feel pretty satisfied.  The newest version has wired legs and arms, so a bit more posable. I have gone to a jewel nose, stuck with the German glass eyes and jointed limbs and head.  I have continued with the painted feet and quilting fabric arms and legs.  All in all, I feel good about them as they are today.

I have been designing miniature fashions now, well, since childhood.  I imagine my assistants as small mice and rats I have designed from mohair and cloth.  There are no actual rodents on the premises.  I have 2 trustworthy cats, after all.  The imaginary mice and rats are inspiration for miniature clothing that I like to make for small cloth animal dolls designed by me (rats, mice, bears, bunnies and sometimes others if I am in the mood) and the larger plastic Blythe dolls that I have had in my house since 2009.  I have recently given my miniature dress shop the name House of Rodentia.  I think it has a certain ring to it, though perhaps a bit crazy.  But, well...

In my dressmaking, I often switch around, alter, or resize pattern pieces I designed for one thing, to go with things they weren't originally meant for.  Which leads me to the serendipitous discovery I made this morning.  The 18th century dresses, coats and waistcoats I have been designing this month for my newest mouse and rat dolls fit (although in a far shortened version) perfectly the Blythe dolls, the giant Alice girls that seem to have slid down the rat hole.  A girl's gotta have decent dresses if she finds herself in an alternate world, for goodness sake! This may sound silly to you, but to me, it is a boon.  Because it means that the clothing can be switched, and if someone gets one of these newer mouse dolls, they will also have a dress that their Blythe dolls (and probably other dolls as well) can share.  How's that for economy?  Always trying to be helpful :)

I hope your creative time is keeping you busy, happy and healthy.  It's summer here.  I am loving the heat!

O'Malley the Bear

I am marching forward on March 1 with my launch of patterns and tutorials, hoping to get some of you sewing!  First up will be 4 patterns/tutorials all focused around the little bears you see above.  The main pattern/tutorial is called "O'Malley the Bear" - a cute little 5-6" tall bear you can make from mohair or viscose, woolens or velvets.  Every pattern/tutorial is a downloadable PDF (no waiting time - just purchase and download) that contains a list of supplies, tools,clear, detailed step by step instructions loaded with photos so you can follow along easily,



I am starting with the bear, offering 2 different 3-piece clothing set patterns, one for boys, one for girls, and a cute little aviator helmet I designed especially to fit the bears you make.  These clothing patterns will also work for any 5-6" animal you have purchased in my store previously, including the little rats. Tutorials are extensive, so you will feel like you are following right along with me while I sew.



I will also have some hand-dyed mohair in pastel shades kits available for $20 that will include enough mohair for the bear, the glass eyes, the cotter pin/disk joint set, the floss for the nose and 4 buttons for attaching the limbs. Please stop by my etsy store on Tuesday, 3/1/16, and get your creative juices flowing.  You can stay posted on upcoming patterns and tutorials (Blythe doll clothing patterns coming!) on my new FB page of by joining my newsletter - and as a special thanks for signing up, you will receive a link in the confirmation email to download a free O'Reilly the Rat pattern.

Bear Tutorials Coming in March

Okay, I am a really bad blogger girl.  I can't believe it has been over a year since I last put something down on this page!  I have been busy.  I am blogging today because I am trying something new.  I have made a kamillion tiny things over the years, so many it's impossible to count.  Dolls, doll dresses, ornaments, tiny animals, clothes for the tiny animals, etc.  I am feeling at this stage of the game that I want to bring other people into my world - to get them inspired to create something fun via sewing.  I have been sewing since I was 11.  That's a very long time indeed!  Starting 3/1/2016, I am going to be putting in my etsy store tutorials for things I make.  I am going to start with the tiny critters, bears first.  I will have patterns and tutorials for them and their clothing, hopefully growing quite a catalog.  I hope to expand into animals other than bears, and maybe some doll things as well.  I want people to have fun, to enjoy sewing, to make something cool, and for it to be challenging enough, but not so difficult they get frustrated right off the bat and throw their hands up.  So that means, I will be doing things with a lot of detail.  Photos!  Lots of photos. I hope to offer things you might need to complete your projects as well.  So, stay tuned.  Join me if you want, and let's see what you can do!  

Friday is For Relaxing

It's Friday today and I was planning on taking the day off and relaxing a bit, since I usually work through the weekend anyway. It's a rainy day and seems like the thing to do. It's almost noon, though, and I still have to go through photos and list my rat girls on Etsy, so perhaps the sitting back and being chill is going to have to happen later. Ah well, the life of a country doll maker :)

I have 5 new rats done for the week. It actually takes a lot longer to make each one than I imagined would be the case, but I am still having fun, so it's my little labor of love. I have continued to find little furniture pieces for them, and can now switch things in and out and change it up a bit. At least the rats can relax, as they have some furniture that fits them, a room to sit in, and they haven't much to do for the day other than look pretty and sit.

I seem to have gone a little miniature crazy. Besides a few more pieces of furniture, I have gone onto Amazon (usually a big mistake) and found some books on miniatures. I almost can't resist. Everything is just so darned cute! I hope I can find others who are interested in doing little 1/12 scale things. It's really quite fun.

If you don't require umpteen million books to satisfy your curiosity, a lot of the stuff can be had for cheap. There are little furniture kits and also used furniture available out there for in the $10 range, so that as a weekend project you could paint a little chair and have something to add to your scene without feeling like you spent all your hard earned money.

Hopefully you will find a bit of charm in my rats and rabbits and other tinies and see potential for your own scenes and room settings. The stuffed things also go nicely in Blythe scenes if you aren't for the teeny tiny miniature stuff.

My plan for the weekend is to make a few dresses for the rat girls and maybe look into some things for the walls of my little room box. I haven't worked on putting together any faux paintings yet, and I think that might be fun.

I am inspired a little by the old-timey children's books with their illustrations of animals in little jackets and trousers. I want my little rat girls to be a little less countrified, and more city fancy, but the works of Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor certainly come to mind.

We are running into a cold snap here for the week, so staying inside seems again the thing to do. It won't be long before winter hits here, and even this morning we had a tiny dusting of snow, and still there are little flakes flitting around outside my window. Nothing sticking yet, but it won't be long.  I hope this is a good weekend for you.  Stay warm.  Stay creative and always find time to play.

Long long time ago - Or, Spring Is Here Hopefully?

Well, obviously, I am a horrible blogger! Egads. It has been nearly half a year gone by! I am going to blame it on the winter. Longest winter I can remember. Ever. No kidding.

The whole east coast of the US got deluged with snow and cold. We were still having snow the last days of March this year. The mood around here was one something like preparing for an ice age. We still have 3 feet high snow banks in our yard, and there is just a hint of grass showing around the porch.

All is well, though, it seems. We had a 50 degree day this week, so I am just going to say spring is here. It doesn't look like it outside today, but let's be optimistic, shall we?

If anyone is wondering, this winter I was busy making doll dresses and some other random fashions for Blythe. I am saying at the moment that I am not going to make any more custom dolls for sale. Maybe sometimes one for myself, but I have had a good run, customized maybe 125 dolls for others, and for now that is enough.

That could change, but I feel pretty good about the way my little dress shop is going, so kind of want to just give that a whirl. In the past I have done virtually everything for dolls. Reroots, dyeing fiber for reroots, customizing Blythes, Sad Eyed Susies and other dolls, dresses, hats, goggles, masks, original clothing, and anything that I could think up.

It has gotten so that I just have so much stuff everywhere. I would like to put some of it away and just do one thing for awhile. So, it's dresses for now. They make me happy. It's something I am pretty good at. So, that's that.

Of course, I can never seem to concentrate on any one kind of fashion for very long, so things seem to change day to day. I have gotten so I can make more than 1 of something, but not as often as would be practical. I am inspired by a lot of things, and usually I just like to do whatever comes to me.

For this post, I am just sharing some photos of some of the things I made and sold in my shop over the winter. Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is bursting into spring madness and that in the southern, you are easing into fall and things are maybe cooling down a bit.

Stay colorful!

XOXOX

Cindy

Cloth Invasion

I was a cloth doll artist before I got bitten by the plastic doll bug. I haven't made a cloth doll in probably 2 years. This past week I got the urge. I think it was that i had broken some plastic part while customizing a plastic doll that got me thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just toss a doll here or there and not worry about breaking it?" I am not all that gentle with my plastic dolls. I take a lot of photos and they do get tossed to and fro. Often I have to give them a bit of freshening up after a mishap. With cloth dolls, they are really meant to be tossed here and there. Throw them on the bed, on a shelf, on a dresser. They fall on the floor sometimes. Children have been known to yank a leg off now and again. They are sweet, but maybe not quite that precious. The dolls, not the children :)

I made a basket full of dolls over the week. I think the big sad-eyed thing has gone into my brain and is trapped there and can't get out. My cloth dolls came out with giant eyes and sad faces. I deemed them orphans. There is a hill across from my home that my family and I sometimes walk up. It is called Hedgehog Hill. I am not sure why, as there are no hedgehogs in Vermont, but that's how it goes sometimes. They probably should have called it Porcupine Hill, but maybe that name was already taken. In any case, I imagined these little sad orphan girls to live in an imaginary orphanage on Hedgehog Hill and named them the Hedgehog Hill girls. They want new homes.

The faces on the dolls are handpainted and sealed. The bodies are muslin with black cotton permanent boots and a corset. They have silk, cotton, lace and tulle tattered dresses that are tea-stained or hand-dyed by me. They have yarn hair. Yarn is something I have had a lot of over the years. There is a yarn shop not that far from me that has the most glorious yarns. I buy all my yarn there. It is generally quite spendy because it is mostly natural fibers and sometimes hand-dyed or even hand-spun. I can recall paying as much as $40 a skein for some of it. At the time I was left wondering what a full sweater would cost at that price.

I am still working in plastic. I just wanted a diversion. I always seem to have one. Sometimes it's paperdolls, sometimes something else. I like the softness of these dolls and I like tattered dresses. I have a feeling I am going to need a very big basket at some point, as I had quite a lot of fun making these.

Hope if you are in the northern hemisphere, you are easing into fall and crisp weather. If you are in the southern, it must be turning green all around you and perhaps just as crisp.

Big Eyed Love

Fanny Zara, Jean Yates and I are very pleased and honored to announce the release of the book we have all been waiting for for 2 years! The For the Love of Blythe book project is now completed, just in time for BlytheCon NYC as promised and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we did, dreaming of it and making it.

You can preview online or purchase if you are interested.

Cover diorama/photo of all the dolls completed in the project by Princess-Di-O-Rama.