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Business & Tech

Sew You Want to Make A Doll

Woman's popular doll-making kits have fans around the world.

Sew You Want to Make a Doll?

Ellen Lumpkin Brown, founder of The Doll Loft, is showing the world how to sew custom made dolls one stitch at a time. Her company creates doll kits for people who want to make dolls from scratch.  From choosing the doll’s eye color and hair type, to skin color - it’s all up to you.

Ellen’s sewing studio is covered with colorful fabrics, patterns and even a letter of thanks from First Lady Michelle Obama. “When Sasha and Malia stepped out in Chicago during the Inauguration, the outfits they were wearing excited me so much that I had to make the dolls. The clothes just flew out of the sewing machine.”

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In the age of Build-A-Bear, people have been drawn to putting a personal signature on dolls they create. “They know they are able to pour a little bit of themselves in the process, ” says Ellen.

Ellen, has also been pouring herself into the process. She left her job in July to sell her doll kits full time. Meanwhile, people from around the world have flocked to her site. She says it’s been exciting to send off her doll kits to a number of countries including Iceland, Russia, Israel, Brazil and Australia where there is a large sewing community.

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Ellen describes the dolls as fashionistas because they love to wear the latest fashions. Just one look on her site, and one can also see the influences that her travels abroad have had on the colorful fabric choices and patterns - patterns that can be used to create chic clothing for any dolls that are 16-22 inches in height. “Many cultures express themselves in the clothes they wear and I love to capture that that type of thing and think about how I can interpret it.”

Ellen notes that people who want to create the dolls don’t need to go buy a Singer if they don’t have one. The 21-inch beauties can be hand-sewn. The doll kit also comes with her book Doll Fashionistas as well as an instructional DVD.

Ellen says she is grateful for the sewing skills that were passed on to her from her mother and grandmother, and she relishing every moment passing along what she knows to others. “If you have that passion and you are so lucky to have it and know you have it, you have to follow it.”

Email Ellen at ellen@thedollloft.com. View more at www.thedollloft.com.

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