Sue's Tiny Costumes

New Doll....

2007-06-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

I am incredibly excited... for the first time in over a year I bought myself a new doll. Having a red headed Gene standing here in her undies staring at me is slowly motivating me to dig out my closets again and play with patterns & fabric and slowly start putting things back online. My Advanced Discourse class is inspiring me to write again and I am updating all my blogs and may even tackle updating some small portions of my website as time allows.

Hopefully soon... very soon I'll have a new outfit to show off... if not for a doll then for myself as I am really itching to sew and craft once more.

Birthday Sale...

2005-11-28T23:09:00.000-09:00

My daughter turns 6 and my website turns 3 officially so I have posted a Buy one Get one FREE sale on my Special Sales page. The sale is November 30th and December 1st!
Check it out!
Sue Darby ~ www.suestinycostumes.com
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Alaska State Fair 2005

2005-09-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

This year I decided it was time to start entering the Alaska State Fair. I've entered multiple County and local fairs for handcrafted items over the years growing up but not at the state level. It was time and my hard work paid off this year in the form of a first place ribbon on one of my nicest items I've done yet... Little Bo Peep and her Sheep otherwise known as Kitty Collier and Tiny Betsy.

When I find some time I'll post the photos of them at the fair with their ribbon. The judge's comment on my form was "cute sheep girl" and I do have to admit Betsy is pretty cute!

Both patterns will appear in the Halloween Issue of International Doll Magazine as well as being available for download (purchase) on my site.

News

2005-07-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

News

Well once again it's time I posted on this blog. I've accomplished a lot in the last few weeks. New patterns are nearing completion, my items are all automatically downloaded now through www.payloadz.com combined with www.paypal.com and I'm working on taking new photos of everything using the full size tripod and the lovely weather we're having this summer in Alaska.

Some of the new patterns are for Kitty Collier, Skipper, Harry Potter who shares a body with Kevin & a couple new miniature patterns (not shown yet).

Well that's it for now.

Sue Darby
www.suestinycostumes.com

Playing around...

2005-06-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

I'm playing around with settings and things I can do with blogger as I plan on publishing some informative articles shortly.
I've also been writing up a list of goals for the rest of the summer in hopes that I can get everything accomplished before the fall and my college classes start. Among these goals are:

Taking photos outdoors
Updating all my patterns with my new address (done with patterns need to do books, lines and kits still)
Setting up Payloadz to do the delivery of my patterns (once the books, lines & kits are in the database this will be nearly ready!)
New patterns for Doll Magazine
New patterns for the site
Writing up at least an outline of the Computerized Drafting book & class series that has been playing around in my mind for a couple years now
Figuring out how I can afford some new dolls to play with (justifing it since some of the dolls I have still need patterns!)
Generating a new photo gallery of my work with better linking and descriptions for SEO purposes
Adding valuable content to the individual pattern's pages
Editing the last of my site for the main SEO work such as meta tags and alt tags
Putting all these goals into my reminder programs so that it nags at me to keep on top of my projects and their due dates
Writing up a possible list of class dates & times for the fall schedule of classes & courses so that it meshes with my college, kids and husband's college & work schedules with out conflicts
Blogging like this far more frequently

Now that I've put these down in hardcopy I should be able to focus on them. Some new photos have been taken but need some work before they go live, product updates are happening but not quite complete yet and the schedule of classes will be posted shortly! So things are getting done it's just a matter of time.

--  Sue Darby ~ www.suestinycostumes.com Special Sale Going on NOW! View My Blog ~ www.suestinycostumes.blogspot.com Visit My Forum ~ www.suestinycostume.proboards34.com  Want to learn more about SEO for your Website free? http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-optimization.htm

New Patterns and New Lessons

2005-05-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

As I work here in my little studio I've discovered a few things.... testing in 'real fabric' vs muslin is an OK thing to do at least for larger dolls. My reasoning behind this is that if a pattern doesn't turn out just right for say Kitty the same pattern with minor modifications manages nicely to fit a smaller doll like Brenda Starr. Besides that the 'goofs' are perfect to give to my daughter to play with as she doesn't mind imperfections in my work that usually go with a first run through a pattern as I draft and redraft and sew and resew a project.
It's funny I start with a design for one doll and eventually I have the same design or a variation of it for 2 or more others as well. I just love designing and sewing for my dolls.

On dolls and scales and magazines....

2005-01-19T09:00:00.000-09:00

One of the focuses of my business is dollhouse miniatures.... to answer the questions on scale you have several scales that are popular or gaining popularity.

1" or 1/12 scale is the most common with tons of Yahoogroups for it and other online forums including Small Stuff Digest which is where I got my start... large international list for nothing but miniatures (not just 1" scale tho)

1/2" or 1/24 scale is smaller and has gained popularity in the last couple years as the 1" scale people run out of space for minis This is a niche market that has a growing base... not saying 1" scale is on it's way out just that 1/2" is growing in popularity due to the main body of crafters being retired or *my* elders (I'm not yet 30) and on space and money budgets that are shrinking.

1/4 scale is also popular but I'm not up on it much but I can say it is extremely tiny ... if you've ever seen the original 80's Poly Pockets those come close to the correct scale or a Z scale train is right. This is considered a dollhouse scale for inside a 1" dollhouse!

On the larger end of the scale is 1/6 scale which is Barbie and the number of adult collectors wishing there were more things for her that weren't Barbie Pink has a huge base. Then there's the Tonner and larger 15-18" fashion dolls that would dearly love more items including houses and such for their dolls.

As for places to learn about miniatures or dolls.....Ashdown Inc produces Doll Magazine (I'm a correspondent....Pattern columnist- unpaid except for exposure), and American Miniaturist (used to subscribe and adored it but budget had to give somewhere)

Jones Publishing and Scott Publications produce Doll Crafter, Miniature Collector, Dolls, Doll Costuming and a whole host of other magazines that deal with various subjects within the doll or miniature world. (Don't ask me which publishing company publishes which I just know that those are the 3 big magazine producers)

I've been into dolls since 1988 when my mom started her doll business. I have been seriously into collector dolls and miniatures for about the last 2 years.

I should also add in something about reborns, repainters and art dolls... there are lots of those out there too who redo, repaint or sculpt their own dolls that need and use props... you might just have a niche in one of these catagories.

Sue

www.suestinycostumes.com

Miniature & Small Doll Clothing Patterns, Books & Classes! Check the Specials page for Sales!

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New Years Goals… notice not resolutions?

2004-12-23T15:00:00.000-09:00

I plan on updating and posting to this site far more often especially on days when things are going right… on days when things go wrong I’ll probably post that to my Lessons Learned in Business blog. In fact I plan on having several blogs about projects, different dolls and things learned about them like Ken… I have an old Ken (duplicate of one I had as a child, a newer Ken (again a duplicate of the Depp Ken I had as a teen) and then there’s the Jude Deveraux Ken I just recently bought…there’s a lot of differences in the bodies… wouldn’t think it since hey it’s Ken and he’s not the big seller Barbie is! But hey I’ve got to learn about dolls by playing… errr working with them if I’m going to draft and dress them.

Anyway my current goals at the moment are to teach the 101 Mini Drafting class in early January. Teach 102 after the move (from an apt to hopefully a house at the end of January) in late February. Then start development and testing of my 103, 104 and 105 classes for March, April & May thus giving me time to develop part if not all of the 200, 201 and 202 classes for summer. Now with my brother getting married in June, my sister Graduating High School in June and my parent’s 30^th wedding anniversary also in June the likelihood of my actually teaching in June is next to nill at this point so I’m looking at having the 200 series start in July.

Also on the drafting table for me is the various patterns for my column in Doll Magazine. The first one is out and was a Fantasy dress & cloak pattern in 1” scale. The next….well it has a theme of “romance” and I already mentioned one of the dolls I did a pattern for earlier so I won’t spoil the surprise yet. I have more patterns for a baby and another lady along with a child that I’ll be doing which will take me all the way to the summer issue. So it’s one of the more important things to get accomplished.

Just that short list is a lot to get done by June so as I finish I’ll update. Keep an eye out!

Dolls I swear I didn't want....

2004-11-30T21:13:00.000-09:00

Well it's been a while.. last post I tried the blogger ate and I didn't have time to put it back up again so I had to go a while w/o posting here. It's been a busy time in the last few months.... I now do a regular pattern for Doll Magazine. The first of which is already out and the second is in progress along with enough to go through to next summer.

Today is my daughter's 5th birthday and I thought I'd write about some of it.... recently she's been a pain... stole one of her unwrapped presents which happened to be a Nellie mini American Girl... 3 days before her birthday.. consequentially it's now one of an ever growing list of Christmas items. Her granmother in Oregon sent her a package which I opened to find some nicely wrapped presents... again stashed them and found them opened but at least it was done today... it was a combo of her and her brother snitching them as I had them up and know it had to be a cooperative effort. Too late to re-wrap them so we found them and to my semi-dismay she had been sent a Bratz doll... now I've seen them in the stores and I'm not fond of the big head and long legged nearly bodyless doll.. I'm a doll should look like a doll or a real person with 'correct' proportions.. I don't generally like stylized human figures... drove my illustration teachers batty with that but that's another story.

Anyway, I *swore* at one time that*I* would never buy a Bratz doll .... well upon looking at the doll further and then giving in because of a dismayed looking doll nutty 5 yr old who thought I might return the doll in favor of a different doll... I have kind of fallen for the Bratz dolls... to the point where I took a shoebox and instantly created a bed so that Sera would go to bed tonight! I've also like a nut told her I'd get Mrs. Claus aka me to make a 'fancy' dress for Jade (said Bratz doll). This is on top of Doll Magazine patterns and other patterns and projects for other dolls not to mention the usual Christmas outfits I make for her and her brother!

I try to not spoil the kids generally and this time of year is when I do spoil them a bit so I guess I'll just be extra busy sewing in the coming days.... like a nut I also volunteer at school and have offered to do more work in the classroom since the teacher has a cast on his foot!

I'll manage to get most of what I'm planning done but some of the other things are going to have to wait LOL.... my kids are important to me and Mrs. Claus is going to be busy into the wee hours of the morning later this month I have a feeling.

Well time to turn off the computer and sewing machine and get some rest!

Sue
www.suestinycostumes.com

Fun Fun Fun....

2004-09-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a few weeks since I last posted and I've had nothing but fun. I started out by doing a custom pattern for Tiny Kitty which turned out beautifully and actually ended up with 3 views to the pattern- plain, slight petticoat and poufy poufy princess petticoat. I now have a facination for double circle skirt patterns due to how much fullness can be put into the skirt and how well it all drapes but how little bulk is at the waist!
I have so much facination in fact that I also did 3 other dresses with the same style skirt. One is a halter style top for my Beauty B Dollfie and the other 2 are strapless dresses for the Beauty B and also my Super Size Barbie.
I had so much fun with these larger dolls that I've recently become hooked on the 16" fashion dolls as well. Brenda Starr arrived just today and already she has a bodice pattern I'll be testing tonight!
In addition to the new patterns and new dolls I've been busy developing 2 more classes that are running in mid October this year. Stylizations 102 which is the next level of the Mini Drafting 101 which ran in August and Cresindel a healer who likes to adventure as well! She has 2 interchangeable costumes and is only 4 1/2" tall!
Beyond that even I have been in the process of developing a Pattern Club.... not sure how it'll work out but if anyone has ideas on how to run it drop me a note! I'm also thinking of offering a larger doll special edition 102 with the patterns used being pre made basic blocks so that the basics of styleization can be learned without having to learn drafting first! I reccomend learning drafting first but I think there might be a few who would like to get to the fun part faster and Stylizations are certainly fun! Both things are still in the idea phase so all input is welcome!
Well time to feed my children so I'll end now.
Sue
www.suestinycostumes.com

Newly aquired items for the week ... so far

2004-07-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well I've gotten my dollfie... I adore her! I also decided to join in on Dana of Miniature Art 's online class for Madeline through Mini Doll U later in August.
It has also been determined that my Pattern Drafting for Ladies 101 class is not going to be repeated for the rest of the year. This is due to this fall and early winter where I'll be very busy moving and with holiday work and have decided that I can only handle so much solo.
However the 102 Stylizations Class will be going on in late Sept!
The larger doll classes are ongoing and 102 Stylizations for Larger Dolls will start also in late Sept or early Oct!
I'll have another class for a lady dwarf that is in the planning stages and looks like it will be going on sometime in October!
I'm hoping to hear back on the purchase of a Ginny soon and look forward to hopefully adding her to my collection. I also have a friend on another list who is looking to make space in her house and has some dolls to send me... I seem to be a doll magnet this month... Dollfies, Tika, porcelain mini dolls and some surprise dolls!
Keep an eye out for more info on new patterns as I am nearly done with a couple more designs for Tiny Betsy who is soooo easy to sew for while sewing for my children this summer! I am now behind on my incentive sewing for my daughter... I trade chores and good behavior for doll clothes... man does this work well! I owe her about 6 outfits now. I should also have patterns for Tika, Dollfie (gee she needs a name badly) and any other dolls that I don't already have pages up for!
Sue
www.suestinycostumes.com

New ideas

2004-07-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well I have many new ideas and a couple new dolls I'm currently going to be playing with. I bought Tika a Flava who has an unsual body. I knew humans had fit problems but this doll definitely has them. She bends and moves just under the bust making her great for poses that are different from standard Barbies but she also has an "S" curve torso that gives her a long side and a short side along with a high hip and a low hip that are drastically different. Bearing that in mind I plan to use her as a guinea pig in my Pattern Drafting for Lady Dolls 101 class shortly when I start the lessons over in a couple weeks. As for styles for this doll I'm thinking a lot of asymetrical items might be what she needs or some nice tummy show off items ... crop tops and hip huggers.... perhaps a hip hugging skirt that flares at the bottom about knee length out of a mock denim (theres a fat quarter blue that looks a lot like denim that'd be perfect!) I'm also thinking a crop top peasant blouse in possibly the light blue silk I found at the thrift shop the other day ( silk scarf that was tossed in as part of a $5 bag sale that still has a new sticker on it priced at $8!) When she's done she will have patterns and such on the Flavas page
My next doll is a Dollfie from the company Volks which is based in Japan. The dollfies are articulated in more places than most of your average dolls and are based on anime style people who usually have bright color hair with big cartoony eyes. These dolls however, have the ability to use acrylic eyes simular to those used for larger porcelain dolls which is what I opted for along with a honey gold wig. I'm not sure yet what styles this doll will want.. I like to let the dolls set what they will wear... they give me the inspiration to design and draft for them.
The last is another dollfie but this time is an uber buff man... but the poor guy has to go headless until I can order his head and eyes from Japan since the US distributor for these dolls didn't have any in stock. I'm turning this doll into the comic book version of Wolverine for a friend to give as a gift.. but I have from now till Christmas to play with the doll and make stuff for him... IF I end up liking drafting and sewing for him he's going to end up with a lot of goodies...provided I can find time for it all!
Other ideas include the development of special items for donation to various groups for prizes or to conventions. I am also in the planning stages of my next book on Computer Pattern Drafting for dolls and minis.... not sure if that is the final title or if it's going to be 2 books or what yet. I have also in development, special design classes... but I can't say more on either the computer drafting or the special design classes yet as I need to do some serious work on both projects before I can tell anyone else more!
Ok it's late and I want to do some other things tonight before bed so I'll end this here.

 -- 

Sue

www.suestinycostumes.com 

Miniature & Small Doll Clothing Patterns, Books & Classes! Check the Specials page for Sales!

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Sue's Tiny Costumes

New Doll....

Birthday Sale...

Alaska State Fair 2005

News

News

Playing around...

New Patterns and New Lessons

On dolls and scales and magazines....

New Years Goals… notice not resolutions?

Dolls I *swear* I didn't want....

Fun Fun Fun....

Newly aquired items for the week ... so far

New ideas

Dolls I swear I didn't want....