Adorable!

You have probably seen the mini BeBe Babies that I have made over the years but what you might not know is that BeBe Babies began as a single miniature doll. The very first BeBe Baby was around five inches long. It took several tries before she was at least satisfactory and in comparison to my dolls today, she was very crude. When she was done, even though she was so simple, I had one of those moments where I knew something great was coming. Through the following year I worked on her design, tweaking things here and there, until she was even better. I have continued on since then changing the original pattern and ending up with the miniature designs I have now.

The original BeBe used to reside in a tea cup at my Mom's house but as of today my Mom can not seem to remember where she is. She is probably hiding up in the Christmas or Valentine decorations. I wish I still had her picture so that you all could see what she looks like but I promise if and when she is found I will share her with you all. It was early 2007 after all and since then I have changed photo hosting sites as well as computers so it has been impossible to track down her picture.

I thought it would be fun to look back over the years at some BeBe miniatures so that you can see their evolution. You will notice that details, like noses and ears, did not originally exist on them. Another thing you might notice is how much better my picture taking skills have become.

Next came noses and ears but still no toes.

And finally toes emerged!

Now my miniatures have reached their smallest size ever at around 2-3 inches. The inspiration for this post came from a wonderful customer who has been collecting my miniatures. She posted some pictures of them in super cute outfits she made as well as in an adorable doll house setting. Here are a couple of the ones she bought that you will see in her pictures.

And here are her pictures!

I hope you enjoyed the miniature BeBe journey!

The Biggest Order EVER!

One of my fabulous retailers, AmeriKid, let me know a while back that they would be interested in carrying my new design, the Soft Heart BeBe. Well they are an awesome store, full of children's toys made only in the U.S. They are so devoted to carrying only American made products that they did not want my Soft Hearts to come in store bought, re-sized onesies. Sooooo I decided to finally bite the bullet and learn to make some baby/doll clothing. If you have been following me for any amount of time you probably know I resist making clothes at all costs. I don't really know what I hate about it...maybe it is because when I am done with a doll, or plush, there is a sweet face looking back at me and clothing just doesn't have that.

Well the order was placed for 10 Soft Hearts about a month and a half ago. I thought I could get them done in 3-4 weeks but as you know school was so much work this last term that I just really didn't get time to pound them out. My goal for spring break was to get this order done and out. Luckily with the help of my Mom they are done! What do you think?

The order was for eight girls and two boys but when I started picking fabric I found this adorable green/brown with monkeys for the boys. After looking at it for a while I thought it could be for a girl or boy and I have a feeling it is going to be popular. I decided to do five of them in the hearts and five in the green monkeys.

I think I did a pretty good job on the outfits for my first time. I can get a little upset about details but I was at the toy store the other day looking at doll clothes for ideas and I don't think store bought clothes look perfect. I tried not to beat myself up! I am sure I will get better at it.....yes I said it....I am going to continue making clothes for my dolls. I think now that I have a pattern it will be fun to pick out fabrics and make the clothes myself. I am also planning to sell just the outfits in my shop soon so if you are looking for doll clothes check back.

The outfits were made from two different patterns. The romper and booties were made from this McCall's pattern. I of course shrunk it and altered it to my own specifications. The hat is from this doll clothing pattern by Simplicity. The outfits in this pattern set are really cute and I want to try a couple more of them out.

If you are interested in adopting any of these guys they should be available at AmeriKid shortly. Of course you can always visit my shop for new babies or email me to order. I have lots more of both fabrics so I can always make more.

I hope you are having a great spring break!