About the Dollmaker

  With a strong family tradition of needlework, my mother taught me to sew when very young. I began with hand embroidery, then making clothes for my play dolls and then full-sized dressmaking. Around the age of 9 years I found a book in my local library that sparked a lifetime's interest. The title was 'Costume Cavalcade', by Henny Harald Hansen. When many years later I needed a name for my new website, it  seemed the obvious choice. 

After that book I collected a series of painting books on the History of Costume by Winsor and  Newton and then created a 'Victorian' wardrobe for my own doll.  About this same time, a younger cousin was collecting dolls, mostly the national ones sold as holiday souvenirs, so her mother, my Aunt, suggested that I might like to try making some historical dolls for her because I  was 'good at fiddling'. She donated a rather shabby little Welsh girl doll for me to use, which I transformed into Henry  VIII! Well, that was it. I was hooked. More dolls were re-purposed as Elizabeth I and Henry's wives, and then some undressed ones purchased from the market to use for more subjects.

By the time of my last year at Grammar School a reasonable set had built up, which I borrowed for display in the History Room on Open Day. Someone suggested that I should sell them, so, almost as a joke, I put up a sign saying 'Orders Taken' and came away with my first list of customers. 

I continued for a few years dressing those little 8 inch plastic dolls bought by the boxful, until in the early 1970's we had dock strikes which dried up my supplies. Another visit to the library yielded a book on making costume dolls from stockinette and I never looked back. Male dolls were soon added to my range, with methods evolving over the years. 

The move to smaller scale dolls came about in response to the many who saw my one-eighth scale dolls at fairs and encouraged me to try dollshouse size. Now they have taken over completely from the History of Costume series, which are finally retired but can occasionally be found on the second-hand market.

Throughout my career I have been involved with a number of different organisations, exhibiting my dolls in many places along the way: The Dollmakers Circle; Birmingham Doll Club; Leicester Doll Club;  Leicestershire Guild of Craftsmen; and the British Doll Artists Association.

 A number of writers have taken an interest in my work and featured it in several magazines, including  Doll Magazine  (since taken over by 'Doll Reader');  Dolls House World;  Dolls House and Miniature Scene ;  The Dollshouse Magazine (now taken over by Dollshouse World).  Some of my dolls were included in a book, Dollhouse Style, written by Kath Dalmeny, published by Batsford in 2002.  ISBN 0-7134-8744-5.

 At  first all sales were by mail order and personal recommendations, but later I was  able to show my work at Craft Fairs, then Doll Fairs, then Dollshouse Fairs, mostly around the Midlands, but a few further afield. I used  to give talks to social groups on The History of Costume illustrated by my dolls, which were very popular. Then along came the Wonderful Web and I gradually reduced my travelling, until now I am able to stay quietly at home, sewing to my heart's content, but reaching out to the World.

Finally I must mention my many lovely customers, without whose appreciation and encouragement I would not have kept going for as long as I have, or possibly never have started in the first place.