Mom's funky fashions makes sewing cool again

A young mother passionate about the environment and vintage materials has set out to make sewing cool again.

Jillian, 26, of Oregon says she is drawn to vintage fabrics and loves making outfits for herself, her mother and children — and her little girl's Barbie dolls.

Jillybeanvintage opened Nov. 3, 2007, offering a wide variety of Barbie clothing in bright retro colors.

Jillian, who is a fervent recycler, found a giant bag of small fabric remnants at an estate sale in her community.

"I spend the majority of summer cruising in and out of flea markets, estate sales, thrift shops and garage sales in my area searching for the elusive, musky, forgotten fabrics," she says.

About the same time, the grandmother of Jillian's husband gave her several vintage Barbie clothes patterns. "That's when the light bulb came on! I made a couple of outfits, plus a Barbie quilt for one of my friend's daughters," Jillian says. "She went insane over the gift!"

Word got out to a friend who makes jewelry with her husband and sells it on Etsy, Nicholas and Felice.

"They kept telling me at our kids' play groups that I should start a shop on Etsy, but I was too insecure," Jillian says. "To make a long story short, after giving birth to a little girl, I decided to open a shop and fill it with funky, retro-inspired items for little girls."

Having deferred her career to care for her children, Jillian's dream is to write and illustrate children's books. But for now, she gleans satisfaction from her Etsy creations.

Jillian's schedule is tight, taking care of her 6-year-old son and 16-month-old daughter, so Barbie clothes are the perfect quick project.

Besides, it reminds her of when she was a little girl, whip-stitching onto her own Barbies tube dresses that could only be removed by scissors.

"I sew because it makes me feel cozy. I love the nostalgia of the retro lifestyle," Jillian says.

"I stay home to take care of the babies, cook, clean and sew. I feel that sewing for the family (like grandma used to do) is a lost art. I'm here to single-handedly make it cool again," she laughs.

Dollmaker offers modern twist

Belinda, better known as Bee to her friends, makes clothespin dolls in her Victoria, Australia, home.

The 30-something mom was searching the Web one day, found the pin dolls and thought, "Wow! I would love to give that a go!"

Always ready for a new challenge, Bee started making her own style of pin dolls a few months and found a whimsical release in the making.

"The first lot were kind of OK, but by the time I had the second batch done, I was happy with the style and clothes, faces, etc. and had a great time making them." Bee says. "They are addictive. They all have different little personalities and the end product surprised me sometimes."

Sorting out personalities and looks for each doll is a joy in itself.

"I'm not into prim style, so I have made them more to my taste and put a modern twist to most of them," Bee says. "And I LOVE fairies!"

As many Etsians can attest, posting on the site often leaves sellers buried in troves of new items posted and reposted every hour.

"I love selling on Etsy, but being such a large site you seem to dissapear a bit," she says. "I also sell on a smaller Australian site and offline to friends and family."

Her flickr site is available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/beeztings/

Bee's target market for her charming dolls is collectors or young adult girls. "The dolls are not really made for playing with, more as a keepsake/collectors type of thing."

Asked her favorite thing about selling on Etsy, Bee says: "I really love when someone receives their item and takes the time not just to leave feedback but to email me to tell me how happy they are with it. I get a buzz out of that."

Now you can own one of these great pin dolls! Bee has graciously agreed to a giveaway. Simply comment on this post or tell us about your favorite creation by Bee. Between Nov. 16 (today) and Nov. 23. Leave your comments here. We will choose a winner at random.

So which adorable doll will the lucky winner get? Maisy!!

She is the little fairy pictured at left.

A talented go-getter, Bee has a few words of advice for dollmakers just starting out on Etsy: "Just make what you love in the style that you love, and it will show through in your work.

"Work on your own style and get them to a stage where you are completely happy with them, and go for it! It's wonderful when someone loves your items enough to purchase them."

Bee's shop is at beeztings.etsy.com