I Knit decorative spare toilet roll holder dolls
Hi,
I’m Kathy and this is how my knitted doll adventure started.
Kaydeecrafts was founded in 1976 by my husband and myself (Kathy & David, hence KD) Having only been married for one year, finances were a bit tight and we decided to utilise Dave’s modelling skills to produce wooden toys and horse drawn vehicles in our spare time. This we did for many years, having stalls at craft markets and traction engine rallies until, in the mid noughties, the dreaded Public Liability Insurance made itself mandatory. Because of the high cost of this insurance, it ate into our profits and it effectively killed our business off as it did with many others.
We had also been blessed with a handicapped daughter who took up a great deal of our time.
We are now retired and as my daughter has moved into care we needed to find something to keep our brains active. My husband has his modelmaking and I enjoyed knitting.
I found a pattern for a crinoline doll toilet roll cover so I decided to give it a try. At that time it was possible to buy 9” dolls fairly cheaply so I made about half a dozen to give to relatives and friends for Christmas presents. One of my friends suggested that I tried selling them and the business has grown from there.
I try to keep thinking up ideas for new outfits. Some seem popular and some don’t. I can supply existing designs in different colours or can undertake some commissions. Dolls normally take about a week to complete.
I use double knitting wool and eyelet lace to make my dolls dresses. They are then finished off with ribbon ties. The dresses are removable from the doll so they can be hand washed when necessary.
Due to the unavailability of 9” dolls, I now use 12” fashion dolls which my husband cuts in half at the waist and inserts a plastic tube secured with a screw. This brings them down in height to about 9”. I then add a cotton sleeve which covers the tube and the waist joint and is secured at the shoulder (effectively underwear)
The finished dolls are wrapped in tissue paper and packed in a white gift box. They are then posted with a brown paper outer wrap.
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