Doll Couture: Handcrafted Fashions for 18-inch Dolls

Author, designer, and fabric lover, Marsha Greenberg, spends her days in a sewing room full of embroidered flowers, lacy ruffles, vintage linens, bright and patterned fabrics, miniature trims and tiny stitches. Every day she wakes with enthusiasm to create new doll dresses. Her created world for Hankie Couture "ladies" is full of kindness, respect, joy, determination! She has shared her daily "heaven on earth" by sewing and selling Hankie Couture dresses for her self-designed 11.5" Hankie Couture dolls. Now she extends her vision and creative talent for the 18" doll lovers.Marsha doesn't see a hankie...she sees a collar. Designer Marsha doesn't see a crocheted doily...she sees a skirt. Mrs. Greenberg doesn't see a pile of vintage linens...she sees a closet filled with a Doll Couture wardrobe. "Details, Details, Details!"...words from one of her positive quotes about her "girls." And! Details is what she shows the reader...both visually in the wonderful photos of her outfit designs...and with suggestions and patterns to bring out your own inner-designer to sew up a Doll Couture wardrobe for the 18" lady in your home. You don't have to hunt down vintage fabrics to make one of the patterns...go to the fabric store...embroider your own flowers...cut up and up-cycle an old outfit...raid Grandma's linen closet...think out of the box! You can be the couture designer for the 18" doll in your life.Mrs. Greenberg's positive light shines through in the quotes she penned for both her Hankie Couture book and now this Doll Couture release. Bullying and mean spirits do not have to gain the spotlight in our schools and homes. Teach your young lady to be kind, fun, fruitful, helpful, THANKFUL. Marsha's Doll Couture ladies are role models to showcase the way her Hankie Couture world thinks and acts. Hankie Couture and Doll Couture highlight not only doll fashion, but traits for a kinder, positively-driven and happy lifestyle. Oh, to be the 18" Doll Couture...well-dressed AND well-mannered. Reading through the book with the little girl in your home will showcase traits that can lead to being a good friend and well-respected, blooming adult!Doll Couture is as colorful, creative, and beautiful as her first book, Hankie Couture. If you love fabric, dolls and a smiley page-turner, add Doll Couture to the bookcase in your sewing room!Thanks, Marsha, for delighting our dolls and their older, less couture moms!!Favorite quote from this book: "What a delicious day! I could eat it with a spoon!"

Nothing sells like passion, and this author's enthusiasm for her art spills out of every page. The abundance of brightly colored photos does more than decorate those pages. They clearly illustrate how vintage pieces can be used to embellish doll clothes. We're treated to pinafores, aprons, bodice and hem treatments, jackets, caps, shoes and even a slip-covered doll sofa (p.127). My favorite garments were the poke-bonnet embroidered lady with her own 3-tiered skirt appliqued to the doll's apron - really OOAK and very original! My next favorite was the doll's bonnet on pg. 109 - an inspired treatment of the colors and edging of an embroidered table runner. I look forward to playing with the enclosed pattern pieces and making my first doll clothes from the ideas in the book. My wish for a future edition would be to include pictures of hankies used in doll undergarments (slips, camisoles) and nightclothes, and a few line drawings showing pattern piece placement options across printed or needlework-embellished linens. But I don't mind waiting for those ideas; I have too many happy hours of crafting ahead, thanks to the inspiration of this needlework artist and her willingness to share her passion and her talents. Well done!

I have collected vintage fabric items over the years and always wondered what to do with some of them. I love to make clothes for 18 inch dolls and this seemed like the book for me,and it is. The photos are wonderful and the directions are easy to follow. There are so many cute ideas in this book it is hard to pick one to work on first. If you have vintage items that are damaged and you were thinking of getting rid of them look at this book first. You can take those items, cut out the damaged parts and create a new item that you can display on a doll, or give to a little girl to enjoy. I recommend this book to doll lovers, home sewers, and any one who enjoys just looking at a great book. I think granddaughters would just love looking at the pictures. Don't know why but I especially like the outfit on page 66.

What an amazing adventure Marsha takes you on! Even though I am celebrating an very significant milestone birthday this year, I am more in love with dolls and fabric than ever before! This book is my new escape... I can't wait to start sewing! I have a wonderful collection of vintage linens (thank you Debbie F) and I am ready to create my first piece. I am afraid I won't be able to stop. Marsha's love and passion and wisdom just jumps off the pages of this book...I leave it on the coffee table and all of my female visitors just go crazy when they see it. Thank you Marsha!

I have some how managed to acquire too many hankies and small linens . This will help me design and create doll and stuffed animal outfits . A lovely book.

Marsha Greenberg is living my dream, and now it is in print!. This delightful book made me giddy over a use for my vintage linens. The very evening I received the book I went to my sewing room. Every page makes me smile and Marsha is a delight to converse with as well. I'm blessed to not need the patterns, but what a bonus! Even directions for shoe creation is included. At first I thought her dolls look like Valerie Bertinelli, but seeing her picture, now I think she modeled them after her lovely self. I don't recall a book I have so enjoyed spending time with in years. I have included a picture of one of the dresses I made inspired by Marsha.

I have not made any of these dresses yet but it is so much fun looking at the variety of ideas and marveling at the creativity of Marsha. As soon as possible, I'm going to start searching for vintage pieces to use to attempt to replicate some of these. I highly recommend this book.

Gorgeous book. I enjoyed just looking at all the beautiful pictures on quality paper. all the patterns were separate in the back of the book.

This book uses vintage linens to make beautiful doll dresses ,lots of ideas and the pictures are lovely. Patterns are also included so all you need to do is find your vintage linens and hankies. I just need to find the time to get sewing now.

Lots of creative ideas using vintage items that makes sewing so much more fun

We cannot make same dresses unless otherwise we can find similar materials.