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So much talk about the CPSIA crackdown on childrens products & toys (intended for 12 yrs and under) that my head is spinning. I am not against safe toys for our children, but, I do think these new regulations need some serious thinking through before going into effect next month.
My dolls are digitally printed on one side & backed with various vintage to new fabrics. They are filled with polyfil & sewn with 100% cotton thread.
I am ok with having the digitally printed fabric tested. I am actually very curious myself although everything I read indicates that the inks in textile printing are inherently lead-free. My larger concern is how I'll be able to afford testing on every piece of fabric that I choose to back the dolls with & the polyfil filling. Testing can run $300-500 a piece of fabric. This is absurd. I found a site that lists textile manufacturers that have taken steps to becoming compliant and I am thankful for that.
Then comes the issue of tracking labels. Each doll must be labeled with a batch number, manufacturing date, content & permanently sewn onto product by August 14th, 2009.
Fortunately, making dolls is not my sole source of income. The extra money is nice but, honestly, I love the process of making the dolls from drawing to sewing to packaging them up for lucky little girls. What about crafters that will be out of business and it IS there sole source of income? What happens to hometown craft fairs & people basically out of the loop that this even going on? Proud grandmas that want to make a handknit sweater as a gift or a handsewn bib or blanket? Are they going to be fined? Will the CPSIA be invading craft fairs?
Not trying to be sarcastic or funny. Just really confused about how these regulations will effect us. :(
Save Handmade. Ammend the CPSIA.
Karen W!
Congrats! I will be emailing you for your information!Thanks for entering!! I will do one again soon.
The last giveaway was so much fun & I loved reading all the comments that I am ready to do another! This time the prize will be 2 mini dolls of your choice. To enter the giveaway, simply tell me which style doll is your favorite in the comment section below this posting. You can view past & current styles in my etsy shop.I always love to hear your thoughts & ideas for future dolls. I've received lots of different requests from eyeglasses to curly hair. Feel free to let me know what you're thinking!Contest ends Friday, June 19th 2009 8pm EST. I will use random.org to pick one lucky winner. Please remember to leave an email address so that you can be contacted if you are chosen winner.Thanks & good luck!
Just got back from a long weekend in Portland, Me with my family. I haven't been there since I was pregnant with my first daughter Sophie (7+ years ago). It's a great little city with tons of good places to eat and a great children's museum. The girls would have been happy just staying in the hotel and taking the elevator (or alligator as my 2 year old calls it) up & down all day. We survived a semi-grownup dinner out at Fore Street where Lola dropped a bread plate and the whole restaurant went silent. Then she proceeded to take her diaper off at the table. She is SO very cute, but, a little devil.
The weather turned out perfect. The shopping could have been better but, we found a really cool (mostly men's) store called Rogues Gallery on a cobblestone side street. Then today, on our drive home, we stopped in Kennebunkport for lunch. Lots of touristy shops selling lobster tees but, one store really stood out - Daytrip Society. I could have stayed in there all day. One cute thing after another. I picked up Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby & an Orla Kiely notebook. Their site is great, their logo adorable & they have a blog that you should definitely check out! We are all a little spent. I could live without lobster rolls & french fries for a few months. Happy to be home!
When I first test printed my dolls, I was a little off when it came to prepping my files & the scale was all wrong. The first yard of fabric I received came out as 7" dolls vs. the current 11" style I sell in my shop. I quickly figured out where I went wrong and stashed the 'wrong' fabric away in my scrap pile. This past weekend my 7 year old spied the fabric and REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted a baby for her big girl doll. Then my 2 year old followed suit with the begging. How could I say no to their sweet little faces? So I whipped a few together and to my surprise, they came out quite cute. So cute that I decided to try them in my shop.
Would love your thoughts!
Next on my list is to make some BIGGER dolls. Maybe 16". I have been waiting (a little too impatiently) for my test yardage to arrive. Please come soon. I get bored easily & need something new to play with. :)
I stitched up this doll today for the Craft Hope Doll project. The goal of the project is to supply dolls to the children of the Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua. As of now, it looks like they have over 200 dolls to send! All handmade. I think it's a great idea.Learn more about the project here
Flickr photo group here
And the winner is...Ashley! I will be sending an email to you shortly for your address. Thanks so much for all your comments. I love reading them. I will be doing another giveaway soon!!!!!!!
I love to see photos of my dolls with their new mommies! I am putting together a photo gallery of S&L fans up on my site.
So please send them to me at jennifer (at) sophieandlili (dot) com if you are interested in having a photo up on my site!
This is one of my Lola holding the first two prototypes I made.
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