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| Beauty of Creating, shoe draft |
A question posed to me recently? Have you ever considered designing for AG (American Girl Dolls)?
Absolutely. The day I decided to get back into doll clothes crafting I took an uneventful trip to Toys R Us. Mind you, with a 10 year hiatus from producing Barbie outfits, a lot of movement went on in the doll world. Stuff changed a lot! The last time I saw an African American AG doll, she looked like a slave. I think her name was Addie. I was not about that life.
I was really just looking for a big doll after seeing so many larger dolls at the 2015 Detroit Doll Show. I had purchased a new machine. By 2015, it was about 4 years old and getting little to no work. I needed a new inspiration. The creative bug bit me good, but not hard enough to buy new Barbie's, at least not a 12" one.
I did not know that the AG was sold exclusively in its brand boutiques. But like a kid, I did not want to leave Toys R Us empty handed, so I kept looking around to see what fancied me. The large Barbie was too stiff and lifeless that I blew right passed her coming into the store and at her own kiosk.
On my way to giving up this event as a fail but not a loss, I spied the display of Journey Girl dolls and accessories. Remember, I am new. I know nothing about any doll other than AG. I found this curly haired beauty with a horrible outfit on and instantly, she was mine after $39.99 at the checkout. Her name...Chavonne! Oh how I loved that wild mass of curls!
FYI. I now own five Chavonne's as a part of my 12 doll Journey Girl Collection.
I was so excited to get her home and out of those ugly clothes and deplorable shoes, that I ran straight to EBay and other doll clothes sites in search of shoes!!! I found so many. But also discovered how limited still, in color and style.
I did not want my clothes collection to be limited by the shoes I could find. I did not want the price of shoes and imperfect fit to twist my arm into purchasing, just to have shoes!
Back to AG...
So...being new to the Journey Girl world I hit up YouTube and the net to start building some knowledge about these dolls and I noticed that the availability was not the only difference in AG and Journey Girl.
I did not like the teeth of the AG doll, but I liked that the eyes closed.
I liked the size of the AG doll, but I did not like the entire torso padded.
But, there are many dolls at 18" tall and I was not going to let availability to AG, body, or teeth limit my creativity. I included every doll that everyone fancied. I went online, downloaded the body measurements for all dolls of this size.
And you know what?
Not a single person was interested who owned an AG doll. My customers were Journey Girl doll owners and My Life collectors. I thought, no need to keep making clothes to fit this doll (who is the larger of all 18" dolls) when no one is shopping my designs. The market is pretty full of folks catering to that industry.
After a year, I pulled all of the patterns I had made (just a few at this time) and scaled them to fit Journey Girl only. Now there are some exceptions, like My Life and Springfield Collection, because I am aware that the clothes I make fit My Life and the Springfield Collection crocs fit my Journey Girl's.
There you have it...I let the market decide.
As a result, I stopped tagging AG doll collectors in my posts, even though the accessories I make, like belts, hair pins, and purses fit those dolls.
