Undies!

Does it sound weird that Meg and I are fascinated with dolly underwear? We are clearly not the only ones, though. It seems that every few weeks there is a discussion thread bemoaning the dearth of historically accurate underthings for dolls. This led to the creation of our Foundations line: creations in muslin, batiste, and handkerchief linen, featuring sumptuous details like featherstitched hems, vintage Cluny lace, and corset boning. And we have plans to add to this line in the future! Here are the five items currently for sale in the Foundations line:

Kindred Thread Foundations

Colonial Shifts of Muslin and Linen

by Joni Lynn

for Kindred Thread Foundations


Under every gown a sensible shift.

Colonial Mob Cap

by Joni Lynn

for Kindred Thread Foundations

Finish a Colonial girl's dress with a white cotton cap.

Hooped Petticoat

by Nora's Room

for Kindred Thread Foundations

Hoopskirts have been worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. Not even the youngest child escaped the wearing of a crinoline supported skirt!

Cotton Batiste Ruffled Slip

by Nora's Room

for Kindred Thread Foundations

No mid-century girl would be completely decent without a full length slip under her dresses!

Cotton Batiste Panties

by Nora's Room

for Kindred Thread Foundations

Quite simply the best fitting doll panties ever.

Who's ready for some Modiste?

When Meg and I were brainstorming this whole Kindred Thread concept, we both kind of admitted that we fantasize of sewing really amazing, over-the-top dolly ensembles. (This is what makes us kindred spirits, by the way.) Lacking an outlet to sell such things, we've mostly kept within the realm of cotton print Thirties and Forties dresses, but once you've gotten the vision for something wonderful, and found the fabric to match that vision, well, it's kind of hard to sleep at night.

Yes. We get that excited about doll sewing.

The result of this obsession with fancy things (which Meg says is not crazy at all) is our Modiste line, Modiste being a fancy way of saying 'fancy.' [Editor's Note. Modiste: one who makes and sells fashionable dresses and hats for women.] These will be auctioned off via eBay, although we will provide links on our site so that you don't have to hunt through 245973467 eBay listings to find them. You can bid with confidence knowing we both have excellent eBay feedback ratings - here is Meg's and mine. And these are truly one-of-a-kind items - we swear on our firstborns, Dorian and Betsy, that they will not be duplicated. Each will be gorgeously packaged and - did I mention - priority shipping within the U.S. is absolutely free?


Now here they are, for you to ooh and ahh over...

Kindred Thread March 2011 Modiste Releases

Scarlett's Twelve Oaks Barbecue Dress

by Nora's Room

for Kindred Thread Modiste

"Oh, fiddle-dee-dee!" Scarlett O'Hara is off to the Twelve Oaks barbecue
in her green sprigged muslin afternoon dress. The premiere release for Kindred Thread Modiste! Auction begins Friday, March 4 at 8 PM EST.

Votes For Women! Edwardian Suffragette Dress with Sash and Hat

by Joni Lynn

for Kindred Thread Modiste

"Suffrage is the pivotal right." - Susan B. Anthony. Auction begins Friday, March 11 at 8 PM EST.

Official Launch Party!

We're passing around the virtual chips and dip as we speak! Maybe something a little stronger for some of you. ;-) Hooray, it's March 1st! The deadline which has been looming large over both of us has finally arrived (and we've been exchanging emails, PMs, and phone calls with increasing frequency in the last few days). And we are so incredibly flattered that so many of you are excited with us and have signed up for our newsletter and liked us on Facebook.

Speaking of which... if you haven't signed up for our newsletter or liked us on Facebook... you can do so right from this blog! See all those nifty buttons on the right hand side of the page? As the Director of Social Media and Emergency Preparedness, I added all those (probably during the combination blizzard/ice storm that kept us inside for three crazymaking days). And Meg, as the Director of Google Research, has been busy figuring out all the kinks in our website, not to mention looking up the instruction manual for MY camera that I have had for five years and still barely know how to use...

We are so excited to be sharing with you: it's the brainchild of our collective obsessions with American Girl dolls and fabric and rickrack, and it's been all that either one of us have thought or talked about since the end of January when Meg hatched her nefarious plan. And both of us, by the way, have very helpful and supportive spouses: Meg's husband Rob has been invaluable with regards to website design, and my husband Matt has contributed a lot of valuable feedback regarding marketing! I don't think either one of them realized when they married us how many hours they would spend talking Kindred Thread, or that they would live in homes with a dolly or two in every room!

So without further ado, Meg and I are very pleased to bring you...

Kindred Thread March 2011 Limited Edition Releases!

Colonial Striped Work Gown with Apron and Mob Cap

by Joni Lynn for Kindred Thread Limited Edition

Even a fancy Colonial lass has to churn butter sometimes. Limited edition: only two available in each colorway.

 

French Quarter Opera Gown

by Nora's Room for Kindred Thread Limited Edition
The French Quarter, or Vieux Carre, was once the residential center for free people of color in New Orleans. This limited edition gown might have been worn to the French Opera House, itself the most fashionable establishment in New Orleans. Limited edition: only three
available!

Promise of Spring Thirties Feedsack Dress with Hair Tie

by Joni Lynn for Kindred Thread Limited Edition
As verdant and breezy as a spring day. Limited edition: only two available!

 

Cheery Cherry Dress

by Nora's Room for Kindred Thread Limited Edition

"Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?" The authentic Depression-era detailing in this cheerful vintage-style dress made it a Nora's Room bestseller. Now it's back for an encore performance--and only four available!

Sassy Girl Forties Dress

by Joni Lynn for Kindred Thread Limited Edition
Molly can roller-skate, organize a paper drive with Linda and Susan, or stick out her tongue at bratty Ricky in this fabulous dress. Limited edition: only three available!

A bit more about what you can expect come March 1st...

Okay, so as the Director of Social Media and Emergency Preparedness (Meg made up that fancy title for me) I've been working hard to get the word out about Kindred Thread in advance of our March 1st launch. Now, Meg and I spent a LOT of time on the phone discussing (among other things) what we are planning to offer as far as variety, time period, price ranges... and yeah, we could talk about doll clothes all day long and not get bored.

So here you go: we will be focusing on four main lines, plus custom work as time allows.

Kindred Thread Signature: Wardrobe essentials based on original book illustrations or retired American Girl outfits. We consider it our mission to make these American Girl® canon items available to all collectors. Signature items are ready to order on an ongoing basis but may take up to one week to ship depending on existing inventory.

Many of the items in the Signature line will look familiar if you've been hanging around Playthings or Flickr: for example, I'll be continuing to sew the Route 66 dress that I've made at least a dozen of since last spring. We both have big ideas for dresses that AG never made for the dolls but should have!

Kindred Thread Limited Edition: Monthly releases of historically-accurate period clothing featuring designer reproduction fabrics and doll-scale trims. Limited Edition items are hand-crafted in small limited quantities. Sewn-in garment tags are signed by the sewist and numbered to ensure their collectibility and value.

The main purpose behind the Limited Edition line, in case you hadn't guessed, is to continue to enable Meg's and my fabric addiction. Our favorite fabric sellers are constantly adding new prints that make us squee, and making them into doll clothes allows us to play with the pretty and share it with you.

Kindred Thread Foundations: Historically accurate undergarments, sleepwear, and other dolly necessities. As with our Signature Line, Foundation items are available to order on an ongoing basis. Fabric and trim are subject to change based upon availability.

Kindred Thread Modiste: Complete fashion ensembles featuring premium materials, vintage-inspired accessories, and heirloom quality workmanship. Modiste items are singular, one-off designs, never to be repeated, and they are sold in auction format only. Sewn-in garment tags are embellished with grosgrain ribbon and signed by the sewist.

The Modiste line is the one that gets me so excited sometimes I can't fall asleep at night. I've had a lot of grand ideas for some really over-the-top dolly ensembles but didn't really have a venue for them up until now. Every time I am at the fabric store (which is like once a week) I am fantasizing about the silks and velvets and ribbons and luxurious trims. You guys are seriously going to die when you see this stuff.

Kindred Thread Request: Looking for that Holy Grail outfit? As time allows, we welcome commissions for custom doll clothing. Our fee for research and labor starts at $50. We regret that we are unable to create exact replicas of past Modiste or Limited Edition items.

Our launch is just a couple of weeks away! Are you excited? We are!

Why Kindred Thread? Or: A Long Time Ago, In An Internet Far Far Away...

I first got to know Meg (a.k.a. Norasroom) the way a lot of people on American Girl Playthings did: through her Project Christmas 2010 thread. Meg was making two or more Thirties style dresses a month for her daughter Nora's Christmas present all year and she shared photos with all of us. (If you aren't a Plaything member you can also see Meg's sweet photos here.) And like anyone with reasonably good eyesight I was absolutely blown away by the cuteness. We started discussing doll sewing and patterns and the superiority of vintage rick-rack, and a little bit later on the subject of literature came up - it turns out Meg and I have the same favorite book, which is a blog post for another day, because there is definitely A Story there.

So anyway, Meg and I totally bonded over doll clothes and books and in December, two days before my birthday, we actually got to meet. Meg lives in North Carolina and I am a transplanted Hoosier, but she and her wee Nora were visiting relatives in Indiana so we got to spend the day together. My then-seven-year old, Betsy, snapped this photo of us:

Don't we look like we're having fun? We totally did. And we went fabric shopping, even.

In the meantime, I had set up an Etsy shop in early 2010 to sell handmade doll clothes for American Girls, mainly as a way of funding (and justifying) my fabric habit. Meg has been a longtime seller of custom children's clothing under the label 'Nora's Room' and she started adding dolly things to her shop as well - it's really hard to stop sewing wee dresses once you've started. Then in January Meg had the BEST IDEA EVER (I know that typing in all caps = shouting. That was intentional) which is to say, Why deal with Etsy at all? Why don't we sell our handmade dolly creations from our very own website? Needless to say I was all over this one and we put our heads together (metaphorically, since she's still in NC and I'm still in Indiana) and started brainstorming ideas.

I think the name itself was actually the trickiest part: it took us something like a week and a half. I don't remember which one of us came up with 'Kindred Thread' but we both knew we had a winner right away. Not only do we both sew (thread), but we're both obsessed with doll clothes (threads), and we met via an internet message board thread. Ooh, you see what I did there? We are also both big time fans of LMM's 'Anne of Green Gables' and I think we are very much kindred spirits, much like Anne and Diana.

So, why are we doing this? Meg and I both share the goal of creating beautiful, well-constructed, historically accurate clothes and underthings for American Girl dolls. We are excited to have a venue with greater creative control than either Etsy or eBay can provide (and Meg's husband, the man in the monkey hat, is totally doing our website design for us) and we are super excited to bring to life some ideas that have only been fantasy for so long. Also (please refer to the photo above) most importantly, we are here to have FUN. We hope you will have fun along with us!