Brands We Trust: Lemon Bay Doll Co

Lemon Bay Doll Co is a creator of hand sewn heirloom pieces and patterns for 18" dolls in various historical eras. Owned by Michelle Weber, she makes wonderfully high end and detailed pieces for adult collectors. We highly recommend her work and also as a great person to work with. She is kind, hard working, an expert in her craft, and generous of spirit. She's just the kind of person we need and love in the doll community and we are always glad to work with her.

Bbeauty Dolls is an avid supporter of small businesses and artists within the doll community and we actively support and collaborate with Lemon Bay Doll Co. We have done yearly collaborations featuring mixes of Bbeauty historical wigs and shoes to compliment Lemon Bay Doll collectible heirloom outfits. As Lemon Bay Doll also has created their own patterns, we happily promote those to our network of doll sewers and create pieces from the patterns as well. We want Lemon Bay Doll to be successful and Michelle is a good friend of ours.

About Lemon Bay Doll Co:

Michelle has been operating her Etsy shop since the Spring of 2013. When she first started up, she sold beautiful, handcrafted wood toys that her husband made on the weekends. She is a self-taught seamstress, a skill set that was born out of love for her daughters and their cousin who collected the American Girl historical dolls as children. Felicity Merriman was her oldest daughter's first doll. Her cousin (Ava) who you may know from A Stitch in Time's Line, received Elizabeth Cole that same Christmas. These two dolls really started it all for her. But when Caroline Aboot entered her home and the girls were pushing her around in a laundry basket with a yardstick mast and a dish towel sail, she figured her and her husband would make them something a little bit more realistic. Michelle's husband, a talented woodworker, started on the schooner, and Michelle pulled out her sewing machine to make the sails. As they say, the rest is history - or in her case historical doll clothes.

Michelle's passion for sewing heirloom historical garments for 18" dolls is intimately tied to her affection for her daughters and niece. It is also a rather interesting culmination of her academic interests and pursuits. As a young woman, she earned degrees in sculpture and art history, and after school she worked at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. If you have followed her on Facebook or Instagram, you might have noticed these interests peeking through her work. She finds sewing and designing historical fashion to be very three-dimensional work, quite sculptural in nature. She often features reproductions from famous works of art and enjoys introducing notable historical women into her ensembles. When her girls were born and she was introduced to American Girl, she resonated! This was back when AG was producing beautiful, high quality wood toys and their line was predominately centered around their historical dolls. She resonated with their philosophy of teaching through play and stories where girls were the central characters in living history. She resonated with Pleasant Rowland, a strong, creative, passionate businesswoman with a commitment to excellence. Sadly, she no longer sees or feel the same things in American Girl today, but that is where opportunity knocked. If American Girl can't or won't offer meaningful, high quality items, then she will pick up the torch. She hopes you see this aim in her work.

We encourage you to shop and follow Michelle's work if you love historical wear for 18" dolls, you won't be disappointed.

Etsy:  https://www.lemonbaydollco.etsy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemonbaydoll/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lemonbaydoll/