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Woman passionate about making dresses for dolls
Bee Boesch, 88, has a philosophy of life that she has followed for decades.
“If you’re offered an opportunity,” she said, “don’t brush it aside without checking it out and giving it a try. Then if it doesn’t work out, you can move on. If you don’t take a chance, however, that opportunity will never come back.”
Opportunity didn’t have to knock twice for her. When the Cabbage Patch Kids were hot in the 1980s, a woman at a craft show where she was displaying knitted booties asked if she had ever made clothes for Cabbage Patch Kids. She and her daughter Helene checked it out and put her sewing skills to work making Cabbage Patch clothing.
They were a big hit at craft shows until the Cabbage Patch fad began to fade. The next opportunity to pop up was American Girl doll clothing. She and her daughter Jennifer made a trip to the American Girl store in Chicago to see what the dolls looked like and learn how tall they were and the style of clothing shown. She also subscribed to the American Girl catalog.
Boesch sews two to three hours a day Monday through Friday in an upstairs room converted to be her sewing space. That’s about the amount of time needed to complete a fresh new style. She uses different patterned material, different color material, different buttons and different trim with each dress. Each one is an original.
“When I sit down to make a dress I don’t have a specific look in mind. I’m really not sure what it will look like. It might have sleeves, no sleeves
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