The selection at The Doll Closet in Wood River keep growing
NTV Channel 4 News article/ 9/27/2019, by Brian Gnuse
Wood River, NEB — Sometimes people start a hobby that grows into something more.
For one hard working seamstress from Wood River that is exactly what happened.
Tami Spiehs started making a few doll outfits for a niece then decided she might like to make more.
Tami’s Doll Closet sewing studio in the basement of their home. She gives us an idea of how she gets all of the work done.
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“Our youngest son graduated from high school in 2014. This is when this all started taking off when all those school activities were done, that is when this all started taking off,” said The Doll Closet Owner Tami Spiehs.
Tami says she quickly took advantage of her additional time from their empty nest. She does book work for the family farm and business part of the day then sews for the rest.
“I make myself do the book work in the morning and I get to sew in the afternoon. It is my happy place I guess you want to say,” said Spiehs.
Tami almost exclusively makes clothes for the 18 inch American Girl Doll and other similar size dolls from discount stores.
“I first started and went to the mall for a craft show just to see if it would work and it seemed to be an interest there so then I made a few outfits. Since then I think I have none of the same outfits. They have all evolved. They have all changed,” said Spiehs.
Tami now has hundreds of different outfit options in multiple fabrics and colors and recently received her crafters license to sell Nebraska Husker items.
“When I go to a craft show I probably take two to three thousand items with me so you should find something you like,” said Spiehs.
Tami still goes to many crafts shows mainly in the fall but year round she also sells on the Esty.com website.
“It is working out great. When I first started I only sent to Nebraska. Now I have sent to 47 of the 50 states. It is surprising. Geographically it is a small world on Etsy,” said Spiehs.
Tami has a couple of United States maps on her wall with pins marked where she sends orders.
“When I get an order the first thing I do is to see where it is going because that is what interests me,” said Spiehs.
She currently has about 200 items for girl and boy dolls on Etsy.com and loves it when she gets repeat orders from customers across the U.S.
While the supplemental income is a nice bonus from all of the work, it’s seeing happy customers that is the real reward.
“My favorite thing is when a return customer comes to a craft show with their daughter and they have a doll with an outfit that I have made and the doll is wearing it. I have seen that a couple of times and that just makes my day,” said Spiehs.
As Tami loads her Doll Closet Truck for the next craft show, she knows this hobby gone a little wild is time well spent.
“I will never get tired of it. If it ever gets to be where I feel I have to go sew then it is time to quit and I can’t ever see that happening,” said Spiehs.
If you are interested in Tami’s products then you can head to her website at the https://thedollclosetne.com/ or her Etsy store.
Tami Spiehs from The Doll Closet joins us on NTV’s Good Life Show
Wood River, NEB — We recently featured Tami Spiehs with her small business The Doll Closet in Wood River. She joined us today on NTV’s Good Life to discuss her business a bit more.
She started her business just five years ago and has seen a lot of growth both locally and on the Esty.com website.
If you are interested in learning more about her products head to her website at https://thedollclosetne.com/.
