Little Trimmings
Small-scale haberdashery for the miniaturist and doll-maker
About us
Little Trimmings was first created in early 1994 by Christine as
an offshoot to her porcelain doll making.
Due to the frustration of being unable to find tiny trimming materials in the shops,
and with only a handful of mail order suppliers, Christine used her mother’s dressmaking
contacts to locate the small-patterned lace and trimmings she needed for her doll
dressmaking projects. However these suppliers required you to buy in such large quantities
that it soon became necessary to find an outlet for the remainder.
It was from these contacts that Christine created a business supplying the tiny braids,
buttons and lace to doll makers all over the country. As the number of customers grew they
asked for her to find other small-scale items and so the stock was supplanted with further
hard-to-find trimmings.
In 1997 Little Trimmings was at a point where it could easily become a full-time occupation
for Christine, but here Nature (actually, it was Science) stepped in when she became pregnant
with twins! Fortunately an existing customer showed an interest in buying the business as it
stood and so Little Trimmings moved house to Sylvia while Christine got on with the exhausting
job of bringing up twins.
Five years later on Sylvia had built Little Trimmings up to the level where the catalogue
was over 50 double-sided pages of A4 and cost nearly £5. But she wanted to retire and have time to
work on her own dolls so it was time for Little Trimmings to move again. Naturally she
contacted Christine who wanted it back, but preferably not until the twins had reached 5
and were at school full-time.
However it was not an opportunity to be missed and Little Trimmings came back to Berkshire
where Christine is adding to the great job done by Sylvia.
Update for 2004
As we expand the range of tiny trimmings for you, our catalogue grows and grows. The only way we could keep
the size (and, therefore the price) down was to remove some of the "rarely-ordered" items. Despite this, it
is still over 50 double-sided pages with 4 colour inserts and at £4.99 each we still can't afford to give any
away - mainly due to the postage costing over £1.00.
We have managed to source more miniature trimmings for you, as well as finding a manufacturer willing to make
tiny ricrac and braid to our specifications and in the colours we know you want.
So Little Trimmings continues to grow and grow - leaving Christine with very little spare time. Every time we
attend a Doll or Miniatures fair it takes her almost a week to catch up with the orders!
Thank you for choosing Little Trimmings
Remember, our motto is as traditional as our service:
"If you are happy with our service, tell your friends; if not, tell us"
About us