Society Logo
ME/CFS Australia Ltd
Please click here to donate ME/CFS South Australia Inc
 
 
Facebook
 
ME/CFS SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Registered Charity 3104

Email:
sacfs@sacfs.asn.au

Mailing address:

PO Box 322,
Modbury North,
South Australia 5092

Phone:
1300 128 339

Office Hours:
Monday - Friday,
10am - 4pm
(phone)

ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.

Disclaimer

ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.

Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.

Become a Member
DOCX Application Form (Word, 198 KB)
Why become a member?

Fibromyalgia sufferer creates successful doll clothing business

Saturday 25 October 2014

 

From Californian news outlet Santa Clarita News:

 

American Planet
 

Santa Clarita Mom Creates American Girl Doll Clothing Biz

A Santa Clarita mom and former girl scout leader has created her own business by hand-making and selling earth-friendly American Girl doll clothing.

Posted by: Jessica Boyer
October 23, 2014

Char Nathanson, 55, who has been sewing since she was 10 years old, founded American Planet in April of this year.

American Girl clothes are expensive,” she said. “I was researching Etsy and found that there weren’t any doll clothes that were eco-friendly, either. Instead of buying new fabrics from store, I look for things gently worn from thrift stores or remnants from fabric stores.”

One of Char Nathanson's rooms in her home where she works on her American Planet clothes.
One of Char Nathanson’s rooms in her home
where she works on her American Planet clothes.
 

Nathanson was taught by her grandmother and while taking a sewing class in junior high, she got her own sewing machine. She has sewed Halloween costumes for her daughter and sons as well as sewing her own wedding dress and eventually her daughter’s.

“I made clothes for my daughter and her friend’s American Girl dolls out of clothes they had outgrown,” Nathanson said.

Nathanson was a volunteer for the Girl Scouts of America for 25 years and her daughter went through the program as well.

Once Nathanson’s children were grown and her daughter no longer needed American Girl doll clothes, she wanted to find something else that she could do that was creative.

“I was an empty nester,” she said. “I wanted to do something unique.”

Along with having more time now that her children had grown up, Nathanson was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2010.

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues, according to Mayo Clinic.

“It’s hard to have a job (with fibromyalgia),” Nathanson said. “Some days you’re really healthy and some days you’re wiped out. I wanted to find something where I could use my imagination and skill but still be flexible enough to manage my own hours.”

So Nathanson decided to open up her own business selling American Girl doll clothes made from clothes found at thrift shops, flea markets and remnant bins at fabric stores.

“I look for things with nice labels and like to use quality fabric that you can see held well,” Nathanson said. “I like to use interesting patterns and fabrics instead of getting new fabric from fabric stores.”

She said that she wants the clothes to look like real clothes, not doll clothes and works with Pixie Faire, a doll fabric company for special designs.

An outfit designed by Char Nathanson.  !00 percent of the sales of this outfit benefit Captain Spectrum, an autistic boy turned superhero to fight against bullying.
An outfit designed by Char Nathanson.
100 percent of the sales of this outfit benefit
Captain Spectrum, an autistic boy turned
superhero to fight against bullying.
 

Nathanson set up a website, Facebook page, an account on Etsy and got a logo designed in time to open her shop on April 1 of this year.

She donates part of her sales income every month to an organization of her choice. Some include Action Family Foundation, the American Cancer Society and others.

This month, she is donating to Captain Spectrum, an autistic boy turned superhero who leads the fight in anti-bullying in Tennessee. Next month, she plans to donate to the SCV Food Pantry.

“I put out one outfit specifically for Captain Spectrum’s cause,” Nathanson said. “100 percent donations are going to his cause.

“I was touched by the bullying issue,” she said. “When I was younger, my family didn’t have a lot of money. In the movie Pretty in Pink, she takes different outfits and makes her own but is made fun of by girls who bought their clothes from a department store, that was me. I was unique and in the long run, it was a blessing to have this skill and opportunity to make things for myself that no one else had.”

Since April, the American Planet Etsy page has had more than 8,000 views, 555 individual clothes favorites and 112 shop favorites.

The clothes are offered in full outfits as well as individual jeans and Trendy T t-shirts.

For more information about American Planet, check out the Facebook page, Etsy shop and website.

© 2003-2014 Hometown Station KHTS AM 1220 All Rights Reserved

 

The above originally appeared here.

 


Arrow right

More Fibromyalgia News

 


 

blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous Previous Page