BfWWfitoliP HfHMfl. gjftWtffiy, SS fW LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff LI’IITZ (Lancaster Co.) Since she has five sons and no daughters, Alta Nolt had to find a way to have some girls around the house. Now those girls are vying for her constant time and attention. Mute evidence of the girls’ resi dency is the clothing and parapher nalia that takes up a whole room in the Noll’s farmhouse. The mono gram “AG” is stitched on many sizes of sweatsuits and sweaters. “I always say that the AG stands for Alta’s Girls,” Alta quipped. In reality the initials stand for Ameri can Girl. Those with daughters know that the terminology Ameri can Girl opens a whole new world pertaining to dolls with extensive wardrobes, furniture, and accessories. For Alta, the popularity of the American Girl has opened a whole new opportunity for her sewing and business skills. What started out as sewing a few doll items has ballooned into a more than full time job and a soon-to-be opened store. To give some idea of the magni tude of the demand for the doll’s clothing, Alta sold 1,200 hood jackets this past Christmas season. That’s only one style of die many she offers. In addition, she sold thousands of dresses and items such as glasses, bibs, doll dishes, shoes and other accessories plus wooden wardrobes, chairs, rock ers. benches, and other doll furniture. Although Alta and her husband John concurred that operating a stand in the Park City Mall in Lan caster during the Christmas season might be profitable, the sales results were “mind boggling” according to Alta. “I didn’t have enough inventory to meet the demand.” When the Nolls set up their Paik City stand, they decided to allow customers to charge with several major credit cards. “It was well worth the invest ment. We estimated our sales woe almost half credit cards,” she said. Although the majority of clo thing and items are for American Girls, Alta’s inventory isn’t lim ited to that She offers several dif ferent sizes of doll clothing and will fill custom orders. “But 1 won’t measure and make up patterns for children. I sew. I’m not a seamtress,” Alta said. Neither does Alta sell the dolls. She displays the dolls to model the outfits in order that customers can envision how the clothing will fit. Nor does she duplicate the clothing that appears in the American Girl catalogs. Instead she has her own line in the style that the era portray s. Some designs are from patterns that she purchased, some are smaller versions of baby patterns, and some are her own originals. The only items that she sells that are strictly American Girl items are the stationery and the pins. One of her big success stories are the matching dresses she made for dolls and their owners. The col orful outfits also had matching scrunchies for the hair of the girl and doll. “They were so popular. I’m going to concentrate on making matching Easter outfits for dolls and girls;” Alta said. Alta no longer makes all the clo thing and items that she sells. Instead, she buys the finished items from other young mothers working at home. After Five Sons And No Daughters, Alta Finds A Way To Have Her Girls "That way they do what they can and they aren’t my employees. I pay them piecemeal,” she said. “Some sewers are better on certain items. Most of them have one style that they do whenever they can fit it in.” While many women have home sewing businesses, the magnitude of Alta’s business far exceeds the average. She attributes the growth to the fact that both she and her husband are adventuresome and not afraid to take risks. “I don’t know what it’s like to be normal,” she said. The Nolls farm 72-acres between Lititz and Manheim, where they finish steers and raise tobacco. John works full time as a carpenter. Since their sons, Glenn, 14; Galen, 12; Kenneth, 11; John Carl, 9; and Jay Paul, 7, are in school, it is primarily Alta’s responsibility to strip tobacco. “The two months before Christ mas, dolls woe my priority, but now it’s time to strip tobacco so we can take it to the auction,” Alta said. After two months of manning the stand at Park City six days a week, Alta said that she looked forward to stripping tobacco alone. Her stripping schedule is sychronized with her mothering responsibilities. After breakfast and chauffering her sons to school, Alta is in the bam between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. stripping tobacco by herself. Then she picks up the boys from school. After supper, they spend a few hours stripping as a family. During the summer season, the Nolts have a small roadside stand with produce that the boys raise and baked goods made by Alta’s sister. “I guess you could say that we’re the kind of people who always do more than we can handle,” Alta said as she scurried back and forth between jnixing up a batch of homemade lasagna and setting up a book display, which is another project that she and her husband operate. The book project is called U-Select Computer Ser vices in which personalized child ren’s books are printed and com piled into hardcover bodes. Alta also does the required bookkeeping for the businesses. “I guess the dolls are my crea tive outlet since I have all boys,” Alta said. “But I don’t want my sewing to interfere with my mothering. And I want it to be a sideline, not a full-time job.” For that reason, she looks for ward to having a shop where she will sew in-between waiting on customers. “Then when I’m home. I’m being a mother,” she said. She usually gets up around 5:30 a.m. and sews before the boys awa ken. When they do, she stops sew ing, but will return to it when they are in school if she doesn’t have tobacco to strip. After the boys are in bed, it is not unusual for Alta to sew until midnight. All aspects of the business hold their own reward for Alta, who said, “I really enjoy sewing and interacting with the customers. It’s really rewording to see how happy the girls are with the clothing. But the dolls are just as popular with the mothers and grandmothers as with the girls.” Again and again Alta hears compliments on the quality and price of her doll clothing. “What you buy elsewhere, you throw in the washer and pick out the pieces ” she is told. placed on their mailing list, write Rd., Lititz, PA 17543 or call (717) From Feb. 27 through March 31. to the Nolts at 520 W. Lexington 665-6499. Ala will set up another display at Park City in the Sears Mall. ITiey are open six days a week and closed Sundays. For information on the opening of their Foxshire Mall store or to be Neighbor Tammy McLaughlin modal* on# ol . w M „ the matchlna outfits that Alta During the Christmas season 1,200 hood Jackets, which makes tor dolls and girls. •» only one of the many styles offered, were sold. *T ~*■)« v-A,’, • What started as sewing a few doll cl with a soon-to-be opened mall store. Tha Notts offsr avarythlng a llttls girl drsams for har dolls. Fumitura, g galora, and acoaaaorlaa such as glassas, bibs, dishas, shoas, and much mora ara part of tha NoH’s invanlory. * \ •* ♦ * * has ballooned Into a Ing
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