Why outgrow a love of dolls?

Central Tucson resident Karen Kosies turned her love of dolls into a budding business, opening the Dollie Boudoir Doll Shoppe in May at 4228 E. Grant Road, No. 2A. The shop sells antique and vintage dolls ranging in price from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars. It also sells doll accessories.

Kosies is making her small store a gathering place for Tucson doll lovers such as herself. She holds afternoon "play shops" on the second Thursday of each month, attracting adults from all over Tucson.

She said it's "just for fun, to take a break from your everyday work life."

Kosies, 49, knows what it's like to work hard. In addition to running the local shop, she maintains a full-time business as a certified legal document preparer and also sells dolls online. Her Web site, www.thedollie boudoir.com, has details on her online doll sales.

Play-shop participants bring their own dolls and, aided by Kosies, make clothing and accessories for them by hand. The play shops are free for people who bring their own materials, and $5 for people who buy them.

Participants in the first play shop, held in June, made veils and bouquets for their bride dolls.

More recently, six women gathered Thursday at the Dollie Boudoir for this month's play shop, making sundresses for their dolls with Kosies' guidance.

Half are members of local doll clubs such as the Old Pueblo Doll Collectors' Club, of which Kosies is a past president, and the Tucson Doll Guild. For them, the play shops are a different type of gathering because they're for doing craft work.

Oro Valley resident Miriam Sheridan said: "At club meetings, we usually don't have time to do any projects. This is a chance to do some fun things with your hands."

Four play-shop participants, including Kosies, plan to go to the United Federation of Doll Clubs Inc. 59th National Convention, from July 27 to Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.

The Dollie Boudoir Doll Shoppe takes its name from boudoir dolls — a type of doll that has become Kosies' passion during the previous 18 years.

In 1990, she found her first boudoir doll on a curb next to a trash container. That find sparked her interest in the ornate dolls, which were popular from the 1910s through the 1940s and were meant for adults, not kids.

The dolls were a status symbol during their heyday. Even during the Depression, people had to have a doll in their houses, said Sheaelle Batchelder, a New Jersey resident who is writing a book titled "Unveiling the Mystery of the Boudoir Bed Doll." During that time period, women took the dolls to parties, and movie stars had matching dresses made for themselves and for their dolls, Batchelder said.

Kosies has spent nearly two decades amassing a collection of about 400 boudoir dolls, learning about them and connecting with others who share her interest.

She and Batchelder met online and have since become friends and collaborators.

Kosies reads every article she finds on boudoir dolls and recently wrote about them in the May issue of Contemporary Doll Collector magazine.

"Her knowledge of the dolls is very commendable," Batchelder said.

Central

how to attend

The Dollie Boudoir Doll Shoppe, 4228 E. Grant Road, No. 2A, is open most days after 2 p.m., but it doesn't have set hours. To schedule a time to visit, call owner Karen Kosies at 270-0179.

The next play shop will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 14; the topic will be making baby doll rompers and blankets. Participants should bring their own baby dolls. They can bring a half-yard of flannel or other fabric, or $5 to buy materials. Call Kosies to reserve a spot.