Elvera Reuer the Artist

Elvera discovered her talent for handcraft as a teenager living in an austere Nazi Germany. Without patterns or training, Elvera paired her resourcefulness and creative vision to transform a wool blanket into a suit jacket and matching trousers for her brother Albert. Within three years, Elvera was designing and constructing exquisite wedding gowns.

View some of Elvera’s tailoring art»

After marriage, Elvera’s boundless curiosity and textile dexteriity ensured her rewarding career as a custom upholsterer and designer of window coverings. Next, Elvera reversed the scale of her artistic expression to tailor miniature wardrobes for keepsake dolls she made for her children and grandchildren. In 1988, Elvera’s Depression Babies™ earned a U.S. patent, and the Smithsonian Institute added the doll to its collection of American handcraft.

After traveling a regional circuit of craft fairs to meet increasing demands of her doll collectors, Elvera launched this website . . . a far more efficient, globally accessible showcase and retail outlet for her most popular handmade collectibles and autobiographical books.

Elvera now divides her busy schedule between angel making and public speaking.