A doll for my sister ……… welcome back Annie

This doll is my sister’s, something from her childhood, that has survived the many family dislocations, and house moves that happened through her childhood. Like most childhood toys, this poor doll has suffered for her art. Bald, naked, face and eyes coloured with texta, and cloth body perishing and the stuffing settled down. Mum found the doll at the bottom of a box, thinking I could just make it some new clothes and it would be fine. But she is very fragile, so needs more than a cursory bit of attention. I just went looking, but the photo I thought was in an easy to find directory … is not so easy to find. Still, the doll is at the doll hospital, so I will post a shot when she is back, and then I will go through my process of getting her clothed. I am really looking forward to it.

I have been devoting little bits of time to this doll.  She has returned from Doll Hospital with a brand new calico cloth body.  Her bum could probably have received a little more stuffing and her hands aren’t perfectly straight, but then they weren’t straight before so I figure its all relative.  As expected they couldn’t do a lot for her face, with 20 year old colouring in pen obviously more stubborn than they expected.  So she still has a little of the “zombie eye” thing going, but not too bad.  I am glad they left the pen on the fingernails, as it doesn’t look too bad, and it was part of my sister’s playing.

Her top is now done. The fabric is a scrap of left over Japanese Lawn that I made into a top for myself last year. Ironically, the doll’s top and the one I made myself are very similar in style. I really love it, and its sweet and feminine without being overly girly. The sleeves and hem are roll-edge hemmed on my overlocker, and I really think the finish is far better than attempting to fold and topstitch.

I am working with a pattern I found online (sorry can’t remember the url) for clothing for ball jointed dolls. The intricacy in these patterns is astonishing. I scaled up the pattern significantly, but even still, the detail in these jeans is astonishing. I am eliminating a lot, including the tiny tiny little fly, reasoning that the doll is soft bodied unlike a BJD, and as such, won’t need an opening on the pants to get them on. I am still undecided if I will put pockets on the back, but I will be dealing with a 1 inch square piece of fabric if I do …. not something I am sure about. I was going to do these out of denim, but given the detail, I am thinking a denim coloured homespun would be a better option.

And here is the completed doll. I decided not to tackle shoes, figuring that my sister can source those herself. Really this is a keepsake and childhood memory, rather than a toy for a child, so I think shoes aren’t really a concern. I have really enjoyed putting this together, but I don’t think I will be in a hurry to do it again.