Dolled up
I decided to tell Amelia that I was planning to make her a doll for Christmas and asked her if this is something she would really like. She has an enormous amount of stuffed toys and dolls, and while she loves her teddy, her Buzz, her Ugly Doll and one or two other likely lads, she isn’t really a big doll girl. She told me that what she really wants is a friend for Sally Jeero (her Ugly Doll) and could I make one? I asked her to draw me a picture of what she thinks it should look like and she did so with great enthusiasm. As you can see above, she is a pretty pink monster, with four eyes (plus a spare in one hand), holding a flower. So I have dug out my length of pink polar fleece, drawn up a pattern and am ready to go.
I started sewing up Lily’s doll last night and it’s an absolute pleasure to be doing something crafty again. It was a little hard to get started but now that I am in the middle of it, I can’t think of anything else. I have been worrying about the hair in a kind of obsessive way, but Hillary’s post about her cute little rag-haired doll was a total inspiration for me. I am looking forward to posting some W.I.P. photos of my attempt at a similar thing on Friday…
Responses
22nd November 2006 at 6:15 pm
Its so great (in my opinion) to have children that can tell you what they want! But then to go and DESIGN what they want…thats sooo cool! Cant wait to see how it went!
22nd November 2006 at 10:13 pm
I know that paintings has inner meanings.
It was interesting why she draw four eyes, I thought, maybe because your family consists of 4 people. Maybe the small eye is her little sister!
Her painting is beautiful and happy.
22nd November 2006 at 10:58 pm
I love that drawing. That Pink Monster looks like she has catwalk model legs! Good Luck, can’t wait to see.
22nd November 2006 at 11:35 pm
AND a spare eye in her hand! Exactly what every pretty pink monster needs. What a clever kitty Amelia is! I can’t wait to see Sally Jeero’s friend past prototype stage.
23rd November 2006 at 1:39 am
That’s so great! I would have been thrilled as a kid if my mom had made me a doll that I drew. I can’t wait to see it!
23rd November 2006 at 8:05 am
I love that you are interpreting Amelia’s drawing. I look forward to seeing the doll when it has been completed.
23rd November 2006 at 12:19 pm
I cannot wait to see what the pink doll will look like, and to see the comparison between the wonderful drawing and your wonderful work too.
23rd November 2006 at 12:36 pm
I saw a thing like that on craftster and think its the most wonderful idea! I’m just waiting for my daughter to be old enough to draw something…
(http://www.wists.com/nomes707/22ec8eb1f9bbabf3f4a5a402346389bf for an image of the drawing - I can’t find it again on craftster…)
23rd November 2006 at 2:56 pm
I’ve enjoyed your regular posting, Claire, and it’s been lovely to read about that emergence from the cocoon of mother-of-new-babyness. I asked my daughter a similar question for her birthday, having made my son one of Jess Hutch’s knitted robots for his birthday. No, a dragon, if you please! I managed one…eventually.
23rd November 2006 at 4:44 pm
This monster should be pretty cute…in the true meaning of the word! I was thinking that the extra eyeball in the monster’s hand could be velcroed to the hand??? then it could also be attached to the head…possibly…somehow?!?
24th November 2006 at 1:46 am
I remember the first little toy I sewed after having my second child. It felt so good to get back in the swing of things.
24th November 2006 at 12:07 pm
Tiff — I was thinking exactly the same thing! I would worry that the eye would quickly get lost however.
27th November 2006 at 8:26 am
:O I love love love UglyDolls. Mario has an IceBat. Amelia’s drawing is absolutely awesome and I cannot wait to see you interpret it. EEK HOW FUN!
22nd November 2006 at 4:33 pm
We asked Alice what she would like for her birthday and she was adamant that she wanted a “Clarkey” doll. For the uninformed, Clarkey is the large yellow platypus that is the mascot for Clarke Rubber stores. We have one near us that has had a giant inflatable Clarkey tied to it’s roof for a few weeks now and she is obsessed! Needless to say, I had no inclination to make one, but we did buy her one. Kids are funny!