The many faces of Raggedy Ann

Clockwise from top:  Annie's by Tanja, Lorraine, Joyce, and me :-)

How many of us had a Raggedy Ann as a child?  I did; she was the classic red-haired urchin with 'I love you' printed on her chest.  Three of my Flickr friends became beguiled by Annie, and I wanted to share their delightful dolls with you.

Annie is a doll with a lot of heart, as you can see from the four above.  Here is a little more information about them:

These beautiful Annies are by Tanja, who is Lenekie on Flickr.  Her dolls are remarkable; take a look at her photostream.  These Annies are from Oh Sew Dollin, who's patterns can be found on Etsy.

Blue-haired LiliAnnie was made by Joyce, aka Dutzie on Flickr, from another Oh Sew Dollin pattern. LiliAnnie is only six inches tall!   Check out Joyce's photostream for more delightful dolls.

This dear little red-head, Esme by name,  was made by Lorraine, aka Balancing Kiwi on Flickr.  She used my Prairie Flowers cloth doll pattern (that you can find on the left sidebar of this blog), and turned her into the most adorable 13 inch Annie :-)  Lorraine has many wonderful dolls on her Flickr photostream.

AnnaBelle is another Prairie Flower Annie; I reduced the pattern to 50%, so she is also a tiny mite at six inches small.  If you reduce the clothing patterns by the same amount, you can create quite a wardrobe for your pocket Annie.

Other delightful designers of Annie's are Maureen Mills of Sweet Meadow Farms, and Cindy's Homespun, both on Etsy.

Dee Powell Annie's made many years ago

Annie can have many faces, but all of them speak to the heart.

From shoebox to roombox

I love shoeboxes; I save them all!  Though I haven't actually done anything with them (same with those round oatmeal containers).  So it seemed  time to do something with one of them :-)

Trying one on for size, it looked like a good fit for a tiny cloth doll.  Jane Noelle is six inches tall, and fits very nicely inside a shoebox for a pair of walking shoes.  And it looks like a Celestial Seasonings tea box will make a nice wardrobe.

All of the printed papers were scavenged from the internet and printed on card stock on my printer.  The picture on the wall is a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) that was reduced to fit a 2"x3" wooden plaque.

The outside of the box is papered as well as the inside; using a mix of paintings that I liked for the outside.  Jane has a couple of comfy upholstered chairs that were very easy to make: there is a picture tutorial on flickr here.

The rug is a crocheted doily, and her knitting needles are a pair of toothpicks.  She's making a garter stitch scarf :-)

The quilt in the hoop and the thread caddy are both Gail Wilson kits I made a long time ago, and little wood findings make up the tables.

Jane has a small wardrobe made from vintage hankies.  The sundress at the upper left and the nightgown at the lower right are made essentially the same way.  Two squares are sewn up the side seam, leaving the upper 1 1/4 " unsewn.  Hem the unsewn part back, then fold over 3/8" at the top edge on both side to create a casing.  Thread a piece of ribbon (silk ribbon works best) through the casing and gather up the neck edge.  Her arms fit through the opening left on both sides.

I cut the nightgown on the corner for the front, as this hankie had such a pretty edgeing on one corner.  For the sundress, make four rows of gathering stitches 1/8" apart below the casing on both the front and the back and pull up to gather the bodice (this is called shirring).  The neck edge is gathered up with the ribbon same as the nightgown.

Upper right are simple smallclothes made from a linen hankie, and lower left is a pinafore cut from a pretty corner portion of another hankie.  All of these vintage, slightly flawed hankies came from LinsAntiques on Etsy.

I'm sure your tiny dolls would love a home of their own!

Happy Stitching :-)

Prairie Flowers bloom again

Seven years ago, I created a cloth doll pattern I called Prairie Flowers, which is available here on the blog (look down the left sidebar for the doll and her clothing pattern).

That was the last time I made cloth dolls.  Sitting at the sewing machine for hours on end gave me a backache, and crochet and knit dolls consumed all my interest...until Joyce introduced me to Ann Wood's Tiny Rag Doll.  Hand sew a cloth doll?  I was told you should never do this.  But, at least at this small scale, it works just fine.  In fact, in small corners and curves you have much more control over the sewing if you do it by hand.

So how about making a diminutive version of the Prairie Flower doll?  How about a Pocket Prairie Flower :-)  So I reduced the pattern by 50% (simply a printer selection before printing out the pattern) and here she is!  The difference in instructions for this doll vs. her larger sister is that I made stiff templates for the doll body pattern pieces, instead of making freezer paper templates.  Trace around your stiff pattern pieces to create the sewing lines, then cut out the pieces adding a seam allowance as you cut out.

If you want to make her the same wardrobe as the original doll, I would reduce the pattern by 50%, then trace your pattern onto fabric on the sewing line, not the cutting line.  Cut out, leaving some margin for the seam allowance, and hand sew along the sewing line.  At least, that is what I intend to do.

Don't be put off by the shape of her head.  I tend to like dolls with slightly oversize heads, and this doll is no exception.  I like a lot of forehead, and also like to place the eyes of the doll at the midpoint of the head.  This gives a more childlike look to the doll, which is what I prefer.

Her hair is a wig cap with braids, made from Knit Picks Palette, a fingering weight yarn, and a size 1 steel crochet hook.  I embroidered shoes on her feet, just for fun.

She likes the bed I made for the Ann Wood dolls, but fortunately for all of them, she cannot wear their clothing :-)

Make some magic on Black Friday!

After I finish this blog post, I am going to fix myself a cup of coffee, get out my hooks, and make a little mouse (Neville the Nibbler) for one of my nephews for Christmas.   You can see him up in the left hand corner of the collage above; his pattern is under "Crochet an Outdoor Setting."  

Patterns for all of the dolls and toys pictured here are freely available on this blog.    Along the top are a mouse and turtle, a Free Spirit doll, a Crochet Bleuette, and a Basic Amigurumi Doll.  Next row is a Beagle from " Links to my Animal Patterns," and a Knit Waldorf Style Doll.  Next row is a Prairie Flower Cloth Doll and a Pocket Spirit with a simple bed made from a picture frame and wood turnings.  Along the bottom row is a Free Spirit, Mini Free Spirit, and Labrador puppy (around the Christmas tree), two Teacup Spirits, a Prairie Flower cloth doll, and a littler of Kitties.

You can find all the patterns by scrolling down the left sidebar, looking for the header, or a picture of the type of doll or toy you want to make.  Links to all of the patterns are listed there.

We can all make this Friday a creative Black Friday, and give the gift of handmade love.  It just takes a little time, and a little yarn.

However your day, have a good one!

UPDATE: Saturday 11/24/2012

Meet Neville, Ernie, and Trevor :-)

 My Black Friday Mice!

All the girls

This is Jenny and me; she is the last of five Prairie Flower dolls that I started working on back at the end of May. They are all complete, and everyone has something to wear; not all of my dolls are so lucky :-) I also have three more patterns to share, and altogether these patterns should provide a nice trousseau for your Prairie Flower.
First is Jenny's puffed sleeve A-line dress. I modified the simple A-line dress from thebleudoor with a technique from the book "Dressing Dolls," by Rosemarie Ionker. This is a terrific book for anyone who loves to make doll clothing, or enjoys drooling over well made doll clothing. The pattern for the dress is here:

Puff Sleeve Dress

This is really cute in a '30's style print. Here is a tip to get the collar to lay nice and flat along the dolls neckline; after you've completed the outfit, place it on the doll and dampen the collar lightly. Pin the front and back points of the collar to the dress, with a straight pin right into the doll, just like you would like the collar to lay. Let this dry, and the collar stays nicely in place after the pins are removed.
Next is a dress with gathered sleeves and the skirt gathered to the bodice. The bodice is done the same way as the puffed sleeve dress above. This is a really clever way of making a gathered sleeve without the tediousness of setting the sleeve in the armhole.

Gathered Sleeve Dress

The bodice can be lengthened for a drop waist dress, or for a blouse, and you can play around with the fullness of the sleeve cap to alter the look.
Last is my favorite, a super simple vest that can be left plain or embellished to your hearts content.

Simple Vest

Only two seams, the side seams, and you're done. You can make this vest out of felt or fleece.
Here are all the girls, wishing you a lovely day filled with creativity :-)

Kate's Sweet Soozi-Q !

The wonderfully talented doll designer and doll maker, Kate Erbach, created this charming little Prairie Flower named Soozi-Q :-) I love her sweet smile and curly hair; what great yarn.

Such a sweet wardrobe too! Lovely eyelet camisole and undies, crochet flowers on a swingy dress, lovely felt boots, and a cute skirt, shirt, and felt jacket. What a lucky doll!

First of Five

Rosey Anne, the first of five new Prairie Flower girls is finished. With their bodies all nicely stuffed, they are a blank canvas; they have the potential to be anything, just like a young child.

The first doll was inspired by Raggedy Anne, with her cute triangle nose, embroidered heart, and sweet smile. I'm hoping to find a light pink gingham to make her a pretty apron. It is almost as much fun thinking about the next doll as making it :-)

More Prairie Flower Finery

The Bleu Door pattern site ( www.thebleudoor.com ) continues to be a gold mine of patterns to adapt for the Prairie Flowers. Here are a few new patterns, all of which (with the exception of the crochet sweater above) have been adapted from these patterns.

First, there is a simple nightgown from 1920. This is made of a pale pink batiste, with a sprinkling of crochet flowers around the neck, and featherstitching around the bottom. The pattern is here:

Nightgown

The bedjacket is just a simple sweater crocheted from laceweight mohair yarn. I developed the pattern originally for Waldorf dolls, and have adapted it for mini-free spirits, and now the Prairie Flowers:

Bed Jacket

Next is a simple shirt and jumper combination. The shirt has 3/4 length sleeves that are not set in; the neck and sleeve edges finished with either purchased or self bias trim. The pattern is here:

Shirt

The jumper is also super easy, and from the same 1920 pattern as the shirt:

Jumper


These cute and simple overalls are from a 1917 pattern. I made them from an old pair of my husbands blue jeans...the straps here were a little narrow to easily make up, so on the pattern I've widened them a bit. And added a touch of embroidery to the legs. Same simple shirt with these overalls as above. The pattern is here:

Overalls

Close up of the overall embroidery. A Prairie girl should have Prairie flowers blooming across her overalls :-)

Bleuette fashions for Prairie Flowers

I'm not a very good pattern drafter when it comes to sewing doll clothing, so I asked Janie Hile at www.thebleudoor.com for permission to adapt some of the wonderful original Bleuette patterns for the Prairie Flowers, and she kindly said yes.

The adapted patterns for the apron and jacket above are here:

Apron 

Jacket

The jacket pattern is from 1913, and the apron pattern from 1909.


Here are the two basic A-line dresses:

Both of these patterns are from 1912. I've made them simpler than the original, with little embellishment. But that is the neat thing about a simple pattern, some lace and ric-rac, or contrasting fabric panels can change the look entirely.



Simple A-line Dresses




I also dearly love dainty underwear for dolls, so here are a couple of patterns called 'combinations,' which are just what the name implies - a combination of chemise and pantaloon. The one on the left is a 1918 pattern; the one on the right is from 1916.

Made up in lightweight batiste, with perhaps a touch of embroidery, and they are lovely underwear. In a cotton calico, they could be rompers or overalls.

Combinations

And lastly, some simple underwear; panties that can be worn under the dresses, and a dainty camisole.

Undies

Thank-you, Janie, for providing such a wonderful, and historic, pattern site, and for letting me use the patterns for the Prairie Flower dolls. Some styles are simply timeless, just like the love of dolls :-)

Prairie Flowers, an original cloth doll

Last spring I designed a cloth doll I called Prairie Flowers. She is a simple cloth doll, 11 1/2 inches tall, made from 100% woven cotton material. Above is Lillian, one of the dolls I made a year ago.

I've come back to these cloth dolls, to make the pattern available, and to see what kind of different looks can be achieved with this cloth doll pattern.

The pattern for the doll is located here:

Prairie Flowers Doll Pattern

A picture tutorial for making the doll is located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157623903215816/

The pattern for the doll is a 'template' that is traced onto freezer paper (available here: http://www.dollmakersjourney.com/supplies.html, near the bottom of the page). Trace the pattern to the non-shiny side of the freezer paper, cut out, and iron the pattern to the fabric. The edge of the template is the sewing line, so make sure to leave plenty of space between pattern pieces for the seam allowance.






After the pattern pieces have been sewn and turned, stuff the pieces with your favorite stuffing material. I've mentioned this before, but the best way to stuff a cloth doll is to lightly dampen the pieces with a mist of water. Work the material in your hands after it is dampened, and stuff the body firmly. Dampening the material will help to eliminate wrinkles when you stuff.






It is also VERY important to pay attention to the stretch of your fabric, and how you lay the pattern pieces on the material. These two bodies were made from the same pattern piece; but one was laid on the fabric with the stretch along the length of the body, and the other with the stretch running from side to side. The pattern pieces are marked how they should be placed. Before ironing them on, stretch your material along the grain and across it to determine which way the maximum stretch runs.

After all the parts are nicely stuffed, it is time to make the face, and perhaps add a touch of embroidery to the neckline of the doll. The tutorial shows a way to make the faces you see here; they are a combination of paint (for the iris and pupil of the eye), embroidery (mouth, nose, eyebrows, and iris), and crayon, to blush the cheeks. It is easier to do this and the embroidery before the limbs are attached to the doll.


Two new Prairie Flowers :-) I called them this because of the flowers embroidered around the neckline.