Rag Doll

I set out to make a rag doll out of stuff that we had around the house since that is the history behind this type of doll, hence the name “rag doll.” I love, love, love how she wound up telling a story about me and my daughter.

I started out with two shirts I don’t wear anymore. The beige one is from my days as a classroom teacher and doesn’t fit anymore since giving birth left me much more well-endowed in certain areas. (Did anybody else’s shirts suddenly get shorter after having a baby?) The green one is one of the uniform shirts that the toy library staff would wear. I also grabbed one of Abby’s baby blankets. I already thought it was awesome that this project was going to be made out of her mother’s clothes and her blanket.

There’s just something so very Little House on the Prairie about making a doll out of old clothes. I wish, as an adult, that I had a toy with that kind of family history behind it that I could pass onto my kids.

I traced this pattern onto the fabric and got to work. Basically, just follow the directions, it’s not that hard.

Sew all the pieces together (just follow the directions from the pattern) and add yarn for hair. I was so excited when the idea for the face hit me that I almost shrieked loud enough to wake up my two napping children. I made it reversible! (I might be too excited about this.) I embroidered a different face on each side.

She can be asleep

Or awake

I am the first to admit that my embroidery skills leave much to be desired, but I still think she’s pretty awesome. I was also stoked that I had yellow yarn because that meant I was able to give her blond hair and blue eyes, just like Abby’s.

So there you go, the first made-by-mommy Christmas present of the year for a grand total of $0.