Monday 12 September 2011

Trying to be the very best Auntie I can be...

From reading between the lines, you may have realised that Mr TH & I do not have children... However, on Sunday mornings especially, I can see the positive side. In the meantime I see my role as being the very best Auntie I can possibly be.

Next week it is September Niece’s 7th birthday.  She has dropped some totally unsubtle hints about wanting a rag doll (with sandy blond hair that can be constantly re-styled by her & green eyes & brown eyelashes & a fancy silk dress & another dress for spare & underwear & petticoats with lots of lace, oh & she was to look pretty but she was not to have a ‘silly grin’...) I got the message!

I started work.  I haven’t made a doll for at least 25 years; I dug out a pattern from the back of the box & read the instructions.  I calculated some short cuts...

An hour later I was surrounded by various stuffed limbs, it felt like a cross between Pinocchio and the Hammer House of Horrors.  

I had a cuppa, sewed the limbs together, attached the head (a child’s sock) & thought about the face.
I decided to fast forward to the hair, which looked fun.  

It was a nightmare!  In the end Mr TH silently, patiently de-tangled the knot of wool that I had flung to the floor during my strop.  Then he found a piece of wood from the shed for me to wind the newly de-tangled wool around. Subdued, I sewed the doll wig together then attached it to her head. 

I ignored her for a few days but began to feel sorry for the faceless doll before me.  I found the required green cotton & began to sew...

All in all, I find some doll’s faces pretty scary. I considered many different options & got to work trying hard to follow the strict instructions I’d been given by September Niece.


Her face was finished, she looked very serious (but there was ‘no silly grin’...) I celebrated with more tea then made clothes for her.

Monetary cost- about £5 for the stuffing and wool (I already had all the other materials)

Time Cost- about a day and a half

Emotional Cost...will be eclipsed if September Niece likes the doll

11 comments:

Marigold Jam said...

How could she not like her she is fabulous. Well done and the only problem I can forsee is being asked to make a sister or two!!

nimble fingers and steady eyebrows said...

Wow, that is truly the most gorgeous doll I have ever seen... and I was a little girl with a lot of dolls! Laura x

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

She is very beautiful (and I was a girl who did not much like dolls at all). I made a rag doll for my own daughter but she was the sort who looked a bit battered from the outset. I seem to remember real problems with the hair! Love yours and sure September Niece will too.
Thanks for visiting my blog.

Belinda said...

She is fantastic! I really hope September Niece likes her. I would be crushed if I had spent all that time and effort only to get that disappointed face. I can't stand the disappointed face.

Colette said...

She will love it. She is totally beautiful and her clothes are amazing. September Niece has a pretty clever Aunty xx

Anonymous said...

How could she NOT like it, it is perfect in every way? You have done wonders, the hair looks fantastic and the dresses are beautiful as is the face. September niece is going to love you and the doll forever.

Calico Kate said...

What a beautiful girl (& I'm sure your niece is too!) I love her rather solemn face. The dress is very very lovely. September Niece is very lucky to have an aunt like you. I can't believe it took less than two days!
We don't have any children either and although we have many nieces and nephews and in fact a great many Great-nieces and -nephews (I'm only 41 and became a 'Great Aunt' when I got married at 26!) they all live the other side of the country we don't have a terribly close relationship with them, but I have two close friend with small people whom I love making things for; their arrival and subsequent birthdays and Christmases. Sadly though they are both boys so no rag dolls!
CKx

Scented Sweetpeas said...

oh wow, she is adorable and just look at her lovely red flowing hair - gorgeous!

silverpebble said...

Oh she's stunning! I agree about dolls' faces but you've m\de her beautiful and not at all scary. Genius.

Scented Sweetpeas said...

oohh and by the way, I want that dolls clothes, they are a really lovely style - do you think they would fit me :-)

Thrifty Household said...

I think I've been watching too many costume dramas on TV & wishing for clothes just like them myself...

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