Dolls and Dolls

I took the kids to Junctionview Studios on Saturday for the Viewfinder event. L is very in touch with her creative self and E is certainly showing signs of having a quiet creative spirit. I like the children to see artists, craft people and artisans working. I think in our counsurmerist centered capitalist culture, we have ceased seeing the value in those items, which are crafted with skill, heart and soul.

L has wanted an Ugly Doll for awhile and we have resisted. She has a zoo of stuffed creatures, one can hardly see her in her double bed most nights. She saw some handcrafted stuffed pets at the Viewfinder and as we walked back to the car, full of Pattycake cookies and high spirits, she said she thought we could make them.

In truth my sewing skills are not salable quality, but I can sew. It is something I enjoy, if I am not that good at it. I would like to sew more, but finding the time for me to really focus on the task is a challenge.

So thanks to the power of Google and YouTube, we found a video and a pattern. I blew the pattern up slightly using our copier and we set out, looking through my material scraps and my craft buttons. (I also did not trace and sew, as L wanted more elaborate embellishments and we had to make some modifications.)

L helped design the dolls, picking the fabric and the embellishments. We offered to include E, but he passed. I think he thought we were nuts. Saturday night we plotted, planned and pinned. On Sunday we cut, pieced, and sewed. Then L stuffed. At swimming lessons, I hand sewed the heads closed and patched any of the holes, which formed as enthusiastic stuffing split a seam or two.

I am pleased with the results. L had named hers - Stubby (Top right corner)  and Clara (blue strips with pink tummy patch) and they have been going to school with her, this short week of school. She is proud of our efforts and most of all happy, I think at realizing her creative vision and doing so, with me. It was a very nice mother/daughter project.

The other two have found good homes as well. So all is right in the stuffed world.