Busy next few days with family. All good. Will be back blogging on Monday.
Saying good-bye to my first "Chill" Phoebe
Thought I'd post a belated good-bye to the first "Chill" Phoebe listed. She is off to a great new home in Illinois.
Just what exactly is so special about a handmade doll?
Why buy a handmade doll? Handmade dolls are more expensive and harder to find than mass produced dolls. Yet, they have a growing loyal following. Why is that?
As a maker of handmade dolls, I felt too close to the subject to answer. So I asked a few buyers, not just of my dolls, but of all kinds of handmade dolls. And I asked one of my favorite doll-makers--Jenny Marshall of Little Jenny Wren. I was sure she would have thought a bit about this, and she had.
The reason that I heard the most is how the dolls feel (not their emotions) but the tactile qualities. Handmade dolls can be made from all sorts of materials: cotton, wool, linen, muslin, yarn. They can be sewn or knitted. All of those materials are nice to touch. One mother said she heard about handmade dolls from others in her cloth diaper group, but could not understand why these other moms would pay $200 for a doll. So she decided to find out for herself and ordered a handmade doll. She said when she first held the doll, she understood.
“There was no going back to store bought dolls from that point on and I can see many more finding a home with us in the future"
Jenny Marshall: To me the feel of the doll is as important as the look of the doll and I feel the body reacts more tenderly and gently to the textures and warmth of natural fibres, there is a softening response, a need to care for the doll.
If you have not held a handmade doll, then you have not experienced the feeling.
Some handmade doll owners collect all kinds of dolls, handmade and mass-produced; they are doll-lovers and appreciate all kinds of dolls. But there are many who are not keen on mass produced dolls. They value the uniqueness that is part of the handmade doll experience. They have the opportunity to create a doll that speaks to them, because the dolls are made one at a time, buyers can customize a doll. Hair, skin color, size and clothing can all be specified.
Because the doll took so many hours to make there won’t be many like it. Like those who hunt and collect works by a specific artist, when you find what you like, it is coveted. You cannot buy as many as you want. Handmade dolls are procured. Although with the internet, handmade dolls are easier to find.
One mom, with five girls described how hard it used to be to find handmade dolls,
"I've always bought my girls unique dolls, I hate the mass produced dolls. Years ago when my older girls were little, handmade dolls were very hard to find and the only ones they had were knitted dolls. I'm loving now that with my youngest, there’s all the gorgeous handmade dolls that are out there."
For some, buying handmade is part of supporting those who make them for a living, or the use of natural materials, or both. The purchase of the doll fits into a larger philosophy or world-view. One mother said, “I buy handmade because they are made with natural materials more often and are made with love by one person who is often a mother who is able to stay home with her family by making handmade to support their income."
Another mom said, " I don't buy too many toys for my children, usually waiting for special occasions and I always chose quality over quantity. I want to teach my children the importance of buying responsibly."
Others appreciate the relationship with the maker and the back-story. Doll-lovers can match themselves with doll-makers. A win-win for those who love to create and for those who love dolls. Doll-makers love to create dolls that they know will be cherished and doll-lovers love dolls that they played a role in making it special.
As Jenny Marshall so perfectly put it, “The fact also that the doll has taken so many hours to make and during that process has been touched so often by the maker, touched carefully so as not to roughen the doll, but touched and handled lovingly and you can feel that love and care when you hold the doll. Children feel it and adults too,”
How to Use Rick Rack as an Edging
I love to use rick rack as an edging on doll clothing. It's simple and sweet. It is also easy to come by and comes in so many colors. It is very easy to do. Follow the steps I've laid out below.
1. Sew rick rack down the center line onto the edge you are trimming. You do not need to match the thread to the rick rack color. This stitching will not show.
Here's how your edges should look now. This is your first pass of adding the edging.
Next you want to fold that edge over and stitch the rick rack down as you go. I recommend using your needle down setting, if you have one. You could fold it over and iron it first, but if your rick rack is not 100% cotton, your iron needs to be at a low temperature or you need a cloth on top, or it will melt and burn. Not good.
It helps to hold the rick rack down as you are sewing. No comments on my nails or nail polish. This is better than my nails often look.
Below is what it looks like done. At the top of this post you can see the finished shorts. Super easy and lots of possibilities!
A Toddler Phoebe Doll with Pink Hair
Here's a few snaps of a Toddler Phoebe with pink hair that left today to live down the road.
Five Decades of Beloved Doll Dresses
This also could be called my life as seen through doll dresses. There is one for practically each decade and stage of my life. Maybe I'm sharing too much and I will definitely date myself.
Dress Number 1: Sewn for my childhood Sasha doll. The ultra-hip fabric was left-over from the ultra hip halter top I sewed to bring to sleep away camp. Both my doll and I were the coolest. I was especially cool for bringing a doll to camp.
Dress Number 2: Made for the same doll. I am a teenager now and should be done with dolls. But I'm not.
Dress Number 3: I have gone to college, done the yuppy thing and worked in graphic design in the city, married, moved out of the city, and had two of my three kids. Sewn for the same Sasha doll that was now my oldest daughter's doll.
Dress Number 4: I now have three children, the youngest a daughter. Took a day off from work to sew a wardrobe for her Ellowyne doll (an Uber-Barbie) and this was one of the dresses. The doll and the wardrobe were well-loved but very un-PC.
Also at this point I can easily buy fabrics on the internet. A good and a bad thing.
Last Dress: Made two weeks ago for one of the toddler Phoebe dolls. I am now definitely older, maybe wiser and my two daughters no longer play with dolls. But I do have a doll-making company, which so far is almost as fun.
Looking forward to seeing some of your dresses!
Click through the link below to the Beloved handmade Doll Dress Contest.
The new kind of Phoebe Doll on Etsy now
A few weeks back I posted a sneak peek at a new kind of Phoebe doll. I was inspired to design her by the request of several followers, a less expensive Phoebe, which I totally get. For me that meant a less time intensive Phoebe. So I eliminated the jointed arms and legs. She is now like most other cloth dolls, a bit "relaxed" or floppy. So for the time being she will be called "Chill Phoebe".
And after making several of these, I am smitten. They are not a compromise, just a different kind of doll with a slightly different appeal. Also, a little more cuddly for children.
She is standing with "assistance".
Phoebe is Off to California
Toddler Phoebe is off to her new home in California.
Good-bye!
The Beloved Handmade Doll Dress Contest
When I was about six or seven my mother made Barbie wardrobes for my sister and me. I loved every stitch of that gift, but I absolutely cherished Barbie's ice-skating dress, which was made out of flannel to mimic velvet and had a swirly skirt.
So many of us have "beloved" handmade doll dresses. We love them for different reasons.
Maybe the dress is loved for who made it,
or how we acquired it.
Or maybe it was a first attempt at sewing.
Maybe it reminds us of a child, now too old to play with dolls.
Or is connected with a memory of our own childhood.
Or maybe it is just the very essence of cute.
I am hoping you will share that dress and why you love it with us. When all the dresses are in, I will put them on the blog and we can all vote on the cutest, sweetest reason, most amazing craftsmanship and best photo.
Everyone who enters gets a 10% discount in my Etsy shop and the three winners will get fabric and trim to use to carry on the tradition of handmade doll dresses.
Here's how to enter:
1. Snap a photo of JUST the dress, in other words not on a doll. Maybe on a piece of fabric, a quilt, a plain background. Whatever you think looks best.
2. Write 1-3 sentences why you love this handmade doll dress.
3. Email the photo and reason to me at phoebeandegg at gmail.com OR
4. Submit on Instagram with the hashtag #beloveddolldress and #phoebeandegg
5. Let me know whether you do or don't want your name to appear with the photo.
6. You can enter more than once. The more beloved-ness the better.
I can't wait to see all of these beloved doll dresses! And please please please share this post.
Contest will run until August 5, 2014.
Three Toddler Dolls now in my Etsy shop
I have been slow in listing these, but all three toddler dolls are finally in my Etsy shop. They are 16 inches tall and each come with a sweet dress and cotton knit PJs, and their underwear and shoes of course.
