Friday, February 08, 2008

Down memory lane... and asking craft advice

Remember the Lennon Sisters? Did you know you can buy a reproduction of the rag dolls that Kathy and Janet used to haul around on tour when they were kids? They're called Best Pals dolls.

I saw part of an interview with one of the sisters rebroadcast on television the other day, as part of a Lawrence Welk broadcast. That's where I heard about the dolls for the first time.

After seeing the interview, I was thinking that it might be fun to stock rag dolls in our bookstore, but I'm thinking I might make my own. It can't be all that hard, right? (She says, with the bravery of ignorance, and knowing full well she's not all that handy with a needle... :)

If anyone has tips or tricks or warnings about making rag dolls or other toys that don't distract the kid with too many overfancy features, please weigh in. These days, there seems to be a general lack of dolls that are nothing but cuddly, for little girls to take to bed and carry everywhere. There's no reason we couldn't change that, is there?

2 comments:

Foxfier said...

1) us a sewing machine for the body. Hand-stitching can look nice, but it falls apart very easily-- and there's nothing that upsets a kid as much as their doll bleeding fluff.

2) make a paper pattern while you're testing out designs. That way, when you finish the doll that's just PERFECT, you don't have to go "now how did I do that...?"

3) figure out what to do with the hair (bring it out of the skull like hair? Make it mostly in one area, then unable to be styled? Glued on?)

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_dolls/article/0,,diy_13753_2268365,00.html
looks kind of like the right ones....

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/476039/craft_a_no_sew_old_fashioned_country.html
has one without sewing. Not sure how it'd look in reality, though.

Kathryn Judson said...

foxfier, Thanks!