Les Voyageuses

 I am so thrilled at how the doll that Q helped to design turned out!

I really have to give her props for prompting me into dreaming her up. 

Even though, as my daughter keeps reminding me, she doesn't like dolls. 

"Oh, mommy, I really love the doll that you made...for someone," she said this morning, tactfully reminding me with her phrasing that while she has enjoyed having a hand in the design, she is not about to back down from her anti-doll stance anytime soon!

Here is the doll before I clothed her. I stitched a heart with vintage silk thread under her dress, even though it is covered by her clothing in the finished product.

 Isn't she sweet?

 I love how drowsy and dreamy she is, the way she flops.

Her clothing was made with scraps of cotton homespun, satin ribbon, bits of vintage t-shirt, and repurposed parts from a ballet tutu.

I have to admit I never really understood rag dolls until now.

In fact, I was terrified by the raggedy anne that some family friend gave as a gift when I was very small, and which my mother propped (all unknowing) at the end of my bed until I was old enough to firmly object.

Maybe it was my fear of raggedy anne and andy that resulted in my inability to appreciate rag dolls all these years. Although, oddly enough, I have always admired (and often illustrated) redheads. In fact I would like to be one in my next life!

 

 So let this mark the start of my new appreciation for rag dolls as an art form. 

Good thing I just happened to have a yard or two of homespun left over in my project box!

And good thing that I have a daughter with a rampant imagination, ready to inspire with new ideas at every turn!

 I hope to be trying my hand at some more rag dolls in the future, if I can find the time between jobs (or during movie nights, as I did with this one!).

 I'll just have to order a few more yards of homespun, and break out the rest of my vintage thread collection (I love the wooden spools!) and the basket of vintage fabric scraps that my mother sent from Woodstock!

 Q standing proud with the design she helped to create. 

It's our first real collaboration...

but most likely not our last!

Welcome, 2012!!!!