Raggedy Magic

In 2009, I attempted to make my very first rag doll. Unbeknown to me at the time, the pattern I used had been inspired by a very special doll named 'Raggedy Ann', created by US author and illustrator Johnny Gruelle, over a hundred years ago.

I have always loved dolls and at the time I made my first rag doll, was particularly fascinated by 'homespun' dolls created from scraps of fabric in the home, stitched together by mothers and grandmothers, with love. These dolls, now known as 'prim' dolls, are an art form in their own right... but once they were just simple cloth dolls, cheaply made from old clothing and bed sheets, some with embroidered faces, others with no facial features at all... and given to young children to play with and learn from.

Raggedy Ann, a cloth doll with shoebutton eyes, was born from the sadness of daughter lost and inspired by one such early cloth doll, long forgotten in an attic, then rediscovered. She became the inspiration behind a delightful, happy-faced character doll, who featured in a series of stories written and illustrated by political cartoonist, illustrator and businessman of the era, Mr. Johnny Gruelle.

'Raggedy Ann' was patented On June 17th in 1915, when Gruelle applied for a trademark logo for the 'Raggedy Ann' name. The PF Volland Company then published Gruelle's Raggedy Ann Stories in 1918, the first in a series of books about Gruelle's Raggedy Ann rag doll character and her friends. Gruelle established a merchandising agreement with PF Volland Company, to begin manufacturing, selling and promoting a mass-produced version of his doll and the Raggedy Ann books and dolls became a huge success. At the time of Johnny Gruelle's death in 1938, his first Raggedy Ann book had sold more than three million copies. Subsequently, his iconic Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and related memorabilia, have become sought after collectors' items... not to mention the inspiration behind many thousands of handmade, smiling red-haired, primitive style, cloth dolls!

I stumbled across a wonderful pattern for a knitted doll named 'Merrily Ann' whilst scrolling online recently. It is the the first knitting pattern I have seen that is designed in true tribute to the original Raggedy Ann doll. Naturally, I couldn't resist ordering a copy! I have spent several weeks knitting and sewing and enjoying the process of making this special doll. The pattern captures the essence of the Raggedy Ann character perfectly and I think knitting her adds a lovely fresh dimension to Johnny Gruelle's original cloth doll.

My Raggedy Ann style dolly, complete with antique shoebutton eyes, is to be a special birthday gift for my Granddaughter's sixth birthday in May. I will gift a copy of Johnny Gruelle's original stories to her too, as I love the notion of passing childhood magic from one generation to another!

If you would like to knit your own 'Merrily Ann' tribute doll, you can find Wendy's lovely pattern on the link below:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/80001832/merrily-ann-raggedy-ann-18-45cm-doll?ga_order=most_relevant... 

© 2011 Wendy Phillips copyrighted design.

Do not reproduce or distribute this pattern. 

Lockdown Grandparents

I created Rosie to celebrate my granddaughter's 2nd birthday back in May ... which of course, happened during Lockdown. Sadly, under Lockdown Law, this meant my family wasn't able to gather for a traditional party celebration, so instead, we all sang Happy Birthday into our computer screens, while little Izzy watched and wondered. 

That morning, I drove my dogs close to my grandchildren's house for their daily walk (permitted under UK Lockdown law) and while my husband got the dogs out of the car, left 'Rosie' and her smart new dolly cot, on the doorstep, then rang the doorbell, stepped back to maintain the required social distance and watched with my Nana heart in mouth, as my delighted granddaughter discovered her special birthday gift on the doorstep and her Nana at the bottom of the garden path! Strange times indeed, but the smile on Izzy's face as she cuddled her new dolly was the most precious smile of all ... and enough to keep this Nana smiling too, as she blew kisses to her two excited grandchildren ... and in line with Lockdown legislation, turned around, wiped away a rogue tear ... and walked off into the woods with the dogs.

It has been so hard to be a Lockdown Nana, but I have tried my best to stay as close as possible to my grandchildren, whilst being forced apart by Lockdown. Each time restrictions eased a little, I scoured the Government website for the finer details, desperate to find a way to spend time proper time with the grandchildren I used to care for in my home each week... and each time it was clear that my life as a Nana was no longer under my own jurisdiction. The last time grandparents were legally allowed to care for grandchildren in the UK was prior to the 23rd March 2020. In more recent weeks the Government gave permission for us to spend time with our grandchildren at a social distance of two metres, which meant we were able to share walks and have some fun in the garden ... but still no hugs...

From 4th July it is my understanding we will at last be permitted to have grandchildren back into our homes ... but once again, at distance, minus hugs. I can't tell you how much these restraints hurt my heart, so goodness only knows what our precious grandchildren make of it all. 

Sadly, I don't believe our Prime Minister has given our youngest generation's feelings about being torn apart from beloved grandparents for months on end, very much consideration at all. I worry about the effect this may have on them, as they have so little voice of their own. It is for adults to consider what is best for these important little citizens and I worry that our Government has become so swamped with all things Coronavirus, that their feelings and needs have become something of an afterthought...

Maybe now that it has become economically critical for UK parents return to work, the true value of grandparents will become clearer to him.

Sending hugs and much love to all Lockdown Grandparents.

May we soon be recognised... and fully reinstated!

xxx

New Year, New Inspirations!

I don't know if anyone remembers, but about ten years ago I created a my own range of raggedy style cloth dolls called 'Paula's Prim Dolly Doodles'...

These dollies were so much fun to make! As I haven't made a doll for absolutely ages, I have decided to try and find time to explore doll making alongside my teddy bear making, in 2020.  To kickstart the new year, I started work on a large felt doll project in the Christmas holiday, using a 1998 pattern created by Janet Clark ... Janet used to make the most wonderful bears and dolls and I have always loved her work. I am hoping I can do Jan's pattern justice! I promise to share pics of my finished dolly when she is ready...

Besides working with felt, I have also been exploring 'Waldorf Dolls', a lovely gentle style of doll, created using natural fibres and needle felting. I would love to design my own dolly based on this interesting method of doll-making, so have gathered a box of bits 'n pieces and several, now out of print books, to teach myself the necessary techniques. I do love a new project in the new year ... it is always the perfect time to learn new skills! Who knows, I may even make the occasional Prim Dolly Doodle between bears too...

Here's to a super creative 2020!

:-)

Hester Harvest Witch

My 'Prim Dolly Doodles' have been on the back burner for almost a year now and needless to say, they are not at all happy about it.

With Halloween only a few days away, I simply couldn't ignore their pleas any longer, so decided it was time to set aside the bears and squeeze in a Prim Dolly Doodle Witchypoo in time for some All Hallowes Eve fun.

My dollies don't aspire to high artistry, they are proud of their primitive cloth doll roots.  Simplicity they say, allows a cheeky personality to shine through!

They begin to come to life as soon as their eyes are painted and as you can see below, by the time I create the hairdo, there's no holding these saucy little misses back!

I finished 'Hester Harvest Witch' yesterday evening, so didn't have time to hunt out her broomstick and take a studio photo before dinner ... but as you can see, she was determined to introduce herself anyway, the moment her little witch hat was stitched firmly onto her head!

Happily, Hester was content to pose for her formal Witchypoo photo this afternoon!  She was adopted within moments of making herself known online and will shortly hop onto her broomstick to spend Halloween with her lovely new owner.

Hopefully I will find time to make one or two festive Prim Dolly Doodles in time for Christmas ... please watch this space for further dolly developments!

Sunshine days ahead!

The daffodils are blooming, the roses in my garden are leafing and we have Spring weather forecast for the weekend ... it's official, Winter has at long last passed!

'Rosie Red'

To celebrate the change in season, I'd like to introduce 'Rosie Red', my first Prim Dolly Doodle of 2013 and yes, before you ask, she is wearing knickers!

And to warm the cockles of your heart, a splash of daffodil yellow ... here's to sunshine days ahead!

Doodling!

Following on from my 'Doodles Discombobulate' post last week, this is Dolly Doodle's progress report and as you can see, she's not quite finished yet, but it won't be too much longer before this little lady will be able to meet her new mum!

After my previous post, I stuffed Dolly's arms and stitched her limbs to her body.  It's fair to say my dollies always look a bit strange at this stage!

Next I painted her shoes and pinned her head in place temporarily, to see if she was coming to life ... judging from her slightly embarrassed expression, she was!

Then it was time to cover her modesty, so I made a dress from pretty rose print cotton fabric and removed Dolly's head (poor girl!) for a dress fitting. From past experience, I have learned fitting the dress without the head in place makes life so much easier!

After gathering the sleeves of her frock, I stitched Dolly's head in place and cut a few strands of wool for her hair - she's hoping for a cute little snippy fringe and lovely full bunches, so there's more hair styling to do ... and I'd better not forget before I send her off on her travels, my little lady still needs her knickers made!!!!!

Not quite the usual hair stylist technique, but effective nonetheless!

Her hair needs a trim and some red hair ties, and there's a little more finishing to do, but all in all, my first Dolly Doodle of 2013 is almost ready to meet her public!

Prunella Poinsettia

I've tidied my workroom, zipped my camera back into its bag and am about to curl up in my armchair with something festive on the telly and my knitting in my lap ... yes, my Santa's Sack work is almost done and dusted for another year.  There's just one more Prim Dolly Doodle to introduce you to, before the All Bear studio closes and I down tools in favour of my sherry glass!

'Prunella Poinsettia'

Introducing 'Prunella Poinsettia' my last Prim Dolly Doodle of 2012!  I have popped her into Santa's Sack on my website www.allbear.co.uk ... so if she finds a new home in the UK today, there should still just about time for her to sit under your tree on Christmas Eve!  She's a girl who doesn't mind travel though, so if you're overseas and don't mind her being late to your festivities, she'll fly to you, as soon as she can!

Happy Prim Dolly Doodle Halloween!

Ever since I first discovered a magical storybook about witches in my school library when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I have been fascinated by the notion of witches gathering to fly the night skies on All Hallowes Eve ...

Octavia Orangewitch

It's been far too long since I indulged my inner doll-maker but of course, I couldn't let Halloween pass unmarked, so this week I've claimed back a little Paula Prim Dolly Doodle time to create 'Octavia Orangewitch' - she is of the new generation of witches, no hooky warty green noses for this young lady, oh no!  Octavia Orangewitch is a modern gal with highlights in her hair, a lovely orange party frock in which to dance the night away and beautifully beguiling big green eyes with which to cast her spell over you!

Happy Halloween!

Vanishing Act!

We're enjoying an Indian summer here in England with temperatures up in the eighties ... phew!  With so much sunshine beaming through my workroom window this week, working on Halloween pieces seemed a little topsy turvy, but I had fun anyway!

I've had my camera out this afternoon and can at last show you my finished Witchypoo Dolly Doodle ... complete with bloomers, I'm happy to say!

 

Polly Pumpkinwitch

I have also been working on a little black bear cub.  I called him Merlin and believe me, this little fellow was every bit as meddlesome as his namesake when I pointed my camera at him ... black bears are so tricky to photograph!

 

12" Merlin

Well, that's me and Halloween just about done for this year. I have a shop order to work on next and after that, it will be time for thinking Christmas thoughts.  One thing's for sure, with or without any hocus pocus, 2011 is fast doing a vanishing act!

A Third Hat Trick!

Since becoming a recent convert to the joys of modern telephonic communication, I have developed a secret guilty pleasure - that of collecting my email and checking my Facebook account on my Iphone, from under my snuggly duvet each morning.  So imagine my delight this morning, when even before I had raised my head from my pillow, I spotted a link to the 2011 'Teddy Bear Artists and Friends' Award winners webpage and there listed, were three of my own entries, each of which had scooped third place in their category!

'Elwyn' - 3rd place in the 'polar bears' category

'Autumn' - third place in the 'groups' category

'Fleur' - third place in the 'creative doll' category

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for my work!

What a lovely start to this beautifully sunny Autumn day!

If you would like to see all the TBAAF Award winners, please visit:

TBAAF Award Winners

Prim, but not quite proper!

Just to prove I can (very occasionally) do as I am told (those who know me far too well will be choking with disbelief right now!) here is yesterday's Dolly Doodle again, this time at 'Paula's Hairdressing Salon'.

Hairdo in progress!

I can't quite bring myself to give this 'Witchlett-in-waiting' a wickedly wild hairdo, so instead I'm using a lovely burnt orangey chunky yarn, plaited into into cute pigtails ...

Hmmn, I still don't think she's Witchypoo enough yet.  She is prim and almost proper (she's not wearing any bloomers yet, so really not proper at all!) but something's missing ... of course, not only does she need her knickers (!) she also needs a smart pointy hat to wear out on her big night!

Well that's it for today's Witchypoo progress report.  When this mischievous miss's undergarments and hat are finished, I'll grab my camera and take a proper pic to share with you ...

Halloween Happenings

It has been a whole year since I last made one of my 'Prim Dolly Doodles' ... I can hardly believe so much time has slipped away without a single daft dolly to share.  With Halloween only weeks away, now is the perfect time to put that to rights!

I've had a pair of pointy-toed dolly legs waiting patiently in my work basket since last year's Halloween, so yesterday I decided to see if I could remember how to make a cloth doll after my long sabbatical ...

First things first, time to hunt out paint brushes and give those pointy-toes a quick undercoat  ...

And while they were drying, I sewed the rest of my doll, stuffed her firmly and set to work on the fun stuff - creating a face with pens, paints, crayons, chalks and embroidery threads!

By tea-time yesterday, I had completely lost track of time, not even realising dusk had fallen when Stuart popped his head into my workroom after work!  My daft dolly had taken shape though, with limbs and head attached, smart blue pointy shoes on her feet and a matching Halloween frock to wear!

And now she's perched on the edge of my desk raising her eyes as if to say 'do come away from that blog and make me some hair!'

So just this once, I suppose I'd better do as I'm told!

Nailing it!

By some little miracle seven new bears have materialised in time for tomorrow's show ... hooray!!!!  I'm calling them my 'Careworn Classics' because they are all lovely cuddly traditional bears created in semi-careworn style.  Needless to say, I would have preferred to have a couple more bears for my stand, (isn't that always the way?!) but never mind, seven should be fine.  I spent yesterday on my knees crawling around the living room floor between cables and lighting equipment, with camera in hand ... you would not believe how long it takes to photograph seven bears and today my old lady legs actually ache as a result of all the crouching and crawling!

My 'Careworn Classics' collection

Full details and more pics can be found on my website at www.allbear.co.uk

Unfortunately I haven't quite managed to finish 'Autumn Prim Dolly Doodle', so she sends her apologies because it's unlikely she will be able to attend in person tomorrow.  As you can see below, she's not really dressed for the occasion!

My Autumn Prim Dolly Doodle

If I conjure up some spare time this afternoon, I will make her dress and bloomers from those lovely fabrics on the chair and if by another little miracle they don't take too long, maybe I'll be able to finish her hair and shoes too ... but with all the other 'little' jobs waiting for me today, I think it's unlikely she'll be dressed and decent enough to show off in Kensington tomorrow.

So here I am on the day before show day with a list of jobs as long as my arm to complete, not least of which is making time to paint my tatty chipped nails before they disgrace me in public! 

If you were to peek into my workroom today you'd probably frown at the chaos I've created, but I'm simply going to close the door this weekend and worry about tidying next week - there's no point making too much work for myself today when there are so many more important jobs to deal with.  The most important thing is that everything is packed and ready to travel to London at the crack of dawn!

For full show details please visit: www.hugglets.co.uk

If you are hoping to come to the 'Teddies 2010' show tomorrow, please stop by stand 75 in Hall 2 to meet my bears, we'd all love to meet you!

Mary-Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

So what does a man in his mid-forties give to his Mum on her birthday?  In Stuart's case, a raggy doll!  Yes, I have been commissioned 'by he who must be obeyed' (some hope!) to create a special dolly, for a very special lady.  It wasn't difficult to decide on a theme as this particular lady is completely green-fingered and loves gardening. 

'Mary-Mary'

Fortunately for me, she doesn't have a computer, so I can safely share a little peek here, before 'Mary-Mary' slips into a birthday gift bag!

Winter Wishes in 2010

Introducing Winter Wishes, my first 2010 Prim Dolly Doodle! 

'Winter Wishes'

She was such fun to make, but photographing her was a chilly experience because we've had more snow!  Not as heavy as last time, but cold and white nevertheless ... in fact, this little lady had to warm her posterior on the dining room radiator as soon as we finished with the camera in the garden

(and so did I!)

A cheeky warm-up!

I've just realised there are less than eight weeks until my first big show of the year ... so it's time for this bear maker to stop dollying around and start making bears for the Hugglets Winter Bearfest on the 28th February.  Get set go Paula!

A raggy birthday wish for Leah!

This little lady was kept top secret until the day after Boxing Day, a special day in our family because my eldest niece Leah-Marie celebrated her twenty second birthday. 

I visited Leah in her new home that morning to wish her a 'Happy Birthday' in person and have the pleasure of seeing her open her gift ...

Sweet-Marie

Now 'Sweet-Marie' is settled comfortably on Leah's sofa, I'm sure she won't mind me sharing a quick peek with you - by the way, I'm very happy to say that as grown up as she now is, lovely Leah was thrilled to receive her special birthday raggy doll!

Panto comes to Raggy Land ...

I love the pantomime, don't you?  It's such fun and the characters are so wonderfully colourful ... we will be taking Stuart's grandson to watch Snow White very soon, but in the meantime, the spirit of panto definitely seems to be spilling over into my Prim Dolly Doodles ... 

'Miss Tingle Twankey'

'Miss Tingle Twankey', youngest daughter of the Widow Twankey, came to life in my workroom today with only the tiniest sprinkling of Christmas Fairy dust ... I do hope she makes you smile!

The Witchypoo School Photos

So here she is at last, better late than never I suppose.  Wisteria Witchlet finally deigned to put on a frock and do her hair yesterday, but only after I had promised to take her Witchypoo school photographs - talk about witchypoo airs and graces! 

20" Wisteria Witchlet

Wisteria and Hatty Halfwitch are now 'bezzy mates' and in the best tradition of naughty little witchlets, are giving poor old Witch Hazel the right run around during spelling lessons! 

Hatty Halfwitch with 'bezzy mate' Wisteria Witchlet

I don't think I've introduced you to the witchlet's teacher Witch Hazel yet, so here's 'Witch Hazel', a good witch charged with using a little green-fingered magic to take care of the woodland ...

20" Witch Hazel

And here is she is again, proudly posing with her witchypoo students ...

A proud Witch Hazel with her two favourite students.

These witchypoos have been such fun to make, but with Christmas looming fast, it's time to get back to work on my bears ... and fast!