Rag doll

When I was small, I had a rag doll.  She came as part of a bag I'd been given and she lived in the front pocket of the bag.  For a whole summer I loved and adored her.  I carried her everywhere in her little pocket and took her on holiday with me.  I don't remember when she was lost, or what happened to her.  I guess eventually another toy became important and she was eventually discarded.

I remembered her recently when I was watching a music video, where a small rag doll featured, a small version of the singer.  And so on a Sunday afternoon, with a huge amount of ironing being ignored, I started making a rag doll.

I didn't follow a pattern, I had no clue where it would take me, and my sewing skills are scrappy and erratic.  I was too impatient to care about neatness and exact measurements.  I just wanted to create.  I decided that she would have blue eyes and red hair (as all the best people do) and started working out a way of doing that.  Wool and buttons and stuffing were found.

Luckily my studio is filled with scraps of material and wool and cotton and things that look as if they will never be useful.  I found a lovely deep green which could become a dress.

Then being interrupted by pesky work and other committments, on Sunday evening I had to stop.  On the Monday evening however I picked her up again and started to think about what to add.

So her dress had pink and green buttons added and a belt of flowers around her middle.  In spite of my lack of planning and a distinct lack of neatness and sewing talent, I'm really very pleased with her.  I may add shoes or she may run free without them. 

There is a freedom in creating, in spending time doing something that isn't necessary.  I feel that creativity is a form of play, and it is where we are often most truly ourselves.