Process: Rag Dolls

I developed the patterns for these rag  dolls a couple of years ago - and right now I'm working on turning my scribbled-on pattern pieces and notes into a real pattern that someone besides me can make sense of. (edit: The pattern's available now. You can find it here.) I didn't take pictures of any of the bad prototypes along the way so I can't show you all the too-skinny necks - but I can talk about them. :-)

The hardest thing about designing softies that that the proportions all change when you stuff the thing - and the skinniest parts of the design are affected the most. These dolls started out with necks that were so skinny I couldn't turn the head right-side out. D'oh! And then when I got it big enough for the head to go through, they were still too skinny. I couldn't get enough stuffing in there for the heads to stay upright. Finally, bit by bit, I let the necks get bigger and bigger until I had something that would work structurally. That's when I worked on getting the rest of the proportions right - the length of the legs, the thickness of the arms, the width of the body, etc.

In addition to the structural issues, I also struggled with the "look" of the dolls. I wanted something that would look fresh and contemporary, without straying too far from her traditional rag doll roots. The hair is a big part of that - especially when I use unusual colors. That was inspired by my daughter. She started coloring streaks in her hair (with washable markers) when she was about 4. We colored the whole head of hair for the first time when she was 5. She wanted bright, bubblegum pink and I figured, why not? It washes out in 2-6 weeks (depending on the color) and she loves it. So all of my dolls have unusual-colored hair, or bright streaks in their natural color.

Anyway. . . the contemporary look comes from more than the hair color. Most rag dolls (and most softies, for that matter) are symmetrical down the center. If you fold the pattern in half it will be identical on both sides. I started out trying to do my dolls that way (because that's "how it's done") but the results always felt kind of. . . lifeless. Lacking in personality. Looking like every other rag doll out there. I started just making dolls out of my original drawings, without cleaning them up first, and I was much happier with the results.

The bodies on all these dolls are slightly lopsided. The seam where the head joins the dress isn't exactly level, so the head is tipped a tiny bit to one side. The head bows out just a little bit more on one side than on the other. I don't draw it lopsided on purpose. This is the result I get when I try to draw it perfectly symmetrical, but don't fuss with folding to get it exactly right. Sometimes my drawings are too lopsided, and that doesn't work. The ones that make the final cut are the best I can do - the ones just lopsided enough to show the work of the human hand, but not so lopsided that they look wrong.

Someone once said that my girls look like 3D doodles and I've never been so pleased. Once I realized (accepted?) that perfection wasn't my "style" I worked hard to make my designs just off enough to look loose and effortless.

I'll be encouraging you to do the same thing. See those circles of hair sticking out from Lucy's head? I don't mark the exact placement on the pattern. Sometimes they end up high like this. And sometimes they end up low.

But they always look cute! (And the different sizes are intentional. I tried using the same pattern for both sides but it looked weird.)

And see those spirals stitched in her hair? I give you a pattern for them, but I encourage you not to use it. First - it's a pain in the butt to mark on felt and have the marks come out later. Second - it's more fun to freehand them. The results are quirky and fun and different on every doll.

So that's a little peek into some of the thinking that went into the design of my Rag Dolls. Let me know if you have any questions! I'm hoping to have the pattern finished tonight so you can find it here tomorrow. Available now. More info here.


Best,
Wendi