Rag Doll

A friend of mine recently asked me if I would make a rag doll appropriate for a 3 1/2 year old to play with as she is refinishing a doll crib from the 1950’s and wanted to put a doll inside the crib to give to this little girl for Christmas. I have never made a doll that a child would actually be playing with so it was a challenge. I searched the internet for examples of rag dolls/patterns. There’s lots of different styles out there. I decided I wanted something a bit modern without the traditional yarn hair used on many rag dolls. After over an hour of looking at everything on line and not seeing anything that I really wanted, I was minutes away from just drawing a patten myself when I came across the pattern for this doll. It is featured on Martha Stewart’s website. There is even a video of the designer creating it with Martha. She has an etsy site called theblackapple.etsy.com. She offers this pattern free (when used for self or gift- not to be sold) on Martha’s site. My version is basically her pattern with a few added extras - I changed the size so the final product would be 16 inches and added the skirt and jacket. She turned out great- soft and loveable and best of all completely washable! Her skirt has an elastic waistband and her jacket is removable so the little girl will be able to dress and undress to her heart’s content. I hope she loves her!

After completing this doll I decided to make a second one. She has a bit of a different hair style but otherwise the same. She will also be a Christmas gift for a little girl.