Doll making

It took me 48 hours of hard, sweaty labour to give birth to our newest family member. His name is Reuben and he has a perfect head of toffee coloured hair. Strangely, he was born wearing blue overalls and a shirt printed with the tiniest of animal shapes. He is a handmade doll.

I couldn’t have imagined how much I would love this little boy nor what an impact he would make on our family life. As his arrival date came closer, I fought to keep him at bay. Oh, the work of a birthing a new baby had me slumped in my chair at the thought. The day of labouring arrived and all I wanted to do was run away, far from the confines of a sewing room. Typically, the guilt-ridden need to honour my commitments called me to duty and I found myself surrounded by other mum’s to be, in the labour ward also known as Birgit’s craft room. We worked tirelessly.

We shared the pain of the finger-slicing labour and our faces became red, hot and sweaty with Birgit’s midwifery counsel. Frightfully, a single day of labour was not enough and we were sent home to convalesce. After some more huffing and puffing and a restless night’s sleep, the labour began in earnest. Reuben, as our little boy was quickly christened, came quickly on the second day. His limbs were so well-rounded and shapely, his little bottom soft and juicy, his pink-lipped mouth ever so sweetly formed.

I never could have predicted the joy of making a doll with my own two hands. Whilst I lost two full days of my life to birthing him, I gained so much more. Including the lesson of perseverance, and gaining through pain. My hands were aching and cramped from working the wool fleece into a tight ball to form his head. My fingers were red raw and cut from the pulling of the linen thread used to bind his form. There was further enlightenment. A surge of deep courage pushed me towards the entrance to the class and a living embodiment of a teacher with heart. The harvest bounty of Mother Nature’s fields provided for Reuben’s raw materials, from the freshly washed fleece and linen threads to the natural cotton clothes that Reuben wore. There was beauty to be seen in every hand-sewn stitch. Love was evident in the work of golden threads. We women worked together in an atmosphere of support and friendliness. Stories of our pasts wove us into the present. On the final day, we ate from platters of food, each morsel baked and stewed and roasted in warm kitchens and brought by car to share.

Our newest children were dressed, stroked and cradled; mothers reluctantly passed their newly born babies around for a hold. Each cloth child was positioned for a group photograph, a memory of our shared experience, before everyone departed for new homes. We each left a part of our soul in the walls of the Birgit’s needlework room but left with an abundance of heart in its place. Reuben came home to live with us. My eleven year old daughter Henrietta, a self-proclaimed tomboy, claimed him as her own and Reuben’s timber cot, once the home of a Cabbage Patch Kid, now stands in a corner of her room. And later, she gifted him to her new human child brother, Ned. He loves him to this day.

I feel truly privileged to have been able to take two whole uninterrupted days and nights to create such a magnificent creature. I know I am blessed. Words of thanks to my family and workplace for this gift of time will never be enough payment in return. In a world that spins faster with each new Apple technology release, Reuben stands for so much more than a doll. He is a living mascot for taking time to create, for creativity and imagination, for fun, for determination, for friendship, for communication, for the importance of quality and for play. No shop bought doll could ever evoke the depth of feeling that this doll draws from my family members, nor be as beautiful, as soul pleasing, as perfect, as he is.

If you ever have the opportunity to make a handmade doll for yourself, grab it with both hands and don’t let go! Here are my top tips to getting started.

1. Find yourself a reputable doll-making teacher. Teddy bear and doll making supply shops can often point you in the right direction. Google to find doll exhibitions in your area. When you visit, note down the dolls you like and ask questions to find who can teach you the particular style. Waldorf Steiner schools are another good source of doll making teachers. Attend an open day or join the school’s craft group to get in the loop.

2. Search for a copy of “The Doll Book” by Karin Neuschutz. This hard to find book is a treasure trove of ideas and instructions.

3. Be sure to use top quality materials so your doll can withstand cuddles and messy love from your children. Reuben is so well made I can put him in the washing machine and he comes out looking good as new.

4. Linen thread is the most important ingredient in doll making. Do not begin without a supply on hand!

5. For a non-toxic doll, use pure wool fleece fibres for stuffing, source knitting wool that has been dyed with plant extracts and stockpile un-dyed cotton threads for your doll clothes sewing adventures.

6. Take your time. Doing things properly the first time saves you hours of having to undo stitches or fix unevenly stuffed legs.

7. Buy a doll making kit. You can find plenty of kits both on-line and at doll and teddy bear collectible fairs that will lead you step by step through the doll-making process. This is an easy way to get started with the full support of the kit maker. You can’t go wrong!

Finally, be sure to find a friend to work alongside. Doll making is made much more fun with a kindred spirit to share both the joys and the pain!

Amber Greene’s mission in life is to help women and children around the world ‘Fire up their Creative Spark!” Amber’s professional background is over 15 years experience in teaching children under six and working with parents to find creative solutions to challenges at home and school. Amber offers parenting support and “Creative Parenting” courses and will soon launch her Ebook on effective and creative strategies for raising young children born out of this work. Amber’s passion is the creative process and helping everyone to rediscover their artist within. Amber offers free art and crafty activities for both mama and child at http://www.mamamoontime.com. My friend Jen supplies doll making kits to crafters, new and old, all around the world, visit http://www.lavendillyhouse.net/