The Yellow-Haired Doll

I have been a busy bee, although that does not mean I have finished my beehive sweater (the influx of tepid as opposed to freezing weather nipped the sweater embellishment bug in the butt). Instead, I'm working on the dolls. (And trying very hard not to think about Argyle socks, especially of the knee-high variety. Let's not even say the name of the project.)

I just finished this 18 inch doll this week. I very creatively call her The Yellow-Haired Doll.

I keep the expression kind of neutral. My daughter, V., has a doll bed and it's frankly creepy when dolls stare up at you with bright-eyed, bushy-tailed expressions. No wonder they figure into horror movies. I find the slitted-eye look could be interpreted as closed eyes. And that's supposed to be the point of this kind of handmade doll, anyway: the child emotes whatever feelings they desire on the doll's expression. It's about open creativity, not spoon-fed feelings.

Does she look a little self-satisfied?

The Yellow-Haired Doll is hidden button jointed. That means the buttons that allow her arms and legs to move freely are inside the limbs, rather than outside. This took a bit of fussing; I find I prefer my button-joints with pillows, so that the button stays in the center of the limb, not against the covering fabric.

She was originally going to have a purple dress but it ended up all FUBAR (that darn learning curve!) so in the end, she got this outfit, which I am actually darn pleased with. I reflected the red flowers on her dress and bloomers in her shoes by making them red. The shoes took me TWO DAYS. They were also a part of the vicious learning curve, but I am older and wiser now and used some cheap felt for the first four drafts before making these final versions out of real wool felt. They are soft, and I adore them.

Of course, despite how it whiled away the hours, I didn't do this for my own amusement. This doll is for sale. It can be found at my etsy shop, The Concept Cat.