A Display Doll for my Mumma

Do you remember Pippi Long-Stocking?

Full name, Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking.

I had a wonderful meal with my Mum the other day, and we were discussing how we could better display the toddler and babies' socks, that she knits to sell, at the Spinners and Weavers little shop, downtown Tauranga in the Cargo Shed. We decided on a rag doll that would wear a pair of the socks and attract the eye. As we talked about that idea, we remembered Pippi Longstocking.

I used to love Pippi Longstocking when I was young. The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, is a book written by Astrid Lindgren, that became a T.V. show, and told the story of a young 9 year old girl, who lived in her own house, by her own rules, with her pet monkey and her spotted horse. She would stride around town in a man's pair of shoes (she was the first queen of grunge), and was so strong, she could lift her horse. She was a defender of the poor and weak, and had a suitcase full of gold, and a thrilling naughtiness.

She was a naughty little darling, and don't we all want to be able to be like her at times, free to do whatever we chose.

Rag dolls have been around for a while, as this lovely Victorian doll shows.

This little cutey had a wonderful mouth.

Don't you love those skinny little legs, sticking out of the big baggy shorts.

Rag dolls are even a part of the computer age now.

Oh and she just brings out the Goth in me, scary spider lady.

So I started sewing, and a little warning here my busy creative darlings, making rag dolls makes a mess in your house, all that clipping around curved edges so the seams sit right.

The palest of pink silk taffetas for her legs.

Almost there, I stuffed her with dacron, and it needed to be packed tightly, to hold her form, a chopstick for a back bone was inserted into her body, to hold her neck

upright.

And here she is, the sewing all done, she was a little cold, without any hair, as it has been terribly cold the last couple of days, as winter fights off summer to hold its dominance, in this battle of the seasons that we call spring.

I know she's a little bit, Spongebob Square Pants, but it was a first attempt, and I am hoping the wonderful hair, that Mumma is spinning will cover her misshapen crown. Her eyes are appliqued green chintz, her freckles french knots worked in chenille thread, her nose and mouth embroidered with embroidery silk, and her eyebrows are couched decorative yellow thread - (if you are still reading this, it is official you are a textile junky).

So Pippi is all sewn up, waiting patiently for her hair and some clothes. She is settling in rather nicely, making herself right at home. Now I want to make her a spotted horse, to call her very own.