This was the article that started it all. I was flipping through my copy of the February 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living (which I am loving as of late by the way) and came across this article on Jess Brown and her super stylish rag dolls.
I'm going to make one, I thought.
Nevermind that I didn't own a sewing machine or know how to use one. It didn't matter. I could picture it in my head. I was going to make one.
I studied the article. I Googled Jess Brown and then studied her website. I tracked down a local shop that carried her doll and studied them in person. They were so sweet and so original; I couldn't get them out of my mind. And those clothes! The Liberty dresses, the hand-knit stockings. I would figure it out.
I bought some muslin, a wool sweater from Goodwill for the hair, and my mom brought by some fabric quarters for the dress along with her 1970s sewing machine. She gave me a quick tutorial, and I sketched out a pattern.
I should say the real impetus behind the desire to create such a doll was my daughter. She was three, and wasn't getting any younger. If I wanted her to have handmade clothing/dolls/heirlooms from her mom, I would have to make them. Like, now.
So I did. I made one. I made her my interpretation of a Jess Brown doll. I'm happy to say, that was only the beginning...
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