Thursday, January 27, 2011

Dollies for Queensland


I've seen lots of news lately about the Queensland floods, and the thought of little children having to leave their homes kinda breaks my heart. Then I came across this dolly drive and realized that I can do something, even something small and simple, to help. Mon Petit Poppet is holding a drive to collect Hope Softies, handmade dolls or stuffed animals to give to children in the emergency shelters. It's not a lot, but it can be a comfort to these young children who have been affected by the flooding.


If my printer was working, I would have printed out one of the many softie patterns available (such as this one). But since the printer is currently good for nothing except as a shelf to pile stuff on, I created my own little pattern pieces for a simple doll. Just a body, a head, and a hair pattern piece, with seam allowance. The construction is very similar to the mini matryoshka softies I posted a while back.


I made the dollies out of flannel, so they're soft and a bit fuzzy. The flowers in their hair are rolled-up strips of lace or of fabric, and I drew the faces on with fabric markers. My three little ones, especially Zaylee, all think these dollies are sweet, soft, cuddly, and perfect for hugging, so they pass the kid test. I hope that the children they go to will enjoy them, and find a bit of comfort in knowing that a friend they've never met, living halfway across the world, is thinking of them.

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