Raggedy

I had a really special moment with Ruby the night before her birthday. I don't usually put her to bed anymore, but Aaron was out with friends that night. She chose Goodnight Moon as her bedtime book, which thrilled me, because although we read it every single night from the time she was one and a half until she was three, we haven't picked it up in nearly a year. I read the sweet words to her (still pretty much by memory) and gave her a kiss. As I was tucking her in, she said "Mama, when I wake up, will I be four?" I smiled and said yes, and she smiled back and closed her eyes to go to sleep.

In the morning, she bounded into our room saying "Mama, Daddy, am I FOUR now?" "Am I a big kid now? Are my clothes still going to fit? Now that I'm four, I can watch spooky movies! But I still don't like mustard!" In Ruby's mind, mustard is a food for big kids and grown ups. But even at her now advanced age, she wants nothing to do with it.


As I've mentioned before, every year I make Ruby a doll for her birthday. It started with Kate, then the Wee Wonderfuls Put-Together Kitty, and last year the Ruby Doll (who has since been renamed Martha). This year I finally made the Rag Doll from Amy's Mailorder #8. She turned out exactly as a rag doll should -- completely wonky. My sewing machine stopped cooperating with me towards the end, and I'd procrastinated so long on finishing the doll, I didn't have time to try to figure out what was wrong, so I just kept chugging along. But, since it was a rag doll, I wasn't too worried.

As keeping with my crafty resolutions, I barely had to buy any supplies to put Raggedy together. The dress and pinafore fabric is from the vintage fabric sale I went to last year, and the hair was from the stack of fat quarters I bought ages ago to make my Wee Wonderful Olive and Archie dolls. The only thing I had to buy was the muslin for the doll's body, which I tea dyed (hence, learning a new skill!) so it would look a little more flesh-toned. I didn't dye the muslin for the bloomers, which are stark white.

I'm not too crazy about the face, but in general, I think this doll is awesome. And Ruby loves it. She asked me before her birthday if I was going to make her a doll and told me that she loves it when I make her things. So, even if I think it's a little wonky, the person who really matters thinks it's just perfect.