A few months ago, I gave a discarded prototype doll (that had languished unfinished for several years) to the little girl who lives next door.
My six-year-old neighbour and I have had quite a few chats over the garden wall during the summer months. She had a friend come to stay for a while and she and her eight-year-old bestie had found in me a willing audience for their garden games and sweet showings-offs, whilst their own families were otherwise occupied.
Then her friend went home and my little neighbour was sad, so I gave her the doll as a cheering-up present.
Initially nothing more than a velvet torso with a cat-inspired face (though not as cat-like as I wanted, hence it’s initial rejection) I found some ready-made legs (with slightly dodgy feet, hence unused) and made a new pair of arms.
I finished the doll off by sprucing her up with a new outfit, made from fabrics from the charity shop pile, plus a little red basket I had lying around. A few weeks later, I was asked very, very politely if I could make another doll, so that when her friend came to stay again, they could both play dolls together.
So I did just that. Her friend preferred rabbits to cats, so…Now it is autumn and neither of us are out in the garden much as we were, so I don’t see my little neighbour so often. But on a rare warm day last week, we did have another chat.
I didn’t mention the dolls, because I don’t want her to feel beholden to me, or that she has to play with, or say she likes it / them.
But she dived straight in to tell me that Rosie (as the first doll has been named) has been played with a lot and could I guess what she has been playing? I couldn’t, but I should have – because the answer was that she has been playing princesses.
Of course. What else?
Knowing that I had a bit of gold metallic fabric that I had no specific plans for, I offered to make Rosie a crown, if she would lend her to me for a fitting.And then, a little later, another very, very polite request came over the garden wall with Rosie – could I possibly make her a princess dress as well? And would the crown have jewels?
I could indeed. And I was pretty sure I could rummage up some jewels.
I have a small bagful of not-my-usual fabrics stashed away: mainly synthetics, shiny, or otherwise unsuitable for my usual makes. So I had a good rifle through that and found a piece of old, embroidered and beaded silk sari fabric in peacock blue, which I lined with pale blue satin (to make it more sturdy) and attached a blue tulle petticoat. It has press studs down the back, so it’s easy for little fingers to put on and take off.
A furry wrap will help her to stay warm whilst in princess mode during the winter.
After a bit of messing about with interfacing and sorting through old button boxes and a trip to the local charity shop’s haberdashery section, I managed to come up with a functioning golden crown – with the requested jewels.I also made Rosie some new felt boots, as her dodgy original ones were pretty much shredded (wrong fabric used – too thin – noted for future reference).
And I added some stars to her new boots, because… well, she is a princess after all. I enjoyed creating Princess Pussycat so much that I decided to make a few more, similar dolls.
I haven’t made any dolls in this sort of style for quite a while and it is a nice change from miniature bears – which I still absolutely love to make, but sometimes a change is as good as a rest, as my mum used to say.
So the happy ending to this tale is that there will be a few “Princess Pussycat” dolls for sale in one of my pre-Christmas Etsy shop updates.
They will each be a little different from the original princess pussycat, in size, character and dress, but then I can never seem to make two dolls exactly the same anyway, however hard I try… I haven’t handed Rosie back to her owner yet.
But when I do, I have an uncanny feeling that, just perhaps, possibly, in the not too distant future, it may result in a request for another princess outfit.
From a very polite little girl from over the garden wall, who has a friend with a would-be princess rabbit. ♥
This warmed my heart…I may be 56 but I wish I was your neighbour…so talented, so kind xxxx
Thank you Julie! My neighbours are Muslim and we don’t always have the commonality of language to understand one another, as only the man of the house’s sister (and the little girl) speak good English and I don’t speak their language at all. So these gifts are a good way for us to communicate, be neighbourly and on good terms. Having had terrible neighbours in the distant past (and very good neighbours ever since we moved into this house over 15 years ago) this is really important.
How beautiful Sharon, if only you had had girls….
Ah yes – I would have been making their little dresses and creating a dolls house full of dolls and miniature furniture for them!
What a lovely story! I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the dolls. I am currently grinning like a silly person.
Thank you Dawn! That’s lovely to hear!
Lovely! And how nice that she is a lovely, polite girl and appreciates your creativity. Any thoughts about making Princess Pussycat a handsome Prince Tomcat?
I am not good with boy dolls – I find getting their faces and body shapes tricky and often don’t really like the results, so I avoid boy dolls whenever I can! Boy bears, however, are a must. There’s something about their faces and bodies that suggests masculine traits without my having to try!