Making Dolls for Pleasure and Profit

The author's purpose which led to this book was to develop modern-day cloth versions of old-time dolls, made of cloth so children could play with them. This pleases me very much, since I aim for all the dolls I make to be "playable." Anita Holmes begins with chapters on constructing the dolls, making their hair and faces, and sewing their clothes. Then she gos on to give patterns for five types of dolls: the peg doll, based on wooden dolls but enlarged to 19" tall; the stick doll, a half-doll with a stick handle instead of legs; a jointed doll; a Victorian doll; and "Sally Anne," who is just herself and defies categorization. Ms. Holmes gives variations on the basic patterns. The peg doll is shown as a palace guard with tall beaver hat, as well as a young girl. The jointed doll can be girl or boy. The dolls are made of unbleached muslin, which Ms. Holmes, who is British, calls "unbleached calico." The patterns in the book are full-sized. The dolls have a rounded, dimensional quality due to the shaping of the pattern pieces. These dolls are very attractive. They have large expcressive eyes--she suggests painting the irises with nail polish and embroidering the eyelashes and eyebrows--and small but pleasant mouts. The dolls have a peaceful and serene look, with a storybook air. They are lovely even if you weren't wishing to make a modern replica of an antique doll.