Delivering Joy, Two Dolls at a Time

Two summers ago, due to a scary set of medical circumstances, my youngest (aka Egg), then 11, lost use of the left side of her body. After a stint at the Mass General Pediatric ICU, we were released to a children's rehab in Boston where she began the difficult task of relearning how to walk, dress, shower, eat, and knit.

We both lived there for a few weeks. The rooms that were not occupied with children, there for round-the-clock PT and OT, were used to house children in the foster care system waiting for a relative or foster family to volunteer their home. Both Egg and I were saddened by these children. They would often spend the days sitting at the nurses' station. 

A three year old girl was in the room next to ours. She spent a lot of time alone in the sparse room in the crib.  I would have considered bringing her home, but it had been a harrowing summer so far, and my energy was solely for Egg.

Egg made an amazing recovery and we went home, but we could not stop thinking about these children, who did not have a home.

Flash forward two years, our lives are good and stable. But we have not forgotten the plight of this group of children, whose lives are not so stable. I wanted to offer them something comforting for the unsettling journey, a doll friend. 

When I launched Phoebe and Egg, I had a vision of offering a one for one, a doll donated for every doll purchased, like Toms does with shoes.

It took a bit of time and organization, but it is now a reality.

Introducing The Doll Friend Project.

For every doll purchased from Phoebe and Egg, a doll will be given to a child in the foster care system. 

Eventually I hope to work with Councils on Aging and Girl Scout troops to help them make small wardrobes to go with each doll. 

The Doll Freind Project

I am working with The Plummer House, a non-profit in Salem and Lowell, who offer housing for teen foster children and services for a wide range of ages, to make this happen. For these children transitional objects are very important and the dolls will be just that. 

This past week I delivered the first batch of six dolls. Each designed for a specific child. However, the dolls are also designed to be durable. portable and machine washable. 

I am looking forward to many more deliveries.

So from here on in, Phoebe&Egg will be delivering joy, two dolls at a time.

Sneak Peek at a New Kind of Learn to Sew Kit

Scrappy Phoebe waiting for her new clothes

Scrappy Phoebe waiting for her new clothes

I learned to sew because my mother sewed. Although she taught me the basics, what really got me going was a certain amount of freedom that she was wise enough to give me. From early on I had unsupervised access to her sewing machine (she was brave or just too busy).

But what inspired me most was that she also kept all of her leftovers, her scraps of fabric and trim, in boxes under her sewing table for me. I loved picking through this box and designing doll clothes from the scraps. 

Not all of my dolls received dresses from the scraps. The scraps were not big enough to make clothes for large dolls. And I soon discovered that very small dolls were tricky to sew for. There was a middle size that was just perfect.

I have been thinking about how to recreate that type of inspiring learn-to-sew experience for other children. My new sewing kit will have come with a cute Scrappy Phoebe doll (there are several to choose from), a simple dress pattern, an instruction booklet  that covers how to start out on a sewing machine, how to make the dress (three steps really), how to embellish the dress and most of all, lots of scraps of fabric and trim.

Scrappy Phoebe on her own, at just shy of 12 inches tall, is pretty cute, but she will be so much cuter with all of her "designer" clothing.

Scrappy Phoebe 2
Scrappy Phoebe pattern
Scrappy Phoebe Dress

My Journey in Doll-Making: A New and Incredible Challenge

Recently I have been trying other doll patterns. For several reasons. But mostly because I am on a mission. Some of you know a bit about the mission, because I have been asking for advice. 

I am sewing dolls to give to children in the foster care system. I have been working with a non-profit who assists the children with all sorts of support and services.

 I have a list of children who will be recipients. From the list, I know just enough to help me design the right doll for each child. For each child there is a different set of attributes I feel the doll must have. 

Two of the recipients are teen mothers. I have been thinking about them a lot.

The task of making their dolls has been a different sort of challenge. Like the other children, I want the doll to be a companion, but I also wanted it to be less about playing with dolls and durability, and more about something pretty, stylish and could be both a friend and a soothing decoration that also spoke to them. A doll for a more grown up girl, who still is a child and doesn't have a lot of pretty things.

And I wanted it to be a doll for a girl who probably wants to reclaim a bit of her childhood.

The challenge of making dolls for these children has led me to trying all sorts of doll patterns. I LOVE an excuse to sew different kinds of dolls. It gives you insight into your own processes and it pushes you in new directions.

For a few years now I have been obsessed with Jess Brown and her dolls as in Jess Brown Rag Dolls. First, what doll-maker is not a bit jealous of Jess Brown? The success she has had with her handmade dolls is staggering. She has been in Martha Stewart magazine, Sweet Paul, Courtney Kardashian just Instagrammed her daughter's latest Jess Brown doll. 

A few weeks ago, Jess Brown came out with a book, The Making of a Rag Doll. I love doll books (and also have that Jess Brown obsession) so of course I bought it. 

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

The book comes with a pattern. Not the same pattern that is used for the dolls that Jess Brown sells, but a smaller version with different arms and head. The more I thought about what the doll for the two teen mothers should be the more I thought this doll pattern might be the one. 

Sewing with this pattern was so completely different from sewing a Phoebe or an Egg doll. I found that oddly refreshing. 

I made the dolls out of a soft brushed twill.  There are only three simply shaped pattern pieces to the doll. She was simple to make. My biggest challenge was turning her tiny thin arms inside out. But it was so worth it, because those thin arms are key to the doll's elegance.

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

The doll body does not take that long to make. And her directions, which include clear line drawing diagrams, are great. I deviated a bit here and there. She uses felted sweaters for the hair, I used black polar fleece for hair, added bangs and I tweaked my faces a bit.

The real fun came with making the doll clothing. The clothing pattens are simple. The dress pattern is two pieces, the pants are one. But what I loved most was Jess Brown's approach. No time is spent on fussing with the traditional finishing details. Things are not hemmed, just some stay stitching here and there. No sleeves to fit into armholes, no linings, no gathering. Nothing to fuss with, nothing to mess up, and nothing to possibly redo. No fitting adjustments. No hand hemming.

This was so liberating. This allows you to focus on decorating the clothes. You can decorate them Jess Brown style or create your own style, which I did. 

I also gave each doll a handbag, which will have a second dress in it. Because I have a feeling these girls may want to play with their dolls, just a little bit. 

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Making my own Jess Brown Rag Doll

Fancy Nancy departs for Maryland

I've made a few Fancy Nancy's this past year. My first Fancy Nancy was a special request from a customer with young daughters. To be honest I hadn't heard of Fancy Nancy when she first asked. My youngest is thirteen and we kind of missed the Fancy Nancy thing.

I had so much fun designing and making that first Fancy Nancy. I think the one leaving today is maybe my fourth. I am still equally as smitten and so grateful to that first customer for having me design such a fun doll.

Today's Fancy Nancy is flying off to her new home in Maryland in a few minutes.

Fancy Nancy is careful to live up to her name and always wears her crown.

Fancy Nancy is careful to live up to her name and always wears her crown.

Fancy Nancy models a smocked dress.

Fancy Nancy models a smocked dress.

Fancy Nancy Doll
Good-bye Fancy Nancy! 

Good-bye Fancy Nancy! 


Busy with a few custom orders

A Phoebe and an Egg left for Maryland today. Only after they were all packed for the Post Ofiice (lots of tape already on the shipping box) did I remember that I hadn't done my traditional sending off to a new home shot.

In lieu of the departing box shot, I will post a few shots of Phoebe and Egg modeling before they got packed up to travel.

A custom Phoebe Doll

A custom Phoebe Doll

Phoebe's clothes

Phoebe's clothes

Phoebe taking a break from modeling

Phoebe taking a break from modeling

Phoebe in her playclothes

Phoebe in her playclothes

A custom Baby Egg in her retro cherries and gingham outfit

A custom Baby Egg in her retro cherries and gingham outfit

Egg's smocked dress set

Egg's smocked dress set

Another dress set in the works

Another dress set in the works