Chris and I were out with some friends recently and one of them mentioned that he comes by to check out True North sometimes, which was so nice to hear. And then he said something absolutely terrible. He said, "Your blog is so wholesome." He didn't mean it disdainfully - though there was a hint of brotherly teasing, perhaps - but wholesome is only really a compliment if you are a loaf of bread. Or a preschool television show. Wholesome when applied to my own passions and challenges seems a little like code for LAME. For days it was stuck in my head.
But then I decided: you know, screw it. I know my life is pretty kid-centric and I'm ok with that. If it wasn't for my kids - for the fact that I've been a mostly-stay-at-home-mom with lots of time but little of it available to myself, for our lack of extra money necessitating me to think outside the box for birthday presents, for wanting to model for the girls that you do what you love and trust the process and don't give up on what's important to you - I don't know that I would have had the opportunity OR drive to "reclaim" my creativity. So True North is pretty wholesome. I work here on being honest and brave, and I craft a lot for and with my kids. It is a bit of a preschool television show, and that's how I like it.
All of which is a prelude to saying it's about to get a whole lot more wholesome up in here, because I have a new project that is all about the babies in my life. And wait, it gets worse: I'm making them all dolls. Yep. In the past couple years, many of my closest mama-friends have had their third children, and my high school and college friends are finally catching up and having their firsts. I have a lot of new "baby friends," as Maeve calls them. Some of those little friends live frustratingly far away, and so I hit on the idea of hand-making them something special as a way to bridge that divide and give them each a little piece of me to include in their days.
It started with newly 1 year-old Lee, who's first birthday party we were headed to last month. (You may remember the tree jammies I painted for him when he was born.) Lee is a third child with two older brothers, so this is not a household that needs more toys. But a little soft buddy that could be smooshed in the carseat and tossed in the crib, especially a doll for a little boy, well, that sounded just right.
I had wanted to try making simple dolls again ever since I made these hand-holding gals two years ago as a present for one of Maeve's friends (details in this post):
So I went back to the source: this tutorial (with video!) by Emily Martin of The Black Apple on Martha Stewart. And this time I actually printed out the pattern instead of winging it. (Older and wiser...) Though I did modify it a bit, as I explain below. This was the resulting dolly for little Lee:
The shirt is a batik print fabric I've had for a while (it has made an appearance on True North before, here). The face and arms are thin canvas appropriated from old curtains, with the features painted on with fabric paint. The legs, peace sign, and hair are all felt. The real Lee was born with a fabulous head of dark hair, so the doll had to rock some serious hair, too. My dear friend, Lee's mom, has a great sense of humor and style, and I knew she'd get a kick out of the giant peace sign, which I cut out of orange felt and appliqued onto the shirt front before sewing the body parts all together. To make Mr. Lee-doll a bit more boyish than the Emily Martin pattern, I slimmed down the shirt and kept it more of a rectangle, less of an A-line dress shape. I also purposely sewed his legs slightly farther apart to further indicate this idea of shirt and pants instead of dress and tights. I think it works.
Here he is standing up. He has quite long legs. And wonky arms that seem to reach out for a hug.
The little glint of white on the eyes helps bring life to his expression.
The real Lee is an absolute little bowl of sweetness, and I think that somehow the doll captures that. Can't wait to show you the others!
