Polly and Her Friends Go to the Fair

Took some time out from organizing to get a few dolls ready to go to this year's county fair.

This is the group of dolls I am showing at our county fair this year. All were finished except the gourd-head doll Polly, with the green hair ribbons--she was not quite done, but was sending me silent  messages that she expected to be finished so she could go to the fair!! Non-dollmakers won't understand for sure, and some dollmakers don't subscribe to the "doll as messenger" either. But, nonetheless, Polly made it known to me that the fair was where she wanted to go.

Polly is made almost completely from recycled goods, from the top of her head (hair made from old black thrift store sweater) to the bottom of her soles (repainted baby "saddle" shoes).



I don't know why I get so much joy out of making dolls out of old stuff, but I do. I must admit, however, that Polly's body fabric and the top of her dress are new fabric. I tried to get fabric that would match the "mottled" look of the gourd, and I think I came pretty close:

Tea-dyed muslin would have worked, too. But I was being lazy. I am almost out of gourds; time to contact Helen (the Sandlady) in Nebraska and have her send me some more. These have been just too much fun to stop making them now.