This is (more or less) a copy of the newsletter I wrote with a metaphor about these dolls. Since then I've been asked for the story about them, and if there is a pattern for them.

Here is the 'about' part, and at the end of it I will try to tell you how to make them. They are very simple if you don't take the task too seriously.

Feel like you are hanging by a thread?

I mean,

I hope not,

but

I need that opening to set up the sewing metaphor I want to write about!

 In the 1990's, when I was beginning a Textile Arts program at a local college in Vancouver, we were asked to design a project that used a sewing related metaphor.

 I made two doll bodies, both hanging by a thread. One I embellished with text and symbols of anxiety and fatigue.

 The other I embellished with symbols of possibilities and resilience.

 By now you know me well enough to know I can't help but wonder what I will see if I look at what I see from another angle.

 This is a good creative exercise for artists and makers (and for all the other humans too :-D

My metaphor was "Hanging by a thread"

So why did I make the second doll, the 'glass half full' doll?

 Because she was also hanging by a thread, but she thought of that thread as an anchor that could give her the chance to keep from falling.

 I suppose both shared the same amount of risk.

 Both were 'hanging by a thread'.

You already know how two people can be standing in the same place and looking at the same thing, but interpret what they see very differently.

 A point of view can change everything.

Sometimes I think life is a game called "Choose your own assumption"

If I assume the thread will break I am paralysed by the feeling

or

If I assume the thread has me anchored I can look for ways to improve my situation

 Until something more happens, either assumptions might true.

The dolls in these photos are not the ones I made years ago. Those went the way of time and housekeeping long ago :-D

 But thinking about this newsletter I made these simplified versions and tied them to a single thread. I have hung them in the stock room where I spend a lot of my days.

-------------------------

How to make your own.... although this pattern is rather like when a cook gives you a recipe that says a "little salt, to or 3 eggs... and cook until done. You may need some previous experience!

You're worried I am going to tell you to draw the shape yourself, aren't you?

You can. Its as easy as this: Use three objects to represent head, body and legs. Draw around them, remove the objects, smooth and correct your lines until you like what you have.

 

But in case you are not into that, here is a pattern you can screenshot and print :-)

 

---To make the doll you need to cut two of the body and 4 of the arms (better add a seam allowance when you cut your fabric so that you can sew on the drawn line).

---Sew (by machine or hand) around the body with right sides together, leaving an opening to turn right side out. Turn, stuff as much as you like and stitch the opening closed.  The side of the hip area is best for where to leave the opening because it will be covered by her 'dress'

---Sew and turn the arm fabrics the same way to make two arms.

---and here is the fun part. Now you just think up things and do them! My 'dress'  is just a rectangle of cloth gathered at the neck.

---You can add any stitching or embellishments you like. Try stuff. Perfect is not the plan here. Self expression could be. Or just fun. And I don't have to mention this doll is a shoo-in for where to use sashiko or boro style stitching.

I wish you strong threads, resilience, and creativity, 

Kind regards

Susan

If you need threads, needles, fabrics, sashiko supplies, or other fun sewing/stitching supplies browse my store www.athreadedneedle.com