Edith, the lonely doll

"Hi Yolanda, my mom absolutely loves the doll! She said it was one of the most special and meaningful presents she's ever got, and she couldn't stop looking at her! so thank you again so much for making her. She is beautiful!" C. 

Hello,

 it's been a while since I wrote but only because good things have been happening. My hands haven't stop working, either making beautiful dolls or spinning wonderful fleeces, visiting wool festivals and meeting lots of people, I really can't complain.

 As you can see I finished Edith. Oh!I enjoyed so much making her. It was a challenge but I loved every minute of it. 

Hope you like her too!!

 

Warm wishes, 

Yolanda. 

The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright. A Lenci Doll

Once there was a little doll. Her name was Edith. She lived in a nice house and had everything she needed except somebody to play with. She was lonely!

From The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright

 

My new exciting project is to make a doll for a Mum!

 She used to read to her daughter, my client, the story of Edith, The Lonely Doll. 

Edith lived alone until Mr. Bear and Little Bear moved in. One day Mr. Bear  went out for a walk, in his return he found that Edith and Little bear had rummaged in a closet for dress-up clothing, smeared themselves with makeup and written "Mr. Bear is just a silly old thing" in lipstick on the mirror. Mr Bear disciplined both, Little Bear and Edith, leaving Edith to worry that he would take Little Bear  away. However after Edith and Little Bear apologized for their behavior, Mr. Bear assured Edith that they would never leave.

I was quite surprised when I read the story for there is a scene in which Mr. Bear spanks Edith for misbehaving. The book was first published in 1957, then again in 1998 when a minor controversy aroused due to this scene.

Dare Wright was the author and photographer of the book. She used her own felt Lenci Doll from the 1920s for the photos, sewing Edith's outfits and changing Edith’s eye color to blue resembling herself. 

In 2007, R. John Wright produced a limited edition felt Edith doll for collectors to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Lonely Doll.

 

 

Lenci Dolls

Lenci dolls are pressed felt dolls with painted features, manufactured in Turin by Enrico and Elena Scavini from 1919 to 1944. Elena Scavini, her nickname was Lenci, sewed and painted these bright and colourful dolls casting off the drab grey life of the Victorian years.

The bodies and the clothing of Lenci dolls are made of pressed woolen felt. The faces were pressed on moulds and features were then hand painted, hair was made from mohair and this was stitched in. The way the eyes were painted gave the dolls the expression of loneliness.

There are some very good articles on the web about Lenci Dolls though I would like to find more about how to make them, especially the head.

My client knows the way I work and she wants the doll for her mum to be inspired in Edith.

Do you know the story of The Lonely Doll?
 Have you got a Lenci doll?
Have you made a Lenci Doll?
 It would be fantastic to hear about it!

 Warm wishes, 
Yolanda

The Easter Hare

I have been making a family of Hares for little Rosa who will be 3 years old on Easter Sunday. 

When her mum asked me to make some Easter bunnies, I told her about the story below. (I believe the author is unknown).

On Sunday, there will be 5 little Hares in Rosa's garden, she's been hearing the story for a few days now and I hope she will be very happy to find them.

Hope you enjoy the story too.

Happy Easter,

Yolanda

The Easter Hare

Once there was a father Easter hare and a mother Easter hare, who had seven hare children. One day the Mother said: "I wonder who will be the Easter Hare from now on?" "Me! Me! Me!", they all cried at the same time, but the Mother said, "Hush, hush... ". "The one who can bring their Easter egg safely to the children's garden and who can hide it well in the grass, will be the next Easter Hare" said the Father. 
Then the mother took a basket with seven eggs, and the father said to the eldest: “Take an egg out of the basket and carry it to the garden by the house where the many children live.” He took the pink egg. He hopped over the bridge, ran through the bush and came straight to the children's garden. There was a tall fence all around the garden. The hare made a big jump, but he jumped too high and when he landed on the other side the pink egg had broken.

He was not the true Easter Hare.

Now the second one has his turn. He took the blue egg, hopped over the bridge and into the bush. High up in a tree  there was a magpie. When she saw the hare with the egg she called out, 'Give me the egg, give me the egg!". Before the hare knew what was happening to him, the magpie had flown down and taken the egg in her beak and had carried it up to the nest. When the Mother heard about this she said, "You will have to wait a little longer to be the Easter hare".

The third hare took the purple egg and hopped over the bridge and into the bush. There he met a friend who said, "Let's wrestle and play a little while". Before long they had wrestled and played, rolling along the ground until they rolled right over the purple egg and broke it!. He was also not the true Easter hare.

 The Mother Hare was not pleased about this and she gave the next egg to the fourth hare. This was a chocolate egg. The hare carried the egg over the bridge and into the bush. Just then the squirrel came running down from the tall fir tree, opened his eyes wide and asked, “Does it taste good?” “I don’t know, I want to bring it to the children” ” Oh just let me taste it!” The squirrel licked it and the hare licked a bit more... until they realized, they had eaten all of the egg! When the hare came home with a ring of chocolate around his little whiskers the Mother said, "You will have to wait a little longer too until you can be the Easter hare."

The next hare took the speckled egg. On the middle of the bridge he looked down into the sparkling water watching the little fishes swimming merrily to and fro. Rolllll... Plop! The egg fell out of the hare's paws and into the water and floated down the river. He surely could not be the Easter hare either.

 

Now it was the six one’s turn. He took the yellow egg. He ran over the bridge and there he met the fox, who said, “Oh, come home with me into my cave and show the lovely egg to my children”. The little fox children began to play with the egg, when it hit a stone and was broken. The hare ran quickly to his house, with his ears hanging down. He was also not the true Easter hare.

The last and youngest hare took the golden egg. He run over the bridge where he met the fox, the little hare made a few long leaps and went further and never look down into the river. He hopped into the bush and when the squirrel came and begged for the egg, he said, "I have no time, I have something very important to do" And hopped on. Then he met a friend who wanted to play, but this hare said, "I have no time, I have something very important to do". When the magpie called from the nest, "Give me the egg!" the hare held onto his golden egg tightly and so he finally arrived at the garden. He jumped over the fence, not too high and not too low, just right. He landed softly in the grass on the other side and carefully laid the egg in a nest which the children had made for it. 

When he returned home his Mother and Father were very pleased and said:

 "This year you will be the Easter Hare." 

The children were very happy too. They came running into the garden and when they found the golden egg hidden in the grass they exclaimed, "Hurray! It's Easter time again!"

 

  

Thank you for coming to my blog!

Yolanda