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Marie-Claire's Clothespin Doll
Marie-Claire's Clothespin Doll

In the 1800s, only children from well-to-do families could afford china dolls. China dolls were extremely fragile and came with complete wardrobes of clothing, including underwear with lace and tiny leather shoes. Most girls, like Marie-Claire and her sister Emilie, played with homemade dolls. Still beautiful, these were usually made from fabric stuffed with sawdust or from a clothespin.

Learn how to make a clothespin doll using guidelines below:

Materials

  • Clothespin (the old-fashioned kind made out of one piece of wood; most craft stores sell them)
  • Pipe cleaner
  • Extra-fine permanent marker
  • Material for clothing, such as scraps of felt, lace, ribbon, beads and sequins
  • Scissors
  • Yarn (to make the doll's hair)
  • Needle and thread (optional)
  • White craft glue
  • Empty plastic yoghurt container (the small size is best), filled with sand or dried beans
Instructions

    Steps 1 and 21. Using the marker, draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on the "head" of the clothespin. If you find it's hard to draw on the clothespin, try this trick: place a paperback book next to the clothespin; then rest your hand on the book as you draw.

    2. Trim the pipe cleaner so it's six inches long. Fold in half, then unfold so there's a small kink in the middle. Place the kink in the pipe cleaner under the face you drew on the clothespin, just under the "ball" where there's an indentation, and bring the ends to the back, twist once, then bring back so they stick out the sides. Fold the ends back a little bit to look like hands.

    3. To make the doll's skirt, cut a rectangle of felt or material and wrap around the doll at "waist" level. Glue or sew in place.

    Steps 3 and 44. To make a blouse or jacket for the doll, cut a diamond shape out of the felt and then cut a small slit in the middle. Slip this over the doll's head and secure by wrapping a bit of ribbon around her waist. If you want to cover her pipe cleaner arms, wrap some more felt or fabric around them and glue or sew them in place.

    5. Decorate the doll's clothing by gluing lace, ribbon, beads or sequins wherever you like. To hold your doll upright while the glue dries, place her feet in the sand or dried beans in the yoghurt container.

    Your finished doll!6. To make the doll's hair, take yarn and fold in half; cut at the fold. Now run a thin line of glue down the middle of the doll's head, from front to back (not ear to ear). Take the pieces of yarn and carefully line them up along her head. Again use the yoghurt container as a stand while the glue dries.

    7. When the glue is dry, arrange doll's hair: you can make two braids, or simply tie it in a ponytail with a ribbon.







© 2001-2004 Penguin Group (Canada)

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