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April's
Articles for Giftware News:
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Small Successes
The Week of August 27, 2007
Restarting something is really a question of small successes.
Things do not happen overnight but little successes can build
on each other to create bigger successes.
In rebuilding our website, I have had the chance to keep producing
our handmade dolls. This has been very important to me. I have
been worrying about how to keep these dolls going! These dolls
are made in Jaipur, Rajasthan India. That is a state known for
its crafts and beautiful artwork, embroidery and handwork... Many
skilled craftsman live there.
These dolls are one of the ways that those crafts remain alive
and relevant. The skills of the puppeteers are translated to the
skills of the doll makers. The company that makes the dolls is
owned by two fine brothers, somehow gentle, like the life of the
dolls. Their attitude and style and place of work resonates a
peaceful atmosphere just a perfect birth spot for Chrissy, Mimi,
Holly, Lulu, Molly and Norwood the mouse.
The dolls' bodies are all cotton, all hand stuffed, the heads,
the arms, the legs and the bodies all stuffed by a group of women
working together. Even as we strive for consistency, there is
individualism to every doll. Each woman will have a slightly different
hand, a slightly different pressure in filling the dolls. It is
traditional for women to sit on large mats, in a circle and work
together, talking and chatting as they make the dolls. The doll's
full head of hair all made of yarn: black, brown, red, blonde,
auburn (I try to include all of the hair colors)is threaded through
with expertise by these same ladies. We make the hair long, trimming
it with scissors so that it is even, but plenty long for a little
girl to play with too. Little girls love to create their own hair
styles for the dolls, braiding the hair, making pony tails or
chopping it short.
Most of the dolls have little toys or even little babies included
with them. They are inside little handbags or backpacks or pockets
all of which are also handmade. There is one doll the mommy
doll that has three babies in her pockets. I deliberately keep
the hair color of those three babies different. There are many
children who do not look like their parents, I like them to find
themselves in my dolls too and the babies with the different
hair color do that.
A pattern maker for the dolls' clothes creates the patterns for
the tiny dresses and blouses, jackets and bloomers, shoes, sweaters
and hats that the dollies wear. Using the same printed fabrics
that I use for my girls dresses I try and make combinations that
will delight a little girl. I watch the children play with the
dolls in the shops. First they take off the dresses, then the
shoes, they pull the pets out of the backpacks and examine everything.
I like them to have lots of things to discover. The Tailoring
team stitches up the little outfits, the ladies stuff the little
pets, and the little verses, unique to each doll, are written
by me, to give a little story to start girls imagining their own
stories. The eyes, the lips, are all embroidered by hand. You
know it is not easy to get every eye perfect and every mouth sweet!
The cheeks are rubbed softly with a little pink rouge to give
a healthy glow to the little dolls. These dollies, so lovingly
made, have gone to many places, to many homes, and to many occasions.
They have been friends to little girls moving to new towns, they
have gone to school, and spent overnights with grandma, they have
traveled as far as Japan where we had an emergency call for
a replacement fast! And they have slept in the beds of little
girls all over the world.
Sometimes these little dolls have been able to give a helping
hand to others. Recently I gave a doll to an adult friend of mine
who is a doctor. She brought her to the hospital, to the ward
for child burn victims. Whichever child was holding the doll got
to tell their story, passing the doll to the next child when finished.
The newest patients spoke last, their parents nearby, the little
dolly helping them express their feelings and tell their story.
I was so proud of my little doll [and of my friend too!] The funny
thing is many people who buy the dolls are not buying them for
somebody else they are buying them for themselves. They are
buying as doll collectors or as simply a confirmation of the child
within themselves. I get that too. Sometimes we are just girls.
I think you can feel how important the success and the continued
availability of these dolls are to me. I have been delighted to
see the dolls selling well in my three shops and on the Web. In
fact some have already sold out. Not to worry, we are sewing up
more. This year, I am designing a doll to raise funds for the
Giving World and that is good for many little girls! There is
something more to these dolls than just dolls and that is a
good thing.
April Cornell
Burlington, Vermont |
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