Handkerchief Fairy Doll by Nancy Porras (1985)

The pattern for this 16" cloth fairy doll, designed by Nancy Porras, was published in the April 1985 issue of National Doll World magazine. She is a separated pancake style doll, with each body part being sewn from an identical front and back, or right and left, piece.

Instructions for the Handkerchief Fairy doll call for her to be made from peach broadcloth, though you could of course use any color. She has small mitten hands with a long thumb, and her legs are shaped slightly bent, with her toes pointed, like a ballerina. She has pointed ears which are part of her head, rather than separately applied. Her face is painted with acrylic paints, but could easily be embroidered or drawn with markers instead. Her hair is made from two skeins of embroidery floss.

Handkerchief Fairy's only clothing is a dress made from a floral hankie. The one used for the pictured doll was 14" square. Satin ribbon forms the belt. She has no shoes or underwear. One unusual feature is the beaded tiara and necklace.

This is a fairy simple pattern, but her long thin arms and legs might be a challenge for a beginner to stuff smoothly. The instructions say "the doll and dress can easily be made in an afternoon," but that estimate would be for an experienced sewer, as the steps are not illustrated, and not explained in great detail. Those who enjoy dollmaking more than costuming will appreciate the dress that requires no hemming or closures. The beadwork is an interesting addition to this simple but unusual doll.

Laura Ingalls Doll by Alison Bushell (1985)

 

Laura Ingalls doll is 10 1/2" tall (27 cm) and was designed by Alison Bushell. The pattern was published in the Summer 1985 edition of National Doll World Omnibook magazine. Although the television series about Laura's life, Little House on the Prairie, was no longer being produced by the time this pattern appeared, the show was still being shown in syndication, and the books the series was based on were as popular as ever.

Laura is a baseball head style doll. The instructions call for her to be made from cotton fabric. The back of her neck is longer than the front for a slightly more natural appearance. She has mitten hands with stitched lines to suggest fingers. Her arms are sewn on with hand stitches at the shoulder. Her legs are sewn to the front of her torso, enabling her to sit.

Her facial features are very simple. The maker is instructed to sketch them on freehand and then stitch with embroidery floss. For her hair, the instructions call for the head to be covered with machine-knitting yarn in broad stitches, then a hank of yarn is sewn at the center part and braided. A few extra strands sewn to either side of the head give a more realistic look.

This pattern includes a wardrobe of old fashioned clothing including two dresses, an apron, petticoat and drawers, black stockings and side button boots, a sunbonnet, straw hat, fur cape, wool hood  and knitted mittens. Laura also has her own doll, a pancake style girl with floss hair who wears a dress and pantaloons.

This pattern looks like it would make a nice doll. Unfortunately the photos accompanying it are poor quality and black-and-white, making it difficult to see what she actually looks like. She has fairly complex construction for such a small size doll. The diagrams do help, but the details of the costume, coupled with the somewhat vague instructions mean this pattern would be best for an experienced, or at least confident, sewer. 

Baby Belinda by Linda Nanette Kelley (1984)

Baby Belinda is a baby doll about 12" tall. This pattern was designed by Linda Nanette Kelley, and published in the Summer 1985 issue of National Doll World Omnibook magazine. She is designed to be made from polyester double knit fabric with moderate stretch. The instructions specifically say not to use a very stretchy fabric. The maker is instructed to stuff her head and body section "VERY firmly."

Baby Belinda is a baseball-head style doll with head and torso in one piece, and separate arms and legs. A chin dart adds further shape to her head. She has mitten style hands. Her limbs are attached with large snaps, which is a very unusual way to join them. She has an applied nose and applied ears. Her facial features are drawn with a quilting pen and fine tipped markers. She has a few loops of yarn for hair.

Her outfit consists of a dress with eyelet trim and short puffed sleeves, matching bonnet, panties, and booties made of ribbing. She comes with instructions to make a simple patchwork quilt.

Although the steps to sew Belinda and her outfit are not illustrated, the instructions are easy to understand . Anyone with some sewing experience should be able to make her with no difficulty. Her very simple hair and drawn-on features make for a quick project.

Candy by Adelle Alexander (1985)

This pattern, published in the December 1985 issue of National Doll World magazine, makes a large baby doll with bent legs, meant to sit. No finished size is given, but she appears to be life-size, or nearly so.

Candy is a baseball-head doll, with curved seams to shape her head, but she has a few differences. The seams are widely spread apart and sharply curved, making her face more square than round. She also has a small round applied nose and applied ears. Her hands have individual fingers, rather than the usual mitten hands. Candy is pictured with embroidered features, and yarn hair.

She wears a very cute dress with a yoke and pleated skirt, short puffed sleeves and a sailor collar. The pattern also includes pieces for panties, shoes and socks.

The doll pattern is full size, while the outfit pattern is printed on a grid to be enlarged.

There appear to be some issues with this pattern. The instructions are very brief. There is no mention of how the arms and legs are to be attached to the torso. The very large head would almost certainly need some internal support to keep upright, but this is not addressed. The instructions for the facial features read only "Embroider face or cut features from felt and glue in place." The instructions for the hair describe curls, while the photo clearly shows straight hair. Candy might make a nice doll, but only in the hands of a very experienced dollmaker. Her outfit made as shown in red, white and blue, would make a cute summer time display.

Pocket Pals Doll Pattern by Kathleen Taylor

This pattern to make Meg, a Pocket Pals doll, was designed by Kathleen Taylor and published in the May/June 1982 issue of National Doll World magazine. Meg is a miniature pancake doll, just 4" doll, wearing a dress, socks and mary jane shoes. Patterns to make a nightgown and coat for her were also included.

The construction of the Pocket Pals couldn't be simpler. The only fabrics required are a 10" x 8" piece of muslin and a small piece of fusible interfacing. The doll and her clothing are traced onto the muslin using a fine tip permanent marker, and colored with embroidery paints. The fusible interfacing, applied to the clothing pieces, eliminates the need for hemming. Once colored and cut out, the doll pieces are stitched together, clipped at the appropriate points, turned and stuffed. The nightgown and coat are stitched at the side seams, and finished with snaps.

This doll would make a wonderful little friend for a child, and replacing the tiny snaps with Velcro would make her even easier to dress. Her hair, eye color and clothing can be customized in any colors, and by using darker fabrics rather than plain muslin, she can reflect any race.

McCall's 8349 - Boy and Girl Dolls in Two Sizes (1982)

McCall's pattern 8349 makes a boy and girl doll in 17 1/2" and 13" sizes dressed in old fashioned styles. The pattern is copyrighted 1982.

The dolls are made with a simple body in separated pancake style, with contrasting color feet to look like shoes, and mitten hands. The head has a flat face with a separate round stuffed nose; and the back of the head is in three pieces to give it a rounded shape. The girl and boy dolls are made with the same pieces, the only difference between them is the embroidered facial features, and the yarn hair styles.

The girls' lace-trimmed dress can be made long or short. For the longer version, there is a pinafore and mob cap to give her a "Little House on the Prairie" look. The shorter version, without the pinafore, looks more contemporary. The boys' outfit is a shirt with gathered sleeves, pants with elastic waist, and a vest. These pieces could be used to make another girls' outfit as well.

Although there is nothing unusual or exceptional about these designs, but the dolls are cute and the clothing patterns adaptable to a number of different looks. The instructions for this pattern are detailed, especially the page on hair styling, so this looks like a good pattern for a less experienced (or less confident) sewer.

Copyright 2015 by Zendelle Bouchard

Simplicity 7188 - Pair of Pilgrim dolls & fall decor

This pattern makes cute boy and girl pilgrim dolls, plus a soft sculptured pumpkin and oak leaves table centerpiece, and an oak leaf and acorn wall hanging. It is copyright 1985.

Nowhere on the envelope does it say what size the dolls are, but I would guess about 18". They are made separated pancake style, with the head, torso and legs all in one piece, and the arms with stump hands are sewn on separately. The dolls are to be made of stretch knit fabric, with embroidered features and yarn hair. They have different hair styles, but otherwise the boy and girl dolls are identical.

Their pilgrim outfits are made of solid color fabric with accessories of felt. The clothes are not made to be removable, but could be, with slight alterations. Like most craft patterns, the dolls are not meant to be played with, but a child over 3 who is gentle with them could do so.

The dolls are very simple patterns that a beginner should have no trouble with, but their clothes are a little more complex and might require some help or experience.

Butterick 4313 - Bonnie's Bundles - Big Eyed Girl Dolls in 2 Sizes

Butterick pattern #4313 is not dated, but the style of the envelope indicates it is probably from the late 1970s or early 1980s. It makes a girl doll is 17" and 21" sizes with large side-glancing or downward-glancing eyes and an old fashioned dress.

The dolls have fairly simple construction. The facial features are to be embroidered before assembly. The back of the head is made from two pieces to give it some shape. The hands are almost mitten shape, with just the suggestion of fingers, and their feet have a flat sole piece. They have long yarn hair in two slightly different styles.

The dolls wear similarly styled dresses with long sleeves, pinafores with pockets and felt boots. The larger doll has a bonnet and petticoat, while her smaller sister's shorter skirt shows the pantaloons underneath.

"Bonnie's Bundles" is the trade name of Vermont doll artist Bonnie Watters, who presumably designed this pattern, although she is not otherwise credited on it. Mrs. Watters is still in business and you can purchase a handmade doll just like these from her website. Butterick published other "Bonnie's Bundles" patterns including a white-haired Grandma doll, and a pair of baseball-head dolls with monograms for eyes.

Simplicity 6141 - 21" Girl Doll with Lovely Old Fashioned Wardrobe (1983)

Simplicity pattern #6141 makes a 21" girl doll with an old fashioned "Little House on the Prairie" style wardrobe. It is dated 1983.

The doll has an unusual shaped head with lots of darts and seaming. She has a small, round, separately stuffed and applied nose, embroidered features and long yarn hair which can be styled a few different ways. She has long straight arms and legs, mitten style hands with stitched fingers and flat soles on the bottoms of her feet.

Her wardrobe includes a camisole, decorated with pretty pintucks and eyelet ruffles; bloomers; a dress with a high neck, gathered sleeves and ruffle at the hem, pinafore with decorative stitching on the bodice and pintucks on the skirt; bonnet; nightgown and mob cap.

This doll's large head and long, heavy hair might tend to make her head floppy without some internal support. But the clothing patterns alone make this pattern worth a try.

Fairy Tale Doll Patterns from the Marcy St. Doll Co.

This pattern makes three different fairy tale rag dolls from the same basic pattern. There are five 11" x 17" sheets included; one for the doll, one for the basic dress, underwear and shoes, and one page each to customize the doll as Red Riding Hood, Snow White or Alice in Wonderland. The pattern is copyright 1980 by Deborah Anderson, a cloth doll artist who ran her Marcy St. Doll Shop in downtown Portsmouth, NH for many years.

The doll has an unusual construction with a four piece head shaped by forehead darts; darts and inset arms in the torso; and a separate foot piece. The arms have mitten hands with stitching to indicate fingers. Facial features are embroidered, but buttons may be used for eyes if desired. Muslin is recommended for the dolls; their hair is made from yarn. The instructions are clear, but not very detailed. This pattern would be best for an intermediate sewer with some doll making experience.

Alice in Wonderland's pattern has a pinafore to go over her dress. Her hairstyle is straight with bangs. Red Riding Hood has a cape with hood. Her hair is styled in braids. Snow White's pattern has a long cape gathered with elastic at the neckline to form a collar. She wears her hair in curls tacked to her head.

This is an interesting, but hard to find pattern. I would love to see one of these dolls made up.

Vogue Pattern #2036 - Peter 'n Polly dolls

Vogue pattern #2036 is not dated, but I would guess it to be from the early 1980s. Peter and Polly are 24" boy and girl dolls made from stretchable knit fabric. She is dressed in old fashioned style, while he wears more contemporary clothing. A transfer is included for their faces.

Both dolls are made from the same body pattern. They have flat faces with small round stuffed noses. The backs of their heads are made from four sections, like the segments of an orange. Their torsos are seamed at the centers and sides, and have some shape. They have mitten hands and front seamed legs with flat soles. Arms and legs and stuffed first, then attached to the torso. The dolls have appliqued felt eyes and embroidered noses and mouths; Polly has embroidered eyelashes and freckles. Their hairstyles are created by stitching rug yarn to twill tape, then stitching the tape to the heads, and gluing the hair in place.

Polly wears a simple long-sleeved dress with eyelet ruffle trim, apron, petticoat and bloomers. Peter wears a long sleeved shirt, pants with rolled up hems, and a jacket with front zipper and appliqued sailboat motif. The  instructions called for hammered on snaps, and a zipper for Peter's jacket, both of which are unusual in doll clothing construction. Vinyl, synthetic suede or leather are recommended for their shoes. They wear purchased 3 month size socks.

These are fairly simple dolls, but with some unusual details. If you have made this pattern, please leave a comment and tell us about your experience.