Maida Today: A Babyland Rag Spring Fling

Last fall I asked for volunteers in the MAIDA dolls group to test a pattern I had drafted from an antique Babyland Rag doll who had lost her face a while back. Several of the group joined into a Spring Project Group. The only constraints were to create something spring inspired and in the smaller sized doll in the pattern. (The pattern comes in a small size around 14" and a large size around 32".

The Babyland Rag Doll Body pattern is just what is says. There are no instructions for clothing or for the second attached face. Some people decided to create a doll inspired by antique Babyland Rag dolls, and others decided to use the rag doll pattern as a springboard for their own unique creation.

When their dolls were completed, they mailed them all to me. You can imagine it was like Christmas at my house. Actually, it was Christmas season. It was very fun to open the boxes and see all of the wonderful creations there! You can see the complete album of these creations here.

I asked my photographer friend Danielle Dewald Pease to take a group photo of the dolls. You can see Danielle's photo above. I was there, unpacking dolls and getting them set up as best we could for a group shot. I have a new respect for photographers and magazine editors!

What outstanding creations these doll makers made! Some doll makers were directly inspired by the Antique Babyland Rag Dolls. Using their own ingenuity, they added second faces to the dolls, just as the original dolls had, and created clothing similar to the ruffle adorned originals.