Making Raggedy Ann
I’ve wanted to make a Raggedy Ann for many years now. I had sketched her out in my sketchbook and created a Raggedy Ann board on Pinterest. But I kept getting caught up in the legalities of selling an unlicensed Raggedy Ann pattern. The Raggedy Ann and Andy characters seem to be in the public domain, but I haven’t been able to figure out if the look of the doll is? So, I put the idea aside for a long while.
Just recently, for some reason, it came back to me and I thought why not just make her and not create a pattern for sale. I feel like Raggedy Ann is such a classic doll and also such a challenge. How to create a Raggedy Ann that’s cute and not creepy?
This project was definitely made possible thanks to Spoonflower where I was able to order small-scale red and white striped fleece for her socks and a small-scale blue and white floral fleece for her dress. (Fleece mostly comes in very large-scale prints which don’t lend themselves to doll-making, but I love fleece for dolls because it’s durable, soft, machine washable, and easy to sew.) I had fun figuring out how to make her curly hair with fleece loops.
Although my kids still find Raggedy Ann to be terrifying, I’m happy with her.