Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Clothes Pin Annie



Raggedy Ann Clothes Pin Christmas Ornament


Johnny Gruelle patented Raggedy Ann in 1915 and introduced the doll to the world in 1918 in his book Raggedy Ann Stories. Here is a popular story of how the doll came to be:
The original rag doll that was to become the first Raggedy Ann actually belonged to Johnny's mother, but it was not until after his daughter, Marcella, found the worn and faded doll in the attic, did it receive it's famous black eyes, triangular nose, and beloved name from Johnny.
While Raggedy Ann is over 85 years old she is still the most popular rag doll of all time.

Create your own Raggedy Ann Clothespin doll. I made 4 of these for the Christmas of 1998. I remembered seeing a pair of Raggety Ann and Andy standing dolls (not ornaments) made out of the old style clothes pins while browsing around a craft fair, and decided to make my own.

Tools:
paint brush, toothpick, cd jewel case, scissors, glue, white thread, sewing machine or needle

Stuff used:
round 1 1/4" wooden ball head (with hole to fit on clothes pin)
round (not flat) old style clothes pin
clothes pin base
paint (black and red)
red yarn
red and white striped paper
5" by 10" scrap of red gingham fabric (very small print)
2 1/2" piece of white rick-rack
5" piece of 1" lace trim
10" long piece of 1/8" gold ribbon
pipe cleaner
decorative gingerbread button

Instructions:

The head:
Paint the face on the round ball head. Also paint clothes pin base black. If necessary, use a pencil to sketch in the details. The triangular red nose should be in the center of the face. Let dry. (note: I used the handle of the paintbrush to dot on the eyes, and a toothpick to make the small dots under the eyes.)


For the hair, rap the red yarn snuggly, in a single layer, around a CD jewel case. Start about a 1/2" from one side to the CD case, and stop about 1/2" from the other side. Slide the yarn off the CD jewel case, and tie together in the middle, with a 10" piece of red yarn, to form a loose pom pom. Tie the 10" yarn again near the top to form a loop for hanging. Shorten loop if necessary. Arrange yarn hair on top of round ball, using the tied line, as the middle part, and glue down. Trim bangs above face.

The body: Measure the length of the "legs" of your clothes pin. Cut a piece of red striped paper as long as the "legs" and 1" wide. With the 1" sides as top and bottom, the stripes should be horizontal. After checking for proper positioning, wrap the horizontally striped paper around legs, tuck in the edges between legs, and secure with glue. (note: I purchased my striped paper from a craft store. It was for scrapbooking. If you are unable to find red and white striped paper, you might have luck printing this stripes.gif.)
Cut a 1 1/4" by 2 1/2" piece of gingham fabric. Wrap fabric around top of clothes pin and secure with glue. The top 2 1/2" side of the fabric should be just under the "neck" of the clothes pin, and the overlapping seam should be in the back of the clothes pin. Glue a 2 1/2" piece of white rick-rack around the neckline to finish off.

Clothes pin base should already be painted black. Slide onto bottom of clothes pin body for feet.
The petticoat, skirt, and apron:

Cut a 3" piece of lace trim. Glue top of trim a little under "waist" of clothes pin to make a petticoat.

Cut a 10" by 3 1/2" piece of gingham fabric. Fold in half the long way, with right sides together, to form a long 10" by 1 3/4" piece. On the side
opposite the fold, stitch together to form a tube with a 1/4" seam. (note: if you don't have a sewing machine do a straight stitch by hand.) Turn the tube right side out with seam along top edge and flatten. Stitch 1/4" in from top to form a casing for gathering. This casing is the top of the skirt.

Fold in half the short way, to form a 5" by 1 1/2" piece. On the side opposite the fold, stitch a 1/4" seam up from bottom of the skirt to the casing, but do not stitch through the casing.


Turn right side out so seam is on inside of skirt. Use a small safety pin to pull the 10" piece of gold ribbon through the casing, for gathering. Slide skirt over clothes pin and gather at waist. Knot and bow ribbon in back.

Glue the remaining 2" piece of lace trim to the front of the skirt to make a little apron.

The arms:

Cut a 7" piece of pipe cleaner. Fold back about 1/2" on each end to form little loops which make up the hand. Cut a 6" by 1" piece of red gingham fabric and wrap around the pipe cleaner. Turn under the edges to finish, and secure with glue. Center arms and glue to back of clothes pin body just under the neck. After glue has dried shape arms to meet in front. Finish off by attaching a decorative button to hands with glue.

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copyright © 2001 B. Young breezeb.tripod.com. All rights reserved.


Special thanks to ClubhouseB:http://breezeb.tripod.com/crafts/raggedyann.html

C&G Design

Words and photos by Dawn,

C&G Design.

8 comments:

tina said...

She'd be sweet on a Christmas tree. I see a whole theme of Raggedy Ann.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I really like her. As Tina said, it would be cut on a Christmas tree or among potted indoor plants...lots of places.
Marnie

Nancy said...

There is something about a clothes pin that begs for a creative redo whenever I see one. Funny how we of the dryer generation see them this way.

Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

p.s. I'm tired of gray and brown. I have a Spring ticker way down on my blog. 2 months and 4 weeks away! Although, surprisingly, I see some patches of brown "grass". Go figure, in VT. Never fear, March will be here...soon.

Jean Merriman said...

I love things made out of the old fashioned clothspins so the ever loved Raggedy Ann is no exception but on the top of the list. She is really adorable!!!!

Lola said...

How cute. That is doable. It would even look good on a small tree.

Protector of Vintage said...

I love clothespin crafts. Thanks for sharing!

Skeeter said...

Oh yes Dawn, You should soooo make a Raggedy Ann and Andy themed Christmas tree as Tina envisions! That would be awesome!

These are cute as can be but look so tedious to make! My fingers would not allow me to make such works of art…. Love them...

CC said...

ohhh,I love,love her. She's just adorable dressed in her finery with her hair so beautifully done. You're so very talented Dawn...you work magic with dolls.