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Wolf Doll

Personal project - 2022

From Raggedy Ann (musical)

Process

I made this Raggedy AnnWolf doll for a friend, based off of his costume from the original production of the musical. It's also based loosely on a prop seen in the show, a similar (though definitely bigger) doll of the character made to represent him when he turns back into a dog after he dies. I don't know why they went with a clearly humanoid doll instead of a dog-shaped plush, and the quality is too blurry to get a good look at it, but I love how silly it is and wanted to make something similar.

He was a very quick and dirty little project, made entirely out of fabric and materials I already had on hand.

I started with the standard rag doll pattern I use for all of my dolls, except I used fur for many sections. The back of his torso, head, and arms are fur, along with the entirety of his legs. I also patterned him some ears.

Before the legs were attached

The finished body

I started the clothes to give myself some time to think about the face. Wolf wears a dark red shirt, and I had to salvage some fabric from a pillowcase to find the right color. It's patterend from the doll itself, using a simple old-fashioned rectangle-based pattern I have used to make undershirts.

I landed on a simple painted face with a big smile and teeth, and painted it on with a few layers. Later I learned that you're supposed to sew button eyes through the back of the head so they sink in and are more set in place, but my friend likes his goofy expression and won't let me fix it. He also got a little blue collar, with a clasp for a tag.

Painted face

His button eyes

Next was his vest, which I patterend by copying my shirt pattern's torso and cutting out the arm areas. I used an old tie and piced it together to get enough fabric for the front, and used black satin for the back and lining. The buttons are fake, it holds together with snaps.

The pants were loosely based on real pant patterns, but nice and wide to make some room for error. They have elastic at the waist and added cuffs.

Picking the lining fabric for the jacket

His jacket was patterend similarly to the shirt, all rectangles, though much bigger. I lined the torso with blue satin, similar to the purple/blue seen in the show.

Test with the sides pinned together

Collar and lapels added

Afterwards, I realized he needed a tail! And he got a hole in the back of his pants to make room for it. Once my friend got him they got him a little dog tag.