Rebuilding Annie

For my first Christmas, my paternal grandmother sent me a Raggedy Ann doll, the kind with a mechanical music box in the body. It was one of my favorite toys when I was little and my mother packed it safely away for my own children. So along comes the Ham and out comes a bunch of my old toys, including Ann. My little Ham latched onto her in the last few years and she's become her super-special, best bundle buddy. She calls her Annie, or "Frère Jacques" after the song she plays. But here's the trouble. Annie is OLD. I mean really old. I always thought it was a wonder she was still in one piece... and indeed, she'd started getting so worn that she was completely falling apart. This was a cause of great stress to Ham, who will weep when confronted with the idea that Annie may not last forever. In fact, Ham treats her very gently because she knows how delicate she is.

I mended her several times, including completely replacing her legs, but it didn't help. I also redid her whole head of hair. But the fabric had grown so thin that every time I stitched or mended, it would rip open again. When her neck and face began to tear open, I knew it was time for something more drastic.

Here's Annie before her renovation:



You can see the rips in her face and arms as well as places that I previously mended.


Here, you can see the stuffing coming out where the back of the neck ripped open.


You can also see staining from old water marks from attempts to clean her. The back is where the wind-up post is and the whole area had torn out. I'd darned the hole before.


Here's Annie deconstructed with a new body and arms. The legs were already new. Notice how the stuffing isn't some kind of poly or monofill... it's wads of thread!






Painting the face and heart was the most difficult, nerve-racking part of the process. There's no screwing up with fabric paint. But I was happy with how it turned out, even with a few small imperfections. I figure they just show that it's homemade and that I am human (avoiding hubris!).


Here she is with eyes. I searched and searched to find buttons to match her original doll eyes and glued them in so they look the same. I forgot to get a picture of the music box (which is made in Japan and simply the most indestructible and well-made object ever).


My sewing machine had a hard time stitching together the filled pieces (or perhaps it's my lack of skill) so I stitched the legs on and belly closed by hand.


More hand stitching for the arms.




And finally, Annie Mach II.

The Ham was pretty emotional throughout the process -- especially the first night when Annie was in pieces and she insisted on sleeping with the music box by itself. But she seems pleased with the result and has admitted that, since she has the same heart/soul and "smells the same" (yay for old stuffing) that it is, indeed the same Annie.