A Doll is a Doll

The first doll I ever designed was for a niece who couldn't have been more than six or seven. It was a plain pancake doll - both front and back are the same flat shape. The design was literally a long rectangle with a rounded top and slit part way up for legs. The arms were smaller rectangles stuffed separately and stitched into the side seams. The eyes and mouth were cut out of iron-on mending tape - remember that stuff? For hair, I stitched lengths of yarn into the seam around the top. Done.

I almost didn't give it to her because I thought it was ugly. Wrong, the silly gangling doll was a hit. Her siblings and cousins all wanted one, too. Four more dolls later, the Ugli Doll was established. The next Christmas, I made new wardrobes for the lot of them. The nieces and nephews would bring their Ugli Dolls to family gatherings and play out little stories with them.

What I learned from this experience is how broad the definition of "doll" can be and that imagination is alive and well in small children. The continued success of simple abstract dolls such as this is usually attributed to children being unable to appreciate finer details and realism. Wrong again, folks. The simpler a doll is, the more room is left for the child's input. Simple dolls probably become more real to a small child than the most sophisticated animatrons that reduce the child's participation to spectator. Bottom line: the simpler the doll the more direct and visceral its attraction.

My Ugli Doll proved a natural for the Comfort Dolls project started by the Dollmakers' Internet Community, which collects huggable cloth dolls for children in crisis. I donated the Ugli Doll pattern to be used only for Comfort Dolls.

Children aren't the only ones who can benefit from a doll to hug. One of my dearest old friends was diagnosed with leukemia and entered an experimental treatment program. (We were both members of a Girl Scout troop that had not only stayed active until we graduated from high school, but had kept in touch for fifty years thereafter!) As a gesture of loving support, I made a green Ugli Doll with a tiny GS cap and a badge sash. It was circulated among the other seven members by mail so each could add something to the sash. We have a photo of our sick friend proudly holding that doll, which her daughter tells us she kept close by for the rest of her life.

Another dollmaker tells a similar story. A coworker had to take early retirement due to ill health. The dollmaker made an Ugli Doll and circulated it around the office secretly for everyone to add a memento to it. Another hit. The very silliness of an Ugli Doll makes it acceptable to grownups. The fact that someone cared enough to make one makes it even more special.

This pattern is available online, but must only be used for dolls to be given to someone who needs a little love when they're all alone.