The Customer's Brief:
I'd like a rag doll in white, red and black with a clear face; perhaps like the Jemima or the Raggy Ann dolls. Her hair, eyes and shoes should be black and her lips red. The clothes should not detract from the details of the face, but can have a small spot or check pattern with red if desired.

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April 2008

This commission was an exciting challenge, as I did not want to duplicate other artist's styles of faces mentioned (and thereby infringe copyright) and yet needed to make this doll fit within the guidelines given in the brief.

I wanted her to have proper facial features including ears, rather than the representational faces of the two characters listed in the brief. So I spent some time designing her face, so that it would be childlike, but clear. I also felt that the large, pink cheeks of the Jemima face detracted from the eyes; whilst the additional stylised lines on the Raggy Ann face might reduce clarity for anyone with visual impairment; and Raggy Ann's prominent black, triangular nose might also detract from the eyes.

Then, I embroidered the final design onto the white cotton fabric I had chosen for her body, head and limbs. I used fabric pencil for her rosie cheeks and thought she looked like an English Rose, so I named her Rosie; though I'm not sure what she will be named by her new owners!

I used black corduroy for her shoes to give them some added texture and embellished these with black and white gingham ribbon bows.

I made sure that her hair was clear from her face, but gave her a small fringe, which could be smoothed over her forehead, if desired. Her clothes were in bold blocks of colour, so as not to detract from her face, as requested.