Bonnie and Doll Making
Many years ago, my friend Vivian held a series of classes in her basement for friends who are artistically inclined. One of them was doll making. We hand sewed a simple doll and then clothed it with supplies that Vivian provided. The idea was to complete the doll within the session, which lasted 2-3 hours. I had a range of emotions throughout the project. First, I was frustrated because the doll itself just didn't seem to be coming out right, and that was really the boring/easy part; I wanted to get to the fun, decorative part. I almost gave up, but then I realized that the problem was that I'd forgotten that basic rule I'd learned in 7th grade sewing: you've got to make cuts in the seam material when it curves to be able to turn it right side out! Once I crossed that hurdle, the rest was great fun. With simple materials and in short order, I created a doll that I really liked!
I decided then that I needed to make other dolls, but I didn't get around to that until a couple of years later. Anyway, the original doll, who I named Matilda, sits on our home office desk (where I work one day a week) as a reminder of a few important things: (1) don't give up so easily (2) think creatively (3) don't forget to use what you already know.