Mary Dolls

Page 64 in "Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church"

Catherine Fournier and Peter Fournier

Children's play (and the imagination that fuels it) is a safe, controlled way to explore many concepts, from the physical laws of nature as they play in the sandbox with buckets and the hose, to the complexities of relationships and the development of virtues and values as they play "cowboys and indians" or "house". 

These Mary Dolls are not statues or objets d'art. They are meant to be played with and to allow children to place Mary firmly in their imaginations and their hearts. If the dolls end up tattered or topsy-turvy under the bed, it is not disrespect but a sign that the dolls and Mary have been welcomed into their play. 

• A doll or dolls—such as purchased or homemade cloth dolls (not baby dolls) or inexpensive plastic dolls
• Fabric and trim of various weights in shades of blue, white, and gold. Quilting stores are an excellent source of small amounts of wonderfully patterned cloth—for example, with stars for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Inexpensive fabric and trim can be found at second-hand clothing stores—buy the blouse for the fabric, not the fit.
• Basic sewing supplies: scissors, pins, thread, needles 
• Waxed paper or parchment paper, for pattern 
• Paper plate (optional) 
• Stapler 
• Tape 
• Sheet of paper 
• Ribbon (for veil) 
• Heavy cardboard, chamois, or canvas 
• Dark shoelaces 

1. 1. If you wish the doll to stand up on its own, make a cone with the paper plate by cutting it from the edge to the center. Roll it up into a cone with the desired bottom diameter. Secure the cut edge of the plate with tape. Then cut a hole at the pointed end of the cone just large enough to slip the doll's waist through.
   
   Trim the bottom of the cone so that the doll stands supported by the cone. Remove the cone, and tape the waist and bottom edges to strengthen them; and put extra tape as needed along the cut edge.
2. 2. Decide how you are going to dress Mary.
   
   These directions will dress Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes. Adapt the colors and headdress to your choices.
3. 3. Use this diagram to make a pattern for the dress on the waxed or parchment paper. This dress is not fitted; it is very loose and flowing. Take the following measurements, and adjust your pattern accordingly.
   1. A Twice the height of the doll, from the shoulders to the feet. 
   2. B From one wrist across the shoulders to the other wrist. 
   3. C Loosely around the doll's chest. 
   4. D Loosely around the doll's armpit. 
   5. E Loosely around the doll's wrist. 
   6. F Loosely around the doll's neck. 
4. 4. Cut out a dress piece of white fabric, along the dotted lines.
5. 5. Fold the dress piece in half along the shoulder line, and mark the center.
   
   Cut out the keyhole-shaped neck hole. This needs to be an opening big enough for the doll's head without making the neckline too low. The neck of the dress will fasten with ties at the back.
6. 6. Finish the neckline. This is much easier to do now than when the dress is being sewn together. You can finish this edge very simply by zig-zagging around the opening with a matching or contrasting color thread.
   
   If you like, you could finish the edge by binding it with a piece of ribbon (folding a piece of ribbon over the edge and sewing it in place), extending the ends of the ribbon to make a tie at the back of the neck.
   
   A proper facing is not really worth the effort and probably would not stand up to the rigors of play.
7. 7. Pin the dress, right sides (outsides) together, and sew the arm and body seams. Use a very small seam allowance—1/4 inch. Sew this seam twice, then zig-zag over the raw edges.
8. 8. Turn the dress right-side out. Try it on the doll, adjust the length as needed, and then hem it. Mary's dresses are always long, so that her toes or sandals barely show. Hem the doll's dress to this length.
9. 9. Select a piece of blue fabric, and cut out a sash. The sash length should equal the "A" measurement from the dress pattern. The sash width should equal the "E" measurement from the dress pattern. This will make a full, flowing sash that reaches Mary's feet when it has been tied around her waist.
   
   Finish the sash edges. You can finish these edges by zig-zagging them, or by turning the edge under 1/4 inch and sewing it, or by binding it with matching ribbon. Tie the sash around the doll's waist.
10. 10. Next, make a veil. At Lourdes, Mary's dress and veil were white. The veil should, if possible, be of a lighter fabric than that of the dress.
    
    On a sheet of paper, draw a circle, using the "A" measurement as the diameter. Cut out this circle. Fold in half, and then cut it on the fold. Using this half-circle as your pattern piece, cut out a veil. Finish the edges of the veil in the same way you finished the sash. (If you were dressing your doll as Our Lady of Guadalupe, the hem of the dress, the sash, and the veil could be trimmed or edge-bound with ornate gold trim.)
11. 11. Drape the veil on the doll's head, with the straight edge on its forehead. To fasten the veil onto the doll's head so that it will stay in place during play, center the veil on the doll's head, measure down on each side to the doll's ears, and mark these points with a pin. Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to tie around the doll's head, like a head-scarf. Sew this ribbon along the edge of the veil, centering it between the two points. Leave the ends free. Place the veil on the doll's head, bring the ends of the ribbon to the back of its head, and tie them.
12. 12. Make sandals for the doll, using either the cardboard, chamois cloth, or canvas. Trace around the doll's foot, and cut out four footprints. Poke eight holes in two sole pieces (see drawing). Thread a length of shoelace down through holes 1 and 2, then up through 3 and 4, leaving a loop. Repeat with a second length of shoelace, down through A and B, then up through C and D. Glue a footprint on the bottom of each sole to cover the laces. Attach the sandals to the doll's feet by tying the laces.
    
    Our Lady of Lourdes also carried a rosary. The type of rosary you make for a Mary doll will depend on the size of the doll. A plastic doll for an older girl could have a small and delicate rosary made from seed beads and knotted quilting thread; a soft cloth doll for a younger child might have a knotted-cord rosary.
    
    CAUTION: Make sure a "play" rosary is too small to fit over a child's head.