originally I got down on my hands and knees on the rug and with the local paper and a sharpy pen, drew out the doll pattern, plus tops and pants for boys and dresses for the girls (2 each since the girls are upside down or 2 in 1 girls). Now I get size 12 month clothes for the boys (only long pants as legs are 'clubby') at half off at thrift stores or via donations. I dearly love to see the boys in overalls. Each boy turns front to back to show a sleepy face. Now I make cloth templates for the bodies and cloth dress templates for the girls. It takes a yard and a half for each dress. It takes 1 yard for girl dolls and 1 and 1/2 yards for body bodies. All dolls are free including postage, so I cut corners where I can. I depend on donations to get the dolls mail out and have a non-profit bank account titled DOLLS FOR SICK KIDS at the local tri-counties bank in my town of Crescent City, CA. So far 155 dolls are sent out to a child in serious need of comfort. A postage free 'template set and instructions' are available to those that want to make their own doll for a very sick child. That is a stipulation, and if you want to make more then one, that is frosting on the cake. My newest goal is 200 total, and will continue on as long as I can. I have only 34% of my lungs and require O2 all night and sometimes in the day, but at least I am walking talking breathing and can sew. here is the web site for the dolls that Sew_tracy is hosting for me.
www.dollsforverysickkids.com
thanks so much and hope I have answered any questions you might have. I sure appreciate all the encouragement you send my way and the love you have for these sick kids. God bless each of you.
Vickey Stamps