Claire - another Claire (ah, I realized after she told me her name, that she has a friend with the same name). I remember having a best friend named Monika, so there is nothing so unusual about that, is there? Have you ever had a friend with your name?
This Claire is a very, very sweet girl, she measures 35 cm/14" and is my favourite smaller size doll to make - so lovely to hold and take along everywhere.
Clair is wearing reversible linen/cotton tunic. In the above picture you can see the cotton dotted side facing forward. The tunic is great, because it can also be worn just with the linen pants.
Here you can see the linen side of the tunic.
Like most of the Olive Sparrow Dolls, Claire has an actual neck - this makes her look like an older child and gives her face more defined features
Claire tends to be very quiet and many people think that she is rather introverted. What they don't know is that she is just a still, deep water, yet this water can have some pretty stormy seasons too. She also loves to tell stories and is super, super good at keeping any secret she is told. (having had her sitting with the other Olive Sparrow Children while getting ready for the shows, Claire always knew what everyone else was thinking about, yet she would never share in the whisperings going on on the work table).
Clairs shoes have some fun integrated felt ruffles and amazingly soft laces. Her hat is knitted of alpaka and mohair wool.
Because Claire is very quiet, she held back at the shows I took her too and is still looking to find her favourite human friend. Hence she is available in my Etsy shop. Claire has been adopted.
If you think she might be right for your family, feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.
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Each doll is made up of the following materials.
Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread
Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing, wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.
Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible.
