Handmade Desiree Stone Dolls

Handmade Desire Stone Dolls

Hand embroidered faces on pre-washed flannel or jersey cotton dolls. I use antique/vintage fabrics and lace and stuff the dolls with polyfil product for machine washing.

My dolls are between 14-16 inches tall.

Doll maker Desiree Stone pre-cuts all pieces of the doll and clothes first and stitch more complicated clothes by hand before machine. Each doll is stitched together by hand and reinforced with machine.

Desiree's Dolls Handmade dolls are part of a family tradition since the early nineteenth century. I am the fifth generation doll maker in my family on my mother's side from Alabama.

Process: usually I pre-cut the doll bodies and stitch before embroidering faces, after about 10 dolls per week our made I work on the clothes as I go.
most dolls are made with flannel of various colorings, if I use muslin I spray a fabric paint to give the color a hue of pigment

Ms. Stone carries on a family tradition originating from antebellum southern plantations, creating folk art in the form of vintage-style rag dolls referred to as "comfort dolls." Originally meant to provide comfort to slave children, these dolls have been re-imagined with modern embroidered faces and carefully crafted knitted sweaters. Through the generosity of philanthropists, these dolls have found their way to refugee camps, orphans, and schools in Africa and Europe..