My mother, the doll

Somehow, I got the idea that it would be fun to make a rag doll for my mother, using her photo as a face for the doll.
I looked around online for help, but couldn't really find where anyone else had posted anything about doing this, but I did find some helpful info about making rag dolls in general.

First, I found a photo of my mother that I liked, and uploaded it to this website.  In about a week I received my photo printed on fabric in the mail.

The color was a bit washed out. I wished I had used photo editing tools to add more color saturation  before sending the photo.  But what I did was use crayons to lightly add some color and iron over it to melt it in to the fabric.

Here is the face cut out and sewn on to the body .  I'm not sure how she ended up with shoulders like an NFL linebacker.

Next, I spent an afternoon out on the screen porch adding stuffing...

...and hand sewing on the yarn hair.

Hmmm...bangs too short.

Next, I made clothes.  Jeans from an old denim shirt and a top the same color as one of her favorite ones.

I had sewed some beads on for buttons but I had them too close together, so I took them off and moved them on the ride over to give the doll to my Mom for Mothers Day.

 (that's a basket handle - not the steering wheel)

I couldn't figure out what to use for white tennis shoes. Tried some fleece but no luck with that. She has to go barefoot.

I did add some extra yarn to her bangs for more length.  That wrinkle on the chin is not so visible on the actual doll. I didn't really see it until I looked at the photos. Maybe she needs her stuffing squeezed back into place.

Of course if I had a do-over I think I could make some improvements.

Anyway, it was the unexpected for Mothers Day and we had some good laughs about it.