Poppet Craft: A Doll to Do Three Things at the Same Time

I confess, this isn’t some wonderful magic that allows you to be in three places at once. I wish I had that power. However, I made this doll to combine a celebration of three very different events happening this week: World Book Day, International Women’s Day and Mothering Sunday. 

Celebrating Being an Author

Today is World Book Day, which is all about the love of books. I made the doll in the picture to represent myself as the proud author of quite a few titles. I photographed my poppet surrounded by some of them published by Moon Books. In the Pagan Portals series I’ve written Candle Magic, Scrying, Guided Visualisations, Rounding the Wheel of the Year, and Poppets and Magical Dolls. 

My first novel, Erosion, is due to come out in April and I’m incredibly proud of the achievement. It’s a Gothic tale set in 1987 – the year of the Great Storm – on the English coast. I’ll be doing a book signing at Treadwell’s in London on Saturday 6 April and it would be lovely to see anyone who wants to pop in and say hello. You can find the details here: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/book-signing-erosion-of-friendship-dreams-and-the-edge-of-a-cliff-lucya-starza.

Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day, on March 8, is a global celebration of women’s achievements, and also an activism movement for greater equality and inclusivity. 

The pattern I used to sew my poppet was created especially for International Women’s Day by Sew Jessalli. The doll honours diversity because she can be made in a variety of skin tones, there’s an option to add glasses (like I did) and a headscarf as well as other clothing options. The pattern is available to download completely free from the Hobbycraft website here: https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ideas/how-to-sew-a-doll.html?

Although Hobbycraft includes a long list of materials it suggests you buy, I made my doll entirely from scraps of fabric, wool, thread, and filling that I already had. I also hand-sewed her rather than use a machine. The poppet’s trousers are upcycled from one of my old pairs of holey leggings, to link her more closely to me. I made the top from a scrap of fabric in my mother’s old sewing box, which leads me on to how my doll also helps me remember my mum.

Celebrating Mothering Sunday

In England, Mothering Sunday takes place at a different time of year from American Mother’s Day. It’s a custom dating back to the Middle Ages, and is always on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Back then it was a Christian festival when people were supposed to go to their “Mother Church” as well as visit their real mums and maybe give them some flowers. Nowadays most of us just do the latter unless, like me, our mums have passed on.

I always do something on this day to remember the happy times I shared with my mother. She taught me to sew and knit, and inspired my love of crafting. She also made dolls, which she sold to raise money for the charity Age UK. This year I honoured her memory when I made this doll myself, partly using materials from her old sewing box. 

Poppets

My book Pagan Portals – Poppets and Magical Dolls has lots of other suggestions for ways to use dolls for spells, seasonal celebrations and inspiration. Here’s the description from the back cover: 

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