Birdie has a best friend. She has lots of friends– she’s one of those girls who is almost universally liked simply because she knows how to handle the give and take of play and conversation with ease. But she has one true best friend, Miss R.
We are all infinitely fond of Miss R. She is bubbly and kind, has a delicious imagination, and plays with boys and girls with equal delight. She is the sort of child you don’t mind having around at all, because the magical equation that says more children = less work immediately comes into play. So yes, Miss R is Birdie’s best friend… but we will all happily claim her acquaintance.
When it came time for Miss R’s birthday, the gift of choice was (for the boys) obvious. She is an ardent dog lover, and has recently discovered Schleich toys. John Mark announced immediately that the perfect gift would be Schleich dogs, and that’s exactly what the boys picked out: a cute little playset with a mother dog and pup. It was thoughtful, because it suited her well, and was also sure to be enjoyed.
But Birdie, well… Birdie liked the idea of the dogs. But she had something else in mind. So she went to work.
Handmade gifts are highly valued in our home. Any gift is, of course, received with gratitude and love. But as a family of makers, we know what it is to invest hours in planning and executing something one of a kind for someone we love. So being the recipient of something specially made for us is an added treat. Birdie has many little talents that make for the sweetest gifting. She can learn a song just for you, and play it on piano or violin. She can paint lovely pictures. And, of course, she can sew.
Her sewing skills are quite good, really. She can embroider, and hand stitch, use a machine, and just generally do anything worth doing with needles, thread, and fabric. For her birthday, her Mamaw and Papaw bought her a book of doll patterns (affiliate link) from her Amazon gift list that she had been pining for for months. Since she and Miss R had spent a big chunk of the summer at the local pool pretending to be mermaids, the little mermaid doll with felt hair was an obvious choice. Birdie went to went to work.
The pattern, it turns out, was a bit fussier than expected– in part due to the petite size. (If we had a do over, I’d enlarge the pattern for her, creating an automatic seam allowance and giving her more room to work.) But she persevered.
It was a fairly quick project, even with the speed bumps. As she worked, it was sweet to hear her creating a little story around this doll, and pointing out all the things about it that she hoped Miss R would find special.
Near the final steps, that fidgety size came into play, necessitating my intervention and some rather obvious repair work. I was nervous as I explained that my stitches would be able to be seen. She had worked so hard, and was so proud of her work. Not one to skip a beat, Birdie expanded the story for this little mermaid to include a traumatic shark attack and asked me to use glaringly obvious pink stitches because, “mermaids scar pink.”
Well, then.
After the mermaid doll was completed, Birdie wrote a sweet introductory story– which included the shark attack– and had me type it and print it. She pasted it into a blank book with the exhortation that Miss R now continue the adventures with her new mermaid friend, writing them in the remaining pages.
Birdie presented the mermaid and book to Miss R at her birthday party, and I saw that glow of happy satisfaction on her face that one gets when a labor of love has been well received. She asked me that evening if I had a favorite doll pattern from the book , or if I happened to need more cloth napkins embroidered. I have a feeling my birthday gift might just require some sewing as well.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jude used his own talents to make a special drawing for Miss R, which he slipped into the gift bag with the Schleich dogs. I told you… we all adore that sweet girl!