White Girls

#WhiteGirlsShouldPlaywithBlackDolls
UPDATE:

White child, Doll of Color (DOC). 

UPDATE:

Doll, complete.

I had a little trouble attaching Dolly's head to her body discreetly. However, after learning that the neighbor child loves orange, I added a scarf of the same color around where her neck should be, and voila! 

UPDATE:
I never did end up at the toy store, locally owned or not; what happened is, I decided to whip up a cute little black/brown doll myself. She is pretty much complete except that I haven't yet attached her head to her body. In other news, her hair turned out really well! The crudeness of the execution is entirely down to my lack of rag-doll making skills though I must say, her beautiful brown eyes do shine, and that big gorgeous smile is definitely happy. Her name is Ailema, and I think my little neighbor will like her very much.

Doll, posing.

Doll, up close.

I plan to consult with Boyfriend about how best to attach head to body. He is a tinkerer at heart and the parent of a very artistic and creative daughter with whom he has collaborated on many such projects; I have every confidence that we will be able to attach the head to the body in a minimally invasive fashion.

UPDATE:
Just printed this pattern:

From Make Baby Stuff

ORIGINAL POST:
I'm inspired by the article, Should White Girls Play with Black Dolls? to which my answer is a resounding yes! I am going today to get my nearly two-year-old neighbor a black doll today, and also a brown one. My mother sewed a brown doll for my (now) nineteen-year-old nephew back in the day; I will do the same if I can't find one I like. In other words, the doll must be black and/or brown but cannot embody gender-based stereotypes, so no pink clothing or princess crowns or pro football-themed dolls. I will avoid anything from Disney or other brands with questionable politics because I'm not a huge fan of the movie tie-in product lines for one thing and for another, well, like I said, politics. Off to the (locally owned) toy store - possibly followed by a trip to the fabric store if necessary. The question then becomes, sew by hand? Or drag out the sewing machine?

Pictures later.