I hear from so many people that they feel a tremendous connection with the past, and especially the women in their families, when they are making rag rugs. I feel that same connection all of the time. This is a story of one of those connections. 

(Above is a photograph of one of the original "Nettie" dolls. Below are the directions for making your own Nettie doll.)
 

About Nettie Carlton (excerpts from a letter written by her grand-daughter). "What a lovely surprise to get the rug-rag doll made from the fabric strips that Grandma Carlton had rolled! I've named her "Nettie Jane" after Grandma… These rug rag balls that Grandma made have brought her back into my thoughts, and I thought I'd tell you about her…"  "She was born in 1880, the youngest of 8 children--five girls and three boys. She went to school through the sixth or eighth grade, and then set out to do housework for farm families… (She began her own family when) their first child, Clyde, was born in 1899, and my mother was born in 1902, and they had 2 more girls and 3 more boys. Her babies were all born at home, and she didn't have anyone to help her with her housework." "Grandma had a nearly totally self-sufficient farm, garden and orchard, raised pigs and chickens, and sold the eggs, and my Uncle Bill had a dairy herd. The feed truck came to grind their grain into flour. They butchered beef and pork, cured and canned and dried the meat, and rendered the lard. They made maple syrup. I remember that her grocery list was for only things like salt, yeast, and sugar. She made all her sheets and dishtowels from bleached flour sacks. Our mattresses were ticks filled with straw. All the bedroom rugs were ones she had crocheted (rag rugs). "Her home was one where folks felt comfortable-- cousins and all sorts of relatives dropped in on Sundays and there was always fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy and canned green beans enough for all." "My mother, brother and I lived at Grandma Carlton's several of my school years….I recall winter evenings sitting around the floor register in the living room, with the war news (WWII) on the radio, and Grandma rolled her balls for rag rugs" "I never recall that grandma ever made a critical or sharp remark. She was encouraging and interested in me. What a blessing to have had such a Grandma!"

The story of the Nettie Doll The story of the Nettie Doll begins nearly a century ago in rural Ohio, and comes to its conclusion after 3 and 4 generations in two families. Nettie Carlton (1880-1955) was like so many women who made rag rugs from worn out clothing as a necessary part of life, and as a way to bring comfort and beauty to her home and family -- in the midst of what modern women would regard as great hardships.  The Carlton farm was near that of my Great-Grandparents. When my Grandmother was young, her Mother passed away, and Nettie's kindnesses to my Grandmother were never forgotten. Though my Grandmother left the farm in the 1920's, she kept in contact over the years.  In the 1980's, my Father took my Grandmother back to Ohio for a visit, and they stopped at the Carlton farm, where Nettie's daughter still lived. As they got to visiting the subject of rag rugs came into the conversation and Nettie's daughter mentioned that there were still balls of rag strip in the basement that Nettie had rolled years before. Since the rugmaking tradition had been lost when Nettie passed away, her daughter offered to send the rag balls along to me. I was of course thrilled with the gift-- the balls were a tangible bit of my own Grandmother's girlhood.  There were quite a number of different fabrics in the old strips, all of which had been meticulously ironed to be perfectly double-folded. There were ginghams from dresses, prints from flour sacks and bits from worn shirts and skirts. Unfortunately, the balls had been rolled around newspaper and cardboard, and the acids from the paper had made the strip brittle and fragile, so it couldn't be used for rugs, but I wanted to do something very special with it. Why not make an old-fashioned rag doll, from these old-fashioned rag strips?  There was enough rag strip to make dolls for several members of Nettie's family and my own, so that this little bit of both families' histories could be shared. Eventually, I had the pleasure of meeting Nettie's daughter, grand-daughter and great-grand-daughter, and in the completion of a circle was able to bring the tradition of crocheted rag rugs back into Nettie's family. Nettie couldn't have imagined, that those simple rag balls she was making would be put in the basement for decades, and then come back to bring such a connection to two families sixty years later.

This is an old-fashioned way to make a doll, and was often done with yarns too. The Nettie doll is about 9 inches tall, and can be displayed sitting, or standing, with a simple stand (directions below).

Supplies: 19 yards of cotton rug strip in hit-or-miss colors, cut 1-1/2 inches wide, and double-folded to hide the raw edges; embroidery floss, heavy crochet thread or stout string for tying; a 12-inch square of light muslin or similar fabric for hat and apron. Ribbon for apron tie (optional). See the fabric section of the catalog for pre-folded strips.

For the body, cut 30 pieces of rug strip, each 18 inches long. Hold them together at the centers, and tie the centers tightly with heavy string.

Fold over the strips, and tie tightly about 1-1/4 inches from the top forming the head. 
For the arms, cut 15 pieces of rug strip, each 8 inches long. Arrange them together, and about 1/2 inch from each end, wrap string or embroidery floss several times around the strips tightly and tie the string securely. 

Insert the arms in the center of the strips forming the body, just below where the neck is tied. Just below the arms, tie the body-strips securely with string, forming the waistline of the doll. Trim any strip ends that hang long, but they don't need to be perfectly even. 

For the apron, cut a piece of light muslin 6 inches long and 3 inches wide. Pull the threads along the short sides and one of the long sides to form a fringe. Gather along the other long side, and stitch the gathered edge to the waist of the doll. A small piece of muslin can be folded, and stitched to the doll, to make a waistband for the apron, or you can use a narrow piece of ribbon as an apron tie. 

For the cap, cut a circle 6 inches in diameter from the light muslin. Fold over a 1 inch hem all around, and gather along the hem to form the cap. Stitch the cap to the dolls head so that it covers where the strips were folded over, and leaves one side open for the doll's face.

To make a stand you will need a 1/8-inch dowel, 7 inches long, and a small square (1-1/2" to 2") of wood. Drill a hole in the center of the wood, just large enough for the dowel, insert the dowel with a little bit of glue and let dry. The dowel goes up through the center of the doll, just to where the tightness at the waistband will hold it in place. 

Dressing up. The "real" Nettie doll is made of all different fabrics, but you can make one of just one print or solid for a seasonal look. For a fancier look, the apron and/or hat can be made of lace, or a 3-inch straw doll's hat substituted for the muslin cap, and decorated with miniature flowers. Also, you can take a miniature basket, and stitch the 'hands' to its edges, and fill the basket with miniature fruits or flowers. By twisting the strips that form the arms, Nettie can be posed so that it appears she is waving, as in the photo.