Cloth Doll Clubs

Women have been getting together to do their sewing for many years.
From the earliest sewing circles of Betsy Ross and the quilting bees of the prairies, it has been the practice of wives and daughters to come together to share creative ideas and take time to make things with cloth.

Even though techniques and motivations have changed, women are still gathering to help each other learn, create and promote sewing skills. Today's quilting clubs and cloth doll clubs may have more in common with the ladies of Betsy Ross's day than we realize.

Needle and thread have given way to the computerized sewing machine, but the gathering and hand sewing still goes on. Sometimes in a home or fabric store, sometimes on the internet, women are still sharing, comparing, challenging and having a great time sewing.
In this article we will take a closer look at some of the groups of mostly women who gather to share their love of collecting and creating cloth dolls.

Friends of Cloth Dolls

One of the largest dolls clubs in the world is FOCD (Friends of Cloth Dolls) which is an on-line discussion e-mail group of women and a few men who love and/or create cloth dolls. Members may submit messages to be read and enjoyed by the entire group, or merely enjoy the messages of others (lurk). The information in these messages is extremely informative and entertaining. The subject of cloth dolls is usually adhered to fairly closely, but occasionally someone will write about a personal situation that might interest the others.

Many of the members have webpages to share photos, sell patterns, or introduce their new creations. Because the volume of messages from this club is quite substantial, many of the members choose to receive the digest format several times a day rather than the many individual messages which helps in gleaning out the best topics and information.

Some of the members actually meet in person for various doll events throughout the year. However, most members have never met face to face even though there seems to be definite friendships created by this common interest. There are over 2000 members from all over the world, including every state in USA, Canada, Australia, Africa, England, Sweden, and many more. Cloth doll artist join to learn new crafting techniques, help solve problems for other members, tell about new creations and events, announce challenges and swaps, and most of all to enter into a unique circle of friends who understand and appreciate the passion for making, collecting and caring for dolls made of various styles and types of fabric.

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