[Illustration]
Then there were the rag babies—I almost said the little rag people—but
that would not have been true, for strange to say the babies were
larger than the older members of the family.
This does not seem so strange after all, when one stops to think, for
in the whole rag world, everything grows smaller as it grows older.
Some of these were just ordinary white babies while others belonged to
the colored race. The Topsies were made of brown cotton or silk, with
faces done in water colors, and hair of French knots.
But no matter what their color, or how they were made, the rag babies
probably got more real love from their owners than any other dolls in
the whole collection.
Rag babies are made by folding a piece of paper lengthwise and cutting
the pattern of a half body free hand. This will insure the two sides
being alike.
After getting a good pattern, cut from muslin two pieces just alike for
front and back, sew them together and stuff with cotton.
The features can be made with either water colors or common ink thinned
a little.
[Illustration: A RAG BABY]