Hollyhock Dolls: a throwback to simpler times

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I remember making these dolls from hollyhock blossoms in late summer. They only last for a few hours, even less if you play with them. But they’re fun to make, and really do have lots of personality. Now is hollyhock time in Montana. Do you have hollyhocks where you live? If you do, then you’re in luck. Go find a few, get out a needle and thread and go for it.

tutorial to make hollyhock dolls

  1. Pick some hollyhock blossoms. Remember to get different sizes of buds, and a few leaves (for hats.) Sort the buds by size, making sure you have at least 3 buds for each arm.
  2. Keep blossoms fresh while you work, by placing them in a bowl of water. You can also mist them with water using a sprayer.
  3. Remove the large, fuzzy stamen that sticks out of the center of each flower. Using a large needle and thread, stitch up through two or three large flowers, layering them to look like a skirt.  You can make multi-color skirts with different colored flowers. Next make the head — you can use either a small blossom that hasn’t fully opened yet, or a large bud. Stitch from the bottom of the head through to the top.
  4. You can add a leaf on top of the head for a hat.
  5. Use 3 buds for each arm, a small, medium and large. I like to start at one hand, thread 3 buds together, then pierce the shoulder with the needle, and continue on the other side with 3 more buds for the opposite arm. (see photo 6)
  6. Your hollyhock doll will have personality and facial expressions if you use your imagination with her.

Swirling Personality of a Hollyhock Doll

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You can add legs if you want but I kinda like them without legs. The big skirts make the dolls look like Southern Belles at a Ball, or Ballerinas Dancing Across the Stage. If you want legs, do them the same as the arms.

Hollyhock-Doll Supplies Another way to make hollyhock dolls is to use long, stiff pine needles, or toothpicks instead of needle and thread. Using the thread allows the arms, legs, neck and waist of the doll to move and jiggle, and if you hang her she will dance in the breeze.  Using pine needles or toothpicks gives you a stiffer doll that can be played with more easily. Here is a link to making hollyhock dolls with toothpicks. 

Hollyhock Buds to Make Dolls

Keep Hollyhocks Flowers Fresh in Water

a lovely vintage textile print with hollyhocks
a lovely vintage textile print with hollyhocks

Miss Hickory is a children’s book that dates back to 1948. It is about a tiny doll made of apple twigs with a hickory nut head, so is a little similar to our hollyhock dolls, only longer lasting. The story follows her adventures through the four seasons. And eventually, the story ends with the little doll asleep on a branch of an apple tree and in the spring the apple tree blossoms all around her. Below are a couple of illustrations from the book and a link to a tutorial on how to make a Miss Hickory doll. 

Miss Hickory illustration Miss-Hickory-Book Cover

2 Replies to “Hollyhock Dolls: a throwback to simpler times”

  1. I love this Maureen! This is the first time I’ve see a Hollyhock Doll. It must have been someone else who showed you how to make them. XOXO

  2. I can’t remember who showed me, but it was a long time ago. I just had it in the back of my brain and one day when I was walking with Ema and Adia down some back alleys, we saw some hollyhocks blooming and I remembered about the dolls. So I told them we might try to make some. We didn’t get around to it before school started for them, so I just did it myself. They’re really fun to make different variations with all the different colors of flowers and flower parts. I only photographed two of the ones I made.

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