The Twine Doll

In 1967 Patsy- Ann was living in Kleinburg, Ontario. Farmers would come into the village from the fields to sell their crops and wares. Many items were wrapped in twine and it was a real festival atmosphere with food and vendors, even a town crier.

Twine was wrapped around the crops and they took it off and wrapped the twine to make small dolls that they would pin to their clothes to wear as a decoration.

Patsy-Ann started making the twine doll pins in 1968 and started selling them at the binder twine festival. The profits from her sales went to the binder twine committee and was put toward improvement of the town’s  buildings.

The small twine doll pins evolved into bigger twine dolls. A group of women gathered and some would bind the twine into dolls and others would make aprons for them. Patsy-Ann enjoyed it so much that she kept on making dolls on the side with one friend and began selling them privately. She took custom orders and even made two dolls into a lamp fixture, as well as a bride and groom for a wedding.

When the big Eatons store in downtown Toronto contacted Patsy-Ann to propose that she make dolls for them to sell in their store, she decided she would prefer to keep her business small and create unique dolls rather than moving to larger scale production.

Patsy-Ann made many beautiful dolls but her most treasured are the three that came with her when she moved to her new home.