Remember Beanie? (She's the one above in the pleather shoes, matted hair, and denim jumpsuit. There has long been disagreement if Beanie is a girl or boy, but Lupine and I are clear – she's a girl.)
She's been with us since, oh, 1975 but in earnest since Lupine found her in a box in the basement in 2008. She's been loved. Loved with a capital L. Loved to the point of losing her beanies all over our bed, our car, and the coop floor on a daily basis. There is only so much mending you can do before a denim jumpsuit simply gives way to decay.
And so it became clear last night that Beanie's androgynous jumpsuit days were over. Lupine slept with her tied inside a small cloth bag for one last night ("Look at her new dress!" Lupine called out, proving her eternal flexibility) and then we decided that we'd do some surgery. Beanie was going to get a new body.
And so, the next morning… I cut her head off.
I did it with my sharpest shears and with one (worried) eye on my three year old ("Beanie's gonna be really freaky!" she called, a smile all over her face). It was scary, yes – for me. (Who among you has beheaded not only their own but also their child's most beloved plaything?! Normal people don't do these things.)
At that point there was no turning back.
Using a Waldorf doll pattern as my jumping off point, I drew up a new pattern (sized to match Beanie's body) and sewed up new legs, torso, and arms. It was harried but Lupine (and Beanie) was steady all the while.
In the end, I breathed a sigh of relief as her head attached firmly to her shoulders and Lupine swept her up in her arms and danced away with her through the house. Beanie is now part Waldorf doll stuffed with millet and wool (rather than matted polyester and plastic pellets) and part old-school Mattel, bearing Beanie's dreaded head and eternal plastic smile.
Considering the basket of (head-to-toe) Waldorf dolls at his disposal, Sage fell for her surprisingly hard after her surgery. He's asked me to thrift another Beanie, cut off her head, and make him one too. Hmmm…I think that's sweet, but its all been so confusing…
And now? Beanie needs clothes. Lupine and Sage are both obsessed over her new wardrobe. And nowhere on the request list is a denim jumpsuit either.
P.S. What were my grandparents thinking? Though I don't remember her this way, this is apparently what she (he?!) looked like new. Disco inferno!