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Pocket dolls find way to war-torn countries
(by Sali McSherry - October 29, 2009)
Pocket dolls find way to war-torn countries
By SALI McSHERRY
A shipment of 60 handmade pocket dolls soon will be on its way to U.S. soldiers in the Middle East thanks to True Hope Evans, of Chagrin Falls.
The colorful dolls, knitted by Mrs. Evans and several of her friends at Hamlet Village, also are known as "undercover peace offerings" for soldiers to give to children they see on the street, she said. They're called pocket dolls, because they easily fit into a soldier's pocket and weigh practically nothing, she said.
She started the project over 1 1/2 years ago when she read an article about a woman in Atlanta making dolls to send to soldiers so they could give them to children they meet. She sent a box of 50 of her pocket dolls to the cause and decided to start her own program and asked some of her friends who knitted to help.
Mrs. Evans, 89, knows a little something about knitting. She and her twin sister, Athalie, both former models in the early 1940s for a national advertising campaign for Pepsodent tooth powder, learned the art from a woman they met on a train. Mrs. Evans knitted her way through her adult life, sweaters for her three children, dolls and scarves, and owned a knitting shop in Chagrin Falls. For 30 years, she volunteered at the Sassy Cat, a shop full of handmade items, such as dolls, kids' clothes, crafts and home accessories, with proceeds benefiting local charities.
Art and volunteerism always have been a part of Mrs. Evans' life. Her apartment is filled with art, including watercolors of flowers she has painted. Currently a Meals-on-Wheels volunteer, she also continues making her knitted pocket dolls -- smiling little boys and girls dressed in colorful outfits and hats that can be machine-washed. She can sew up to three pocket dolls in an evening while she's watching television, Mrs. Evans said.
What is nice about making the dolls, she said, is that because they're little, they don't take long to knit. There's a sense of accomplishment and "you feel like you're doing a little something to help," she said.
Mrs. Evans also has knitted dolls that are available at the gallery shop at the Valley Art Center in Chagrin Falls.
For more information about participating in the pocket-dolls project, call Mrs. Evans at (440) 247-4818.
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