Remembering the dead
Dolls are created from old clothes to comfort those mourning loss of a loved one
Jennifer Arndt-Lind is sometimes overcome by sadness when sewing her creations – soft dolls made from the favourite t-shirts or often-worn garments of someone who has passed away.
The snipped-up garments are used to cover the torsos of the stuffed toys. Arndt-Lind adds to each a hippo-style head and limbs, made from her own stock of fabrics. The finished toy is meant to be a comforter for the bereaved, especially children.
In the beginning, at least, the dolls will still carry the scent of the sibling or parent or grandparent who has passed away.
Arndt-Lind’s theory is that keeping the odour of the dear departed with you will help you cope better with your grief.
“Cutting into such a material is not without its emotional moments,” the 38-year-old from the northern German town of Tostedt comments.
She says grieving children take her round-bellied dolls with them everywhere they go, including to bed.
She founded “mapapu” – an acronym from the German words for “Mom, Dad, doll” – in late 2013, working in the sewing room of her small house in Tostedt. It began with dolls for the children who were relocating as divorces swept through her own patchwork family.
Then came the 50-centimetre-tall cuddly dolls for new-born babies, for parents who had lost a child, for the dying patients in children’s hospices and for little ones who had lost an older family member.
Hendrik Lind, Jennifer’s proud husband, draws a comparison between her beginnings and those of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who started out building personal computers from a garage. But the earnings from nostalgic-scent cuddle toys are unlikely to run into the billions.
His wife is hoping that charities will back her start-up. Then they could supply bespoke dolls free of charge to Germany’s grieving children.
At a recent Bremen trade fair for suppliers to the funerals trade, Arndt-Lind with her table of stuffed toys was one of more than 140 teams of exhibitors looking for new business.
Arndt-Lind adds that her dolls are also appealing to men.
She recently took an order from a man to make a doll out of the pajamas of his wife and the baby clothing of his daughter.
His wife and daughter are very much alive. He wants the cuddly toys to comfort him while he is away from home, doing expert work on construction sites.
