Sew-a-Saint: St. Josephine Bakhita (Fabric)

In creating this Sew-a-Saint of St. Mother Josephine Bakhita, I focused on several iconic images of her for both inspiration and historical accuracy. Her face, long and narrow, is captured with a hint of the calm smile she carried with her. On her head is her iconic wrap, immediately identifying this amazing woman. In great detail hangs, around her neck, a gold necklace of Our Lady of Sorrows (the doll you purchase has OLS perfectly drawn in detail).

In researching this amazing woman, half the images created of her show her with chains on her arms, reflective of both the time she spent in slavery as well as some of the final words she uttered during her final days: “Please, loosen the chains… they are heavy!”. I chose to not put the chains on her, and instead focused on the time from her conversion. However, I do think it would be remiss to not include something sharing her time as an enslaved woman; the background of the print has a metal bar, almost caged feel, to it, which reminds us of the intense brutality of her early years.

These plush dolls are absolutely beginner friendly, and can be sewn by hand or with a machine. Hand drawn, each comes printed on a fat-quarter of fabric and is ready to sew. Instructions are printed on the fabric, ensuring you’ll know how to make it as soon as it arrives in your mailbox.

Please note that the images displayed on your screen are slightly blurred to protect copyrights. The images on the printed fabric are crisp and clear.