The Oamaru Cloth Doll Crafters (OCDC) tutor loves the process of creating the dolls, from doodling the pattern, to her "passion" of needle sculpting to make 3-D faces.
Mrs Mitchell started making cloth dolls in 2009, and once she taught herself, she began sharing her passion with the rest of the community.
"It really appealed to me — the quirkiness, the colour and the fact that people could recognise and see themselves," Mrs Mitchell said.
"Once they try it, they become addicted ... usually, they start and they just don’t stop."
Creating thousands of dolls — "I’ve lost count" — never got boring, as she never made the same thing twice.
In 2019, Mrs Mitchell hosted her first exhibition, a 14-piece collection inspired by the stage production The Lion King.
"That took me about five months to put it all together and that was in between life."
She has made every type of doll, including Harry Potter characters, rag dolls, drag queens, steam punk and even statement pieces to fundraise for Breast Cancer awareness.
OCDC sessions were held once a week during summer and workshops were held four times a year. Mrs Mitchell’s doll patterns were sold worldwide, she held workshops throughout New Zealand, online tutorials and was the co-ordinator of online group Cloth Doll Crafters.
"That’s people from all over the world. It keeps me up with the trends and what people like to do."
— Kayla Hodge
