Take my love, take my land, Take me where I cannot stand. I don’t care, I’m still free, You can’t take the sky from me….
Do you recognise who this doll may be a tribute to? If you guessed Inara Serra from Firefly / Serenity, well done! It was such a great show. I remember the first time that I was introduced to their world. I first watched the Serenity movie at a movie marathon, going in I I’d never heard of it, and out of the 4 movies, I thought that it would be the most boring. How wrong was I?! It was the best of them all!
Inara was one of my favourite characters. Such beauty and poise.
Three years ago, my childhood friend had a daughter that she named after this gutsy heroine; and to be gifted a doll of her namesake seemed like a natural choice!
Here is my inspiration picture (gosh Morena is gorgeous!!):
And here she completed as a doll: 
I opted to create her outfit as a faux wrap dress, although the original appears to be a dress-like garment over a pantsuit? I thought that a young girl might appreciate being able to take her dress on and off, and so it fastens in the back with hook and loop tape. The necklace is inspired by Inara’s, and fashioned by myself. It closes with a lobster clasp and so my friend can choose to remove if need be.
I’ve had this lovely purple fabric in my stash for sometime, now I think that I have used it all up. I’m not sure what it’s composition is, but I purchased it as Spotlight maybe 10 years ago…? It is lovely and silky and I have a top that was made from it in it in a different colour way. The beautiful gold top under the wrap dress is made from the durable and shiny metallic felt available at the amazing My Felt Lady (affiliate link – 5% off your first purchase over $50). The same felt has been used to make her shoes.
I’m a little bit embarassed to admit how long it took me to create Anarah’s handmade Inara doll (I was creating with different patterns at the time of the request and so it took longer once I decided to make it out of my own, yet-to-be-created sewing pattern!), but I am sure that there are none-other like her in the ‘verse… and surely that’s something worth waiting for.. haha
P.S. After finishing the doll and writing this post, I feel I need a Firefly/Serenity marathon stat! BRB…