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"Patches, patches, pick some pretty patches! Put the pretty patches in the patchwork quilt! Patches, patches, pick some pretty patches! I'm sewn and stuffed with cotton, they added yarn for hair, the one thing they forgot is a heart I do declare! But who needs a heart? Not me, I swear! From velvet to satin in blue or pink, and every fabric you could possibly think! Because when your made of patches, life is giddy all day! So I'll be singing my song, and dancing along, on my happy little patchwork way! "
Patchwork Girl

The Patchwork Girl aka Scraps is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in Baum's seventh Oz book titled The Patchwork Girl of Oz, published in 1913. Scraps comes from Oz's eastern quadrant known as the Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz and eventually becomes the love interest of the Scarecrow.

Baums' Description[]

"Ojo examined this curious contrivance with wonder. The Patchwork Girl was taller than he, when she stood upright, and her body was plump and rounded because it had been so neatly stuffed with cotton. Margolotte had first made the girl's form from the patchwork quilt and then she had dressed it with a patchwork skirt and an apron with pockets in it-- using the same gay material throughout. Upon the feet she had sewn a pair of red leather shoes with pointed toes. All the fingers and thumbs of the girl's hands had been carefully formed and stuffed and stitched at the edges, with gold plates at the ends to serve as finger-nails. The head of the Patchwork Girl was the most curious part of her. While she waited for her husband to finish making his batch of the Powder of Life the woman had found ample time to complete the head as her fancy dictated, and she realized that a good servant's head must be properly constructed. The hair was of brown yarn and hung down on her neck in several neat braids. Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons cut from a pair of the Magician's old trousers, and they were sewed on with black threads, which formed the pupils of the eyes. Margolotte had puzzled over the ears for some time, for these were important if the servant was to hear distinctly, but finally she had made them out of thin plates of gold and attached them in place by means of stitches through tiny holes bored in the metal. Gold is the most common metal in the Land of Oz and is used for many purposes because it is soft and pliable. "
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
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The Patchwork Girl of Oz!

The Patchwork girl is a life-size living doll made from various pieces of patchwork quilts. She's taller than a young boy, and her body is plump and rounded because it is stuffed with cotton. She wears a patchwork skirt, a patchwork apron with pockets, and red leather shoes with pointy toes. She has silver button eyes sewn on with black thread to create the pupils. Her hair is brown yarn done in braids. She has thin golden discs for ears and also golden fingernails. One of her cheeks is yellow and the other red, her chin blue, her forehead purple and her nose bright yellow. She has a red felt tongue, and pearl teeth.


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Patchwork Girl

The woman had cut a slit for the Patchwork Girl's mouth and sewn two rows of white pearls in it for teeth, using a strip of scarlet plush for a tongue. This mouth Ojo considered very artistic and lifelike, and Margolotte was pleased when the boy praised it. There were almost too many patches on the face of the girl for her to be considered strictly beautiful, for one cheek was yellow and the other red, her chin blue, her forehead purple and the center, where her nose had been formed and padded, a bright yellow.

Oz History: Scraps the Living Patchwork Doll[]

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The Patchwork Girl is the Scarecrows' love interest!

She was originally made by Margolotte, the Munchkin wife of Dr. Pipt, to be a servant girl. The patchwork quilt had been made by her grandmother, and never used as it wasn't all blue; Marglotte thought it was an excellent choice as it would keep her future servant from thinking herself very beautiful. She made the doll with great care while her husband spent six years creating the Powder of Life to make her live. She intended to give the girl only a few brains - obedience, truth, amiability and a little cleverness. Ojo, who was visiting the magician with his Unc Nunkie, felt that this was unfair and gave Scraps all of the kinds of brains the magician kept. As a result, Scraps has courage, learning, judgment, ingenuity, self reliance, poesy, and a double dose of cleverness in addition to the amiability, obedience, and truth. Unfortunately Ojo did not get the balance exactly right, so she seems a bit crazy to those around her. She was named "Scraps" by the Glass Cat, although Margolotte wanted to name her "Angeline".

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Patchwork Girl with Ojo in Munchkin Country.

When she was brought to life, she flung out an arm, knocking the Powder of Life from the magician's hand. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte both jumped, and accidentally knocked the Liquid of Petrifaction onto themselves; they were both turned into marble. There was no Powder of Life left; it had all spilled onto a phonograph, and it would take six years to make a new batch. Ojo, Scraps, and Bungle set out across Oz to collect the ingredients for a remedy to the Liquid of Petrifaction which could bring Unc Nunkie and Margolotte back to life. They met the Woozy and the Shaggy Man on their way to the Emerald City.

Along the way, Scraps and the Scarecrow met for the first time. Both were very impressed with each other. The Guardian of the Gates was also impressed, and wrote a song in her honor called "The Speckled Alligator".

Scraps accompanied Ojo as he continued his quest, joined by Dorothy Gale and the Scarecrow. They resolved a war between the Hoppers and Horners and met the Tin Woodman before returning to the Emerald City where Scraps was set free from servitude to her creators. (The Patchwork Girl of Oz)

Book appearances[]

Other Media[]

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Disney.

Scraps has always been a popular character, however she has appeared in only six film productions, two of which were made for television. When L. Frank Baum produced a film version of the title story, he was not able to find a woman of athleticism suitable to play the role, and therefore cast the male French acrobat Pierre Couderc. She was portrayed by Doreen Tracy on the 4th Anniversary episode of Disneyland.

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Scraps.

Oz Kids[]

In The Oz Kids, she was voiced by Lori Alan and had numerous infant patchwork kids.

Return to Oz[]

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The Patchwork Girl as portrayed in Return to Oz by an unknown actor.

She also appeared in Walter Murch's Return to Oz (film) as an unbilled extra in the coronation scene.[1]

2005[]

Thundertoad Animation's comparatively primitive CGI version of her story from 2005 featured Cyndi Hotopp in the title role.

Her image was also used to advertise desks. There were at least two versions of this ad used as a classroom poster and issued by American Seating Company. These posters include the statement "These quaint characters are quoted from the famous Oz books and were created by L. Frank Baum. Used by permission of Reilly and Lee Company, the publishers." An earlier version of the poster is printed mostly in green and orange, a later version has more colors. A picture of a girl sitting at a desk in the lower right corner is also different in these two versions.

Lost in Oz[]

In the pilot episode of the never-aired television series Lost in Oz (pilot), The Patchwork Girl appeared in a re-imagined form, this time under the name Serena. She did not appear made of patchwork in this series, although some parts of her were stitched together. Later, after being stabbed, she is shown to have the familiar colorful patchwork beneath her dark outer appearance. She also always spoke in rhymes. She was one of the three main characters in the show.

Serena's new backstory was as follows: She was the best friend of the girl who was cursed to become the new Wicked Witch of the West after the original was killed by Dorothy Gale. Once that girl became the new witch, Serena tried to stop her and was killed. She was later stitched back together.

Lost in Oz (Book)[]

Scraps is also one of the main Oz characters in the Lost in Oz (book series) trilogy by Joshua Patrick Dudley. She joins the modern teens in the first novel, where she was torn apart and restitched, and becomes a close companion of the main characters throughout the next two novels. Her character is wittier than ever and often offers the characters of Lost in Oz sound advice.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz[]

PWG serves as a recurring love interest for Scarecrow in this series. She is voiced by Jessica DiCicco.

The Bricklayer Music Video[]

Mylo Bybee, "The Bricklayer" music video, Patchwork Girl

Scraps as she appears in The Bricklayer music video.

Scraps is the central character in Mylo Bybee's Oz-based music video The Bricklayer.

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