Waldorf Dolls

About a year ago now, Ariadne became fascinated with babies.  She was just a bit over one, maybe 15  months.  Both Christmas and her next birthday were far, far away.  I wanted her to have a soft, huggable doll just her own, and just her size.  I remembered my mom making Waldorf dolls for me and my sister  (why this didn't occur to me until my third daughter, I couldn't say). The idea of making one for Aria took hold and I did far more research than necessary, which is typical for me.

Here I am using all three resources simultaneously

The main tutorial I followed was entitled A Doll For Every Child on the Living Crafts website.  Instructions for the nose were from Silver Penny.  I also consulted the instructions my mother used (can't find the title right now), and the book Making Waldorf Dolls by Maricristin Sealy that my friend Libby lent me.

  

Since young toddlers and needles don't mix, doll making became the thing I would look forward to after all the kids were in bed.  Most of the sewing was by hand, which was usually less hassle than getting out the sewing machine.

The face was embroidered using embroidery floss that had been my Grandma Ruth's.  She was an avid cross-stitcher, and I think she made dolls on occasion as well.

In general, I must say, the hair was the hardest, and is still a little thinner than I'd like--more time with a yarn and a crochet hook would fix that, of course.  Ariadne's doll was well loved, even before she had hair.

Nova saw what I was up to, and wanted to try too.  One night we stayed up together and made a tiny little soft bodied doll.  Surprisingly, I think it was harder than the larger doll.







Charlotte also liked the doll and asked for one of her own.  I made one in secret.  Secret sewing is so fun!  After lots of trolling the Internet, I found good instructions for curly hair here.  Getting the doll done in time for Charlotte's birthday was a close thing; consequently, she arrived in her birthday suit.   Charlotte named her doll Ruby.  Ariadne's remains 'Dolly' for the moment.  Grandma Roberta crocheted dresses for both Ruby and Dolly, which is what they are wearing in the photo at the beginning of the blog.