Waldorf Doll Head Made Easier with Wool Yarn

I don't usually permit myself to get stressed out about the children's birthdays and the resultant parties--it's tacky, in my opinion, to play the put-upon drama queen about something that I, myself, chose to make a big deal out of--but nevertheless, this has been an unusually stressful week or so. The kiddos are again testing the boundaries with schoolwork, I haven't been feeling well (cancer or allergies?), most of the homeschool playdates and groups that make up my social network have been canceled because of this heat wave we've been having, my treadmill is busted, one of my best friends has the audacity to be planning an imminent move AWAY from me, the water heater is also busted, blah blah blah, which means that the fact that I do most of the kids' birthday prep and much of the party prep without assistance is, frankly, stressful this week.

And yes, I WOULD like some cheese with my whine. Brie, please, because since my treadmill is busted, I might as well give up entirely.

I've been making Willow a Waldorf doll, one that I needed to have finished for her by her birthday, and whose outfits I needed to sew up and photograph and review by this weekend for Crafting a Green World. I'm glad that I'm getting a Waldorf doll made for each of my daughters, since I've always wanted them to have one, but I'm also quite glad that after Willow's doll, my Waldorf dollmaking days will be over until I have grandchildren--I'm finding Waldorf dolls to be a fussy project, and the embroidery and hand-sewing are not my specialties.

Thank goodness this Waldorf doll has been a little simpler to make than the last one--between the two, I discovered this method of using wool yarn to form the doll's head, instead of wool roving, and it's a terrific trick!

I'm using stash wool yarn from Knit Picks

starting the ball

The ball of yarn should measure 10" circumference

 It was a GREAT tip, making the process of forming the doll's head so much less fussy and time-consuming. I also tried to tie the inner head strings using the same yarn, to make it sturdier than it was when I used thread--

--but that was a mistake. I'm using a light skin fabric to match my daughters' complexions that they inherited from their father (you can't tell from photos, but I'm darker than Matt is, especially in the summer), and of course the blue showed through.

I also shouldn't have wrapped the wool yarn ball quite as firmly as I did, because I don't think that I was able to get as much definition with the inner strings as I could with the roving, but I think it made up for it in the fact that the head itself is much firmer, and so I think it still looks better and has a more pleasing heft: 

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong with all the griping--yep, this doll project is fussy, and time-consuming, and challenging, but it IS do-able. In addition, a handmade Waldorf doll, even springing for a store-bought pattern and doll-full of wool roving, is vastly cheaper than a purchased one, and both my kiddos, even at the ripe old ages of six and (gasp!) eight, LOVE their dolls, which I honestly don't think they'd do if I'd simply handed them a store-bought one. So, make one! I've even got a Waldorf dolls and dollmaking pinboard that I'm still adding to, in direct contradiction to my claim that I'm not going to make another one for many, many years. 

Okay, now I'm off to start making Willow's treasure map brownie cake, and to see if she's still pitching a fit about her report on Indiana (in response to my insistence that several random facts strung together does NOT a report make), and to put the skull crayons in the oven to melt down, and to mow the lawn, and to find the face paint...

...or maybe I'll just take a shower, then get drunk and eat brownie batter.

A Finished Waldorf Doll

A purchased pattern.

Lots of wool.

SO much hand-sewing (don't look too closely!).

The consultation of a very many Waldorf doll web tutorials and walk-throughs.

Another purchase:

Hair that already needs to be mended (sigh...).

Hallelujah, a massive wardrobe taken entirely from a collection of doll clothes previously owned (and sewn?) by the children's great-grandmother.

And the day before her birthday, her Waldorf doll was finished:

Sydney really, really loves her, in that kind of love that makes you carefully pack away the extras of the fabric and yarn that you used, because you know there are going to be some serious repair jobs coming your way one day soon.

Waldorf Doll WIP: Second Round

Nope, I'm not counting how many hours it's taking to create my first Waldorf doll. But...let's just say I've been making a lot of progress on my Hulu queue.

Yep, Syd is watching me work. Her opinions change by the hour about the prospective length of her doll's hair (no matter what she eventually "decides", the doll's hair is going to be down to its feet, to commemorate Sydney's greatest wish to have the longest hair in the world).

Nope, I'm not pleased with how it's turning out; my hand-sewing is SO amateur-ish! But it does help that every time Sydney pops by to check in on my progress and spies her doll, her eye light up, she smiles a huge smile, and she exclaims in happiness and excitement. SHE doesn't think my hand-sewing is ugly.

beginning to embroider the eyes and mouth

finished face, with features both embroidered and drawn with beeswax crayons

machine-stitching to form the arms

arms sewn across the back of the shoulders

tracing the pattern for the body and legs

the torso pinned into place, ready to hand-sew

I'm hoping that it looks less like it wants to eat my face off after I add a full head of humanoid hair and put it into a homemade dress.

Waldorf Doll WIP

For the girls' birthdays this year, they are each going to receive (hopefully) one Momma-made Waldorf doll.

I could have made the same claim three years ago, because that's how long this project has been in my head, but I mean it this year. If I procrastinate much longer, I'll have lost the chance entirely to give Willow the doll during the period of her childhood when it can be a real playmate to her, and for Sydney, I think this is going to be a magical present.

If I get them made, of course.

The project, which I would have told you up until I actually began it was prohibitively difficult, is actually not so bad. It's complicated, yes, and my results are clearly far from perfect so far, but it's do-able, and the doll is turning out, if not perfect, quite acceptable.

I'm using the Magic Cabin doll pattern, but Cotton Waldorf Doll Skin Fabric from Weir Crafts--

--although if I want to make more Waldorf dolls beyond the three that I currently have the materials for, I'm hoping that I can source the fabric locally. This first time, it was just too hard to figure out exactly what to buy, so I bought the stuff specifically labeled for Waldorf dollmaking.

Using the pattern and a huge variety of online Waldorf dollmaking tutorials, my first doll has been coming together!

gathering the top of the head 

tucking it in

laying out a piece of wool to wrap the wool head stuffing in

forming a wool ball to stuff the head

head and shoulders ready to tie off

skin fabric stitched over the head, and pins to mark the features

skin fabric stitched over the top and back of the head (it will be covered by the hair)

Now all I have to do is sew the body, piece it together, stitch the details, embroider the facial features, construct the hair and sew it on, sew a dress, and ideally dye Sydney a pink play silk (one of the few colors she doesn't already have!) to wrap it in.

Oh, and her birthday is on Sunday.

P.S. I do have a Waldorf dollmaking pinboard, where I've been trying to collect all the good tips and tricks and tutorials and ideas that I come across, if you'd like to check it out.

A Doll in Your Pocket Makes the World Go Right

I've been wanting to make Waldorf dolls for the kids forEVER, but they're so complicated, and I'd have to get my head around crafting with new wool, and blah blah blah the time just never seemed right.

With the help of however, I've decided to at least start. Start small, perhaps. And the kids, for some reason, have lately been taking it in turns to seriously balk at going to school. We're talking tantrum-at-the-door balk. So the first project detailed in Making Waldorf Dolls, a tiny little pocket doll, SUPER tiny to fit in small hands and to hide in small pockets, seemed just about right.

Instead of the gauze called for to make the doll's head, I used a tan tie-dyed T-shirt. Instead of new wool rolled into a ball to stuff the doll's head, I used a pompom from the children's craft stash. Otherwise, it went like this:

Circles for the head: Stuffed and tied:Little doll bodies:With yarn for hair:I gave the kids one each, for now (there might be more hiding in Easter eggs in little woven baskets next weekend). They ADORE them. They take them everywhere, and pull them out all the time for just a few minutes of play anywhere they happen to be, not unlike the way I pull out my notebook and pen to write for a minute or two wherever I happen to be. I need to make them little necklace pouches or something, in fact, because they are very disturbed when they're not wearing an outfit that has a pocket for the doll, and they've taken to tucking them into their underpants in such circumstances.

Handy, of course, but the fishing around in public is a bit of a problem, as is, of course, sanitation. 

The little kid's doll, especially, tends to accompany her the majority of the time, no matter what she's doing:I didn't tell her, in so many words, that the doll was meant to comfort her in times when she needed me and I wasn't there, but I think she's figured it out for herself.

P.S. Want to follow along with my unfinished craft projects, books I'm reading, cute photos of the cats, high school chemistry labs, and other various adventures on the daily? Find me on my Craft Knife Facebook page!