Skip to main content

Waldorf dolls

Waldorf-style doll made by Linda Theil.

In the 1970s the United Methodist Women of Dutilh United Methodist Church in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania sponsored a holiday project to dress baby-dolls for children in need. The UMW provided cute-but-inexpensive, naked, plastic dolls to anyone who wished to dress the dolls. The dressed dolls were returned to the church and distributed to children for the holidays. I participated in the project and got a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from making the baby-dolls look beautiful in clothes I made from commercial patterns.

 I have been hoping to replicate that enjoyment by making my grand-daughter a baby-doll, but I wanted a soft doll for her, so I checked out the doll patterns on the Web and discovered the Waldorf-style doll would be exactly what I wanted.

I bought Maricristin Sealey's Making Waldorf Dolls (Hawthorn Press, 2005) and watched many of the myriad Waldorf doll-making videos on YouTube. 

 I studied the information, and it looked so daunting, I decided I'd see if I could find a doll-pattern from one of the pattern companies that might make the process a little more accessible to me. I purchased Simplicity pattern #2809 for a 15-inch cloth baby-doll and gave it a try.
Cloth doll made with Simplicity pattern #2809

Making the Simplicity doll wasn't very easy. This doll is supposed to have ears! Putting the head on the body was very challenging. The results weren't spectacular, so I thought I might as well give the Waldorf doll a try.

 I didn't want to handicap my efforts by not having the proper tools, so I purchased $50 worth of materials and equipment from Weir Crafts, an online site that specializes in Waldorf doll-making supplies. I bought:

  • a beautiful fine, cotton-knit, doll-skin fabric,
  • wool stuffing that is de rigueur for Waldorf dolls (no fiberfill for these babies!),
  • cotton gauze tubing for making the head,
  • a set of doll-making needles (very handy!)
  • some ball-point needles for my sewing machine
  • and patterns for making the dolls and clothes.

Even though I had the Sealey book that also has patterns in it, I thought the Weir patterns might be useful; I was looking for the key bit of information that would crack the doll code for me.

 The key to the Waldorf doll is the method for attaching the head -- which includes stuffing the head and creating a "muff" that will fill the doll torso, before attaching the head and muff to the body. For me, this method worked better than stuffing after the head is attached that was featured in the Simplicity pattern.
Close-up view of Linda Theil's Waldorf doll.

Emerson tucked her new dolls and her old bear in for their nap.

Here's a Kathe Kruse video "How Waldorf Dolls are Made" from Guerilla Fluff that shows the doll-making process. There are other videos available on YouTube that demonstrate how to make a Waldorf doll at home.
Kathe Kruse video, "How Waldorf Dolls are Made"

Resources:
http://www.hawthornpress.com/books/crafts-and-family-activities/making-waldorf-dolls/
http://www.weircrafts.com/
http://www.simplicity.com/p-1733-crafts.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4QWhmj51ZM

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Notes on Purl Soho Cross-back Apron pattern

Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized,  front view Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized,   back view by Linda Theil This is the Purl Soho Cross-back Apron featured on their website at  https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/11/20/cross-back-apron . Their page includes complete directions for making this one-size-fits-most apron with large, side-pockets and cross-back straps. This retro apron is so nicely made and looks so much like the apron my grandma wore in the Nineteen-fifties that I had to make one for my friend who appreciates the nostalgia and the beauty of this design. Although this apron pattern, as published, can adjust to several sizes from 2-10; I also made a larger option, adjusting the width of the pattern pieces to accommodate up to size 16 and up. Size adjustment may also be made by varying the length of the straps. These notes are a record of my experience with the pattern, and should only be viewed as...
13 comments
Read more

Plover Pouch adaptation

by linda Theil I made several adaptations to Noodlehead's "Plover Pouch" for Emerson's birthday present. I had previously given her a medium-sized "Plover Pouch" that she added a cross-body strap to, so thought I'd make her a larger, sturdier bag with the crossbody strap built in. I modified the zip-end detail featured in the pattern to allow me to insert the strap ends into the top of the gusset. The "Plover Pouch" pattern includes three sizes with the largest measuring 12 x 7.5 x 4-inches. For the large bag, I used "Hedgehog Hollow" cottons by In the Beginning fabrics for the front and back exterior panels and the lining. I machine quilted the front and back panels to increase the stiffness of the bag, and I interfaced the lining with iron-on fleece as well. That was actually an accident, but the fleece interfacing in the lining worked out pretty well. The side-panel and bag-base gusset are made of Mora faux leather. I used a #5 dou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Notebook cover from Arabesque

by Linda Theil I just finished making the "Crafted Life Companion" notebook-cover designed by Australian Ali Phillips of Arabesque Scissors . I've made several of Phillips' patterns and have come to experience Phillips as creating at the same stratospheric level as English designer Diane Spencer Ogg for brilliant design innovation and attention to minute specificity in their patterns. Both creators are also highly professional and skilled presenters in their step-by-step demonstration videos for every design. Please see Phillips' video at the end of this post. The Arabesque notebook cover is designed to fit an A5 notebook size, and includes a sleeve for notepads up to 4 x 8-inches. Other pocket options are included in the pattern -- most of which I left out in my first version. I did take advantage of a marvelously useful innovation Phillips provided: a beautifully designed "coloring page" that helped enormously to keep all my pattern pieces organized....
Post a Comment
Read more