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Doll makers (Waldorf/Steiner in particular)


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One of life's great disappointments! I was booked in to do a dollmaking workshop, terribly excited because I found a pic on the teacher's website that is EXACTLY the type of doll I want to make for dd for when ds is born. I have a Waldorf/Steiner doll book, and this type of doll isn't in it. Now, I've been told I can't make that doll in the workshop :( I can't just go back to my previous plan, because I now know the existance of this 'perfect, exactly what I want' doll. I'm sure you understand... Now I have the close to impossible task of trying to figure out how to make Perfect Doll. Here's a pic, it's the one on the right: http://www.specialfriendswaldorfdolls.com/clients/45615/1837768_org.jpg I do have the directions, in my book, for the middle two dolls, but I've never made a doll before, so I'm feeling stuck. Has anyone got any hints for me? Maybe between my book, and your hints, I'll be able to figure it out. Isn't it just the most baby-like baby doll ever?

!!

Rosie the traumatised...

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I made one sortof like this using a kit from Magic Cabin when they were Magic Cabin dolls. Mine was stuffed though. It was fairly easy. You make the head just like you do on the other dolls but leave the face blank. The body is cut out from the fleece and just sewn together and then sewn to the head. The hat on this one is really cute mine has a pointed hat. E-mail or pm me and I will look for my directions this weekend.

 

These dolls are really a piece of cake for a basic sewer and a lot of fun to make. I'd love to make them for a living but I am not that good. Hope you have fun with it.:001_smile:

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I've made several of these and they are easier than the regular dolls (with shaped heads)

 

Take an old baby sock and stuff it with wool as hard as you can. Tie it off. Take the skin material and make the face, just like the book says for the shaped heads, pull it over the stuffed sock and tie it off under the chin.

 

Make the hands and feet, just like the books says for the blue dolls next to it in the picture. (Like the head, but smaller and only using the stockinette.) Make the hands slightly smaller than the feet.

 

Cut a rectangle for the body, slightly larger than twice the size you want. Fold it over at the shoulders. Cut a SMALL hole to stuff the "neck" through. Sew the head to the neck hole (turning it under so it doesn't unravel).

 

Sew the sides of the rectangle, leaving about a half inch to put the hands and feet. Sew the bottom, leaving 2-3 inches to stuff it through.

 

Sew the hands and feet in place, turning the edge of the body under so it doesn't unravel.

 

Stuff the body, not as hard as the head, more like a pillow would feel.

 

Sew the hole you put the stuffing through.

 

For the hat, cut another rectangle about 2 inches wider than the head and twice as long as you want it. Fold it over (wring sides together) and sew. Turn it right side out and sew onto the head (folding the edge under so it won't unravel.) Tack the hat down in the middle with a small bow.

 

Ta Da!

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I have faith that this will be as easy as you guys are saying...

 

:)

Rosie- with a sparkle of hope!

 

Oh, yes, I made one of these and it was so much easier than the typical (2nd from left) Waldorf doll. Of course, on the regular doll I've been known to sew doll arms on upside down ... rip them out and sew them back on still upside down ... so you can see that I am doll-making-impaired.

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Oh, yes, I made one of these and it was so much easier than the typical (2nd from left) Waldorf doll. Of course, on the regular doll I've been known to sew doll arms on upside down ... rip them out and sew them back on still upside down ... so you can see that I am doll-making-impaired.

 

Oh, I'm with you, love! My mother and I spent a whole weekend trying to get an arm onto a cotehardie before we realised it was inside out. Mum used to be a machinist, so should have known better! I, of course, wouldn't have more that a fraction of a clue. Anyway, a year and a half later the cotehardie is still unfinished. Of course, it wouldn't be any good to me if it was finished, since I'm too big, fat and pregnant to fit into tailored clothing.

My grandmother was a dollmaker. Maybe when I get started, she'll come and ghost around sending me inspiration in a muse-like way.

:)

Rosie- who has spare fabric just in case...

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  • 1 month later...

I've made a mock up, decided I don't like parts of it, and dreamed up solutions. I had better make another mock up just to make sure they work though: My question is about the body. Ought I be using cotton knit fabric, or something less stretchy? I've got both lying around and imagine the non-stretchy is the right choice, though the book doesn't specify.

 

Thanks,

Rosie

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  • 3 weeks later...

Look carefully at the likeness and the differences between the two dolls on the right. The blue doll's directions will have all the techniques you need for the baby doll. The face is slightly different in shape, but the hat attacheds to the head. Instead of a triangle, the baby's hat is a rectangle. The babies body is also a rectangle. The hands and feet of both dolls are the same. In fact, the baby is probably the easier of the two dolls to make. I'd make the "blue" doll in the workshop and then make the baby at home using what I had learned in class.

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