In which I make my first Waldorf doll.

Recently, Sweet Pea's awesome aunt bought her adorable cousin a Waldorf doll. Before she shelled out for the doll, Aunt Awesome asked me if I had any connections in the Waldorf world, or if any crafters I knew made these dolls. Sadly, the answer was no. It did, however, lead me to a lot of reading and research. Then it lead me to a lot of wanting for my own little girl to have a special doll of her own.
Unfortunately, because each doll is hand crafted (which takes HOURS) of purely natural materials (which are expensive!) the price was prohibitive for us. So, I bought a kit, and $30 US later, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the bits and pieces of Sweet Pea's very own special baby.
Well, on Thursday the kit arrived. 6 oz of wool batt, a very little bit of cotton interlock, some threads, tubular stockinette, and a crocheted mohair wig. Oh, and the pattern, of course. I was so excited to get things going, that I neglected to take a lot of photos.
Thursday night I fashioned the head for Sweet Pea's baby. It took a bit of time, and I was really glad that I know what I know about the properties of unspun wool fibres. Otherwise, the process would have been maddening.
When I was done, I had this:


Btw, in case you're wondering, tubular stockinette is actually tubular ribbing.
I made the body up on Friday night, and gave her a little face. I stitched her hair on this morning, and gave her to Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea thought she was nice, but she was a little more interested in playing peek-a-boo under her quilt.


Nonetheless, I was/am rather pleased with my first attempt. I think she's cute as a button!


This was definitely a learning experience - there are things I would do differently in the future. What I'm hoping to do is to learn via the use of a few kits. Make some different sized dolls, use some different techniques, and maybe eventually get really good at making these wonderful babies.