Making Waldorf Dolls

     I am making all the kids a Waldorf doll for Christmas, and I have finally completed one doll and outfit.  Isn't he cute? The other two dolls are finished now as well, but I haven't finished their clothes yet.  This one is Samuel's, and of course it is a little boy doll.  He got to be the Guinna pig, since I know Samuel won't care how he looks as much as the girls will care how their dolls look.

    Making the dolls turned out to be quite a bit more challenging than I thought it would be.  I think I partly brought that on my self, since I chose Joy's "Baby Companion" pattern, which she says is her most difficult pattern.  Considering I've never made a Waldorf doll before, and am not very experienced at sewing, I probably should have started with something simpler.  I guess I like a challenge.  Either that, or I am crazy.
     The hardest part was stuffing it.  It's not like most stuffed toys, where you just keep adding filling until it feels right.  With a Waldorf doll, you have to shape it before you stuff it, so it's hard to determine how much wool will fill it out, but not be too much. All three doll have a different "feel" to them, since I couldn't stuff them all the same, but I guess that is what it means to be handmade.  I know one thing for sure now; a pre-made Waldorf doll is worth every penny. 

     I put a little wool heart into each of the dolls, and even though you can't see it, I know it's there, and I think it makes it more special. 

     Crocheting the wig was the one thing I though for sure would be a breeze, and still turned out to be a lot harder, or at least more tedious than I anticipated.  I can probably crochet a little bennie cap in my sleep, but keeping all the mohair strands separate was slow and tedious.  This is definitely a labor intensive way to make a wig, but the end result is very cool.  As you can see, when I was working on it, it looked like a little bowl of hair, and then sewed on, it really looks like real hair, and can be combed and styled too. 

     Sewing the arms and legs on was absolutely maddening, and you can see they're not perfect, but he feels soft and snugly, and he is very cute.