Followers

Saturday 29 September 2018

First ever Waldorf Doll :0)

Well, I finally made my very first ever Waldorf Doll :0)




I shall still be making bears; however increasingly, I can see the dolls pulling me in a different direction much of the time. Mind you, that will depend on whether I can get the hang of it and improve a lot.

This little girl isn’t too bad for a first attempt, but I see lots to improve on. The eyes could be a bit bigger; and the hair!! Well, what about that hair ………. it’s a big ball of frizz! It’s a crocheted wig cap using a brushable mohair wool and designed for this purpose. And to be fair to myself, others who make this type of wig for their dolls do end up with a bit of frizz, but mine seems so much worse somehow – as I say, much to learn yet. These dolls are very time intensive (more so than the bears) and there is a very particular method to constructing the face, so you have to take your time.

My inspiration are ladies such as Jenny at Little Jenny Wren Dolls, Astrid at LittleDoll House, Fabio at Fig and Me and Anouk at Mon Pilou – check out their totally gorgeous dolls!!

I made my doll as part of a Facebook MAL (make along!) run by Astrid (above), who runs occasional ‘makes’ based on her two 13-inch and 18-inch Waldorf style dolls, including clothes for them. A very talented lady! My little girl is dressed in Halloween theme clothing seeing as that’s the next season to celebrate. The hooded coat is also one of Astrid’s.

Here are a few more photos; and I hope I won’t offend anyone with a bit of nakedness, but I want to show you her cute little belly button and bum as well :0)





I’m not expecting any great compliments, because as I said earlier, she’s not in any way perfect (compared to ladies mentioned above anyway), but as a first attempt, I think she’s turned out not too bad. I just wanted to showcase her for the record.





For anyone not familiar with Waldorf Dolls, they originate from a principal of education called Steiner – developed by Rudolf Steiner around 1919. Its approach endeavours to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills in a holistic way; promoting their imagination through creative play. A traditional Waldorf doll is made of natural materials, generally filled with pure wool stuffing and the hair and clothing materials are also made from natural fibres. The dolls face is intentionally simple in order to allow the child to use its imagination. By giving the doll a face with little or no particular expression, the child will give the doll a personality through imaginative play. These days however, the original doll has been developed by very talented people into a craft and create beautiful dolls with beautiful faces (which is what I want to do!).

There are Steiner schools all over the globe.