A Waldorf adventure

Pixie, 22 inches tall. 

Mich, a regular tomboy who skins her knees all the time. Hair made of acrylic wool, hooked onto crocheted cap. This time round, instead of a round cap, I crocheted a cap which forms a hairline.

Little Lulu is just about two inches tall, ready for the next flea market. Made her hair from pink and gold satin ribbons. Second attempt in making hair this way. Some ribbons are easier to unravel and I was lucky to have some broad pink ones on hand -- a breeze to pull the horizon strand, leaving the vertical ones as silky hair.

This is another 18-inch doll I made. I believe she is extremely huggable. Trying to use up all the black wool from my last doll. I found that when I tried to trim the hair, the cut off bits tend to cling to the face.  But it was okay as you could brush them off with a towel :) Or perhaps you can try the sticky tape! When I was a kid, tiny polka dotted materials were my favourite. I still like them today.

This is the biggest doll I have made so far, almost 18 inches. I love making the shoes, crocheted with soft cotton yarn. The look was based on a description my friend gave -- her first doll that she bought with her own money when she was a kid. 

This little girl is about six inches tall. I haven't got a name for her yet. Any ideas? :) Took me an afternoon to complete. Pig tail added after hair (brushed out crocheted cap) was sewn onto head. Tights made from a sock. Scarf made from a bit of lace. Bonnet and sweater knitted. 

Adding the lace at the hem makes a lot of difference, I think. And this is the first time I tried making a boy doll. The hair was easy -- I just crocheted a cap with yarn that has tufts of hairy bits and then sew it onto the head.

This is the first time I tried hair that is made from satin ribbons. There are lots of tutorials online teaching you how you can make wefts from satin ribbons. Fascinating! You are supposed to straighten to kinks with one of those heated devices for real hair. But I didn't and it seemed to be ok :)

My "2nd generation" dolls -- they have fingers :) And they have shoes!

TINY waldorf dolls are easy and fast to make. These two took one afternoon -- and an evening. The hair took the longest time as I had to hook each strand onto the cap I crocheted. I also separated the yarn into three strands for the second doll, because I like the "wiry" effect. But the best part was styling it. You can try all sorts of things -- braiding, tying bows, hair bands. I crocheted tiny pouches for the body and stuffed them really well so that there is a small belly. Then I stitched the illusion of legs and hands.

Here's Carrot! Then, I made sure I stitch the jawline otherwise there will be unsightly bulges at both sides of the face.  Then I wrap the skin over tightly. Here's the front. 

Six inch tall, with crocheted body. I love making her gown from a bit of lace curtain.  And here's her groom! Suit made from felt and cravat from a satin ribbon. 

THESE take only about an hour to complete! I used table leg socks (ready made) for the body. Stuff them really well so that they have nicely rounded bellies, and attach to the head. Stitch vertically up from the bottom of the belly, to form the two little legs. Add scarf which you can knit or crotchet in a jiffy. Or simply tie a bow. These are about four inches in height. I am planning to make really small ones and give them away as danglies. Here are some others which I have made earlier, and given away :) Hello there! This one has Woofy as companion.

Here she is, with a dress that is so easy to make. Just thread an elastic band onto the top of a broad tube, sewn from a wee scrap of material. Sew in ribbons to make a halter neck. Lace at the hem is a present from Pauline. Cute panty converted from a glove, $2 for a pair, sold at Daiso. Bow, also from Daiso. Boots -- table leg socks from a set of four, $2, Daiso.

I really like her lips. Don't you? IT is kind of boring if you don't experiment. So I tried making lips. Previously, the lips were just a simple stitch or two in pink embroidery thread. I made the structure of the head from winding many layers of wool over a small bit of foam, Then I wrap the ball with at least two layers of polyfoam wadding. I then insert ball into a net tubing. Tie a string round the ball somewhere in the middle. This will form the forehead and the eyeline. Next, tie a string round the ball to form the chin.So now, you are ready to needle sculpt the features like the nose and the puffy cheeks. But from now on, lips are going to look a lot more like lips. First, you bunch up a small bit of fold for the lower lip. You stitch the fold in place. The upper lip is trickier. You add a tiny bit of wool (I bought mine from Daiso, those for needle felting) as the upper lip. Jab your felting needle over it repeatedly, till it sticks. Try to mould it as you jab

These two are thick as thieves. Please notice the hair highlight I gave to the girl on the right! Awesome, no? This is rather small, my second attempt, just about four inch tall. OKAY, they haven't committed any crime. But these two look inseparable, and a wee bit mischievous. I didn't give them away because their hands are way too long. They look all right before I stuffed them. But they grew and grew. I attached them to the body anyway. But in the end, I just couldn't bear it and snipped off a little from the arms of one of the dolls and sewed up the openings later. You can see a little of the raw edges (doll above, left). I left the hands of the other doll gangly because they are just nice for draping over her good friend. You may perhaps noticed that I have progressed to giving my dolls a nose :) Hair is much more manageable now. Peviously, I attached the hair by first creating stitches in concentric circles round the head, and then attaching the hair to

Sue, my first hand-sewn doll, just  about six inch tall. This is the first (successful) doll I've ever made, following a YouTube tutorial. The doll skin was from a little vest that cost about $6. I couldn't find any suitable old t-shirt I could use and I was quite impatient to embark on the project.  The hair was dark brown, wool from Daiso. The stuffing was dug out from an old pillow. Everything was hand stitched as I don't own a sewing machine. The most exciting part was making the head of course. The most difficult part was joining the body to the head. The project took about two evenings. I was really surfing the Internet for instructions on making an interesting paper doll which is not just one dimension. But I chanced upon a lot of materials for making Waldorf -inspired dolls instead. So exciting. I must give it a go. So here it is, my very first.