51. Puppenmitmacherei - Day 1 dedicated to ideas and inspiration

As you may know I have decided to take part in the online event called "Puppen mit macherei", meaning "making dolls together" in English. The event is organised by "Mariengold" and "Naturkinder", known in the doll making world. What is it about? Its purpose is to gather a group of participants (thirty-eight at the moment), not necessarily doll makers, who will make their own dolls and report about it on their blogs. We will be meeting online once a month till December. Great idea, isn't it? Of course we will communicate, exchange experience and views, learn from each other and admire other colleagues' work. This will be trully sewing dolls together.

http://www.mariengold.net/tag/puppenmitmacherei-2015/

My first doll OLA I made myself was for a little girl. Here she is in this photo below. (More about her here.)

My first doll Ola.

I became interested in doll making quite accidentally about three years ago, when listening to the radio I heard the programme about Waldorf dolls often called dolls with soul. It was a kind of
discovery for me. In this way I met Agnieszka Nowak from Lalinda who was interviewed in this programme. Soon I went to a course organised by her and I am sure she was my first inspiration.

Dolls by Lalinda.

As for books and further inspirations I have really enjoyed the review of books in one of Mariengold last posts. Apart from classics on doll making written by Karin Neuschutz, Freya Jaffke or Maricristin Sealey, Maria commented on books I did not know. They seem very interesting, inspiring with lots of ideas. I like especially "Biegepuppchen selbst gemacht" by Crisitina Cevales-Labonde or"Simple Cloth Daisy Dolls" by Wenche O. Steensen.


I like simple dolls with natural look. So I think my new doll I will be creating in the upcoming months will be certainly Waldorf inspired. In order to plan her I will answer first the questions Maria from Mariengold gave us.
* Who is a doll for? - I have not yet decided, but I am beginning to think she will be for me.
* What does she look like?/Will I use a pattern or create my own? - I am thinking of adopting a Waldorf doll pattern from Karin Neuschutz's classic "Sewing dolls" by changing a bit the shape of arms and legs and by trying a new way of attaching the limbs to the body.
* Colours - At this stage I take it the doll's skin will be of light colour. Her hair will probably be brown/brown-red, reaching shoulder blades.
* Materials - I will use a good quality Swiss cotton jersey for the doll's body and limbs. The doll's hair will be crocheted from DollyMo yarn I have purchased from little oke dolls.
* New techniques -As for the hair I would like to try a new for me technique by Froken Skicklig. The method seems quite difficult, and therefore I  am not sure about the result. Yet it is worth trying, because the hair looks wonderful and "Puppenmitmacherei" is just the right time for such challenges. Below a doll by FrokenSkicklig.

I need not add how happy I am to participate in the initiative and be in a network of wonderful colleagues.

Wishing you all creative and playful time.

So long!

PS. And here is a link where you can view all participants.