53. "Puppenmimacherei" - Days 3 and 4 of our monthly online meetings

Dear readers,

I am really happy to be back after a long break to go on with my contribution to the online project called "Puppenmitmacherei".

In September I was on holidays, but before I left I had had too many things to do and I simply had no time to be ready with my doll for the project although I promised you that I would sew my doll for the meeting in September.... 

My holiday time in the south of Istria. Late summer - how I love this time of the year.

And now I am inviting you to Days 3 and 4 of our making dolls together in the project "Puppenmitmacherei" organised by Mariengold and Naturkinder. (More about the project you will find here.)

I had to make the following: construct the doll's head and stuff the doll's limbs, decide on the doll's look, especially her face; crochet the doll's wig and then assemble all these elements, sew the doll and make the doll finished.

My doll has turned out to be a rather small simple Waldorf doll. I agree with Fig&Me that it is most important in a Waldorf doll that the doll's head resembles the shape of a human head. It is acquired by rolling strips of sheep wool to create a ball in your hands. Then the head is sculpted with thread and often with needle.

You can find plenty of doll makers writing about it on their blogs. I particularly like the post about Waldorf dollmaking by mentioned above Fig&Me and the reflections by Kukalka  who even says that "constructing the doll's head has almost meditative meaning for her".

In the photos below my doll is beginning to take shape.

Having the doll's head formed I began to look at her pondering what her face would look like. I did her little nose; almost invisible, but still well seen in profile. The doll's facial features were embroidered with floss. In my opinion her blue eyes  and rose-pink mouth would well harmonize with her light shade of skin. For her skin I used a cotton fabric I bought at Lalinda some time ago. Although I prefer darker nuances I made very light hair using DollyMo Brushable Mohair. I crocheted a wig using a crochet hook 2,5 mm following a special technique by Juliane from Froken Skicklig. The hair made in this way is very delicate and soft and it has a very natural touch. Once the wig was finished I sewed it thoroughly to the head.

I stuffed the legs and arms and partially the body, and then I attached the head to the body and sewed the arms to the body. I also added some details to the finished doll such as dimples to mark knees and elbows. Finally I coloured the doll's face to make it more expressive by colourind delicately her cheeks with wax crayon. In the same way I coloured slightly her knees and elbows They look as if she scraped them in the garden. On reflection I also coloured the tip of her nose making it look a bit frozen as if from playing outdoors.

Yes, but what if she is actually cold because it is autumn already and it gets chilly.  Well, I must dress her quickly I thought. For the moment I will dress her in this little bootee and a sock and wrap her up in a little blanket. That 's much better, isn't it? 

"Yes, I am warmer now, thank you." - suddenly I heard.

I wish you a nice week!

See you in November when we make little clothes.

And here is a link where you can view other colleagues participating in the project.