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Monday, September 26, 2011

Waldorf-Inspired Doll from Upcycled Materials

When my second daughter was a newborn, her absolute favorite toys were a pair of Kathe Kruse Waldorf Gugguli dolls. She still plays with them sometimes, so I am hesitant to simply hand them down to my next little one. However, the price on the dolls has nearly doubled (!!!) since I bought the first two.

What's a budget-conscious, crafty mama to do? Well, make her own of course.

My upcycled t-shirt rag doll. She has kind of a squished face, but otherwise I am really happy with the results!

I have been scouring the interwebs for awhile, looking at various tutorials on doll making-- particularly these Waldorf-style, soft dolls. I thought about getting a kit, but even those tend to get pricey. I decided to deviate from a strict Waldorf composition (natural wool, organic fibers, etc.) since I wanted to make this on a budget.  I raided my fabric stash and came up with a peach colored t-shirt and a magenta t-shirt what were beautiful colors and huggably soft. Upcycling still counts as eco-friendly, right?! Plus, nothing soothes a baby faster than the smell of mama's t-shirt.
I love you, squishy face!

Unfortunately, I do not have the steps for a tutorial to post right now. I wasn't very confident that this would come out resembling an actual baby doll, so I didn't take any pictures while I was piecing it together. But, fear not! I found out today that I will be getting another little nephew in February (yay, babies!), and I think he totally needs one of these. I will take pictures and post a tutorial once it's done.

I should also note that I deviated from the traditional Waldorf style of head formation. This is partly due to laziness and also partly due to intimidation. However, I have seen rag dolls and towel dolls in the Waldorf style with spherical heads, so I am not completely out in left field here. Since I don't have a lot of detailed instructions available at the moment, I will post links to a few of the amazing pages I used for inspiration and technical advice:


Well, folks, that's all for now. I am heading full tilt into nesting and crafting mode (new baby! Christmas holdiays!) so I hope to sustain enough energy to put some really fun projects up here over the next few months. I plan on starting my next soft baby doll here soon, so keep checking back for the tutorial!

Peace, Love, and Crafting!

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