How To: Crafting a Waldorf-style Doll from Upcycled Materials

Last week, I posted an entry about a Waldorf-inspired doll that I had made for my newest little addition (due in December). It isn't a full-fledged Waldorf creation because I was trying to craft with materials that I already had on hand. Rather than using natural wool, I used some leftover Poly-fil. Rather than buying organic fabrics, I upcycled old t-shirts.

The results came out pretty cute, so today I would like to share how I did it.

Materials:
- old t-shirt in a skin tone color (I used peach, but tans or browns would be lovely for this project)
- old t-shirt or onesie (at least 9m size) in another color to make a dress and hat
- stuffing for the head (used some leftover Poly-fil but a nice wool or natural cotton would be much easier to work with)
- embroidery thread for eyes, mouth, and dress
- sewing needle, doll-making needle, pins, scissors
- sewing machine (optional)

 Step One: Get Ready
Once you have all of the materials together, start by prepping your pieces. This doll is completely customizable as far as size goes. The important thing to work on is proportion. For the skin tone fabric, you need to cut out probably an 8" square to cover the head. For the dress and the hat, I just kind of eyeballed sizes. The basic shape of the dress is a square, but I cut out the  long, half-oval shapes at each end to make the corners easier to tie. On this particular doll, I still had some trouble tying-- the tabs could have been longer!

Step Two: Form the Head
Begin constructing the head by creating a small, tight ball of stuffing. This will be the "pit" or "seed" of the center of your head. I used a Poly-fil stuffing (definitely NOT traditional Waldorf), but I really recommend a natural wool or cotton for this. The Poly-fil was extremely slippery, and that made it very difficult to form a nice, rounded head. Aside from being more natural, a cotton or wool stuffing would stick to itself better, resulting in a denser and more nicely-shaped head.

Once you have a good kernel formed for the head, add flat layers of stuffing over top to encase the kernel and build up the head in layers until you have a fairly dense sphere. As you layer the flat squares of stuffing over the head, you will have leftover corners hanging from the bottom of the head to form a neck.

(Sorry if this is not very clear in the picture-- I found it really difficult to show this process of head formation. If you are still confused, look at some other Waldorf sites for clarification or feel free to send me a message!)

When you are happy with the shape and density of the head stuffing, use the flesh-colored square of fabric to wrap it up. Again, the extra corners of fabric will come around to the bottom to form the neck of your doll. Use thread to tie the neck closed, then use needle and thread to stitch back and forth to secure the opening. (If you want to create a doll with a more distinctive, Waldorf-shaped face you would need to wrap the head in stockingette first, shape the face, then add the skin-color fabric. For simplicity, I left my head spherical.)


Step Three: Embroider the Face
I think this is probably the most difficult step of the doll-making process. I recommend that you start by smoothing out as many wrinkled from the face as possible (or, pick a side that has fewer wrinkles to start). Next, pin the location of the eyes and the mouth. Pinning first will help you line everything up before you start sewing. The eye line should be located about midway on the doll's head, with the mouth just a bit lower.

I didn't have any embroidery thread on hand for this project, so I just doubled up the regular thread in my needle. Starting from the back of the head, push your needle all the way through the head to sew the mouth. Do the same for each of the eyes. I used a regular hand-sewing needle, but there are doll maker's needles specifically designed for this task. I am thinking that the doll-maker's needles would be a bit longer, which would help keep the head from getting compressed during the embroidery process.

One of the trickiest things to remember is don't pull your thread tight. I made that mistake with my first doll, and it had everything to do with the face looking all squashed when I was done. Again, I feel like having the right kind of thread and the right kind of needles would have helped make this part of the process go much more smoothly. However, if you are like me and really want to do this without buying a ton of supplies, know that it can be done!



Step Four: Sew the Dress and Hat
Use a sewing machine to sew the right sides of the dress together, leaving at least an inch gap in the top center. (If you are awesome, you could hand sew this part too.) I used a simple straight stitch, but a zigzag stitch or a serger would work here too. Turn the dress right-side out by stuffing everything though the gap at the top. Get your corners straightened out, and tie a knot for each "hand" and "foot" of the dress. Not only do the knots look cute, but they make for good chewing later!

Also sew the edge of the hat together. I cut the one edge of the hat from a seam so that I would have one less piece to sew later. The already-finished edge forms the base of a sizable right triangle-- all your need to sew is the hypotenuse.

Next, attach the dress and hat by hand. I am not really great at hand sewing, so I used a simple whip stitch (at least, I think that's what it's called). Go as simple or as fancy as you like. I think the stitching adds character-- that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

And you are done! Now you have a sweet little rag doll to keep for your own child or to give away. This little cutie is going to my nephew, who will be born in February. I am really excited for all of the babies on the way (and a few that just arrived!). I hope you enjoy the opportunity to make something really special for a wonderful, new, little soul!

 Happy Crafting <3

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:

Echoes of  Dream Basic Waldorf Instructions

Make Baby Stuff Waldorf Doll Tutorial

Natural Family Crafts Waldorf-Style Doll

Woolhalla Flannel Baby Pattern on Etsy  

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!

Upcycled T-shirt Throw Pillows

A little more than two weeks ago, my husband says to me "we need to buy some throw pillows for the couch." I say, "Bump that-- I'll just make some. I have some old t-shirts I want to use for a project, so I don't even have to buy fabric. This will be easy."

And it started off easy. I went through the t-shirts and picked out a few colors that would look nice in our living room (left). Initially, my plan was just to cut, stuff and sew. But then, I decided that making covers would be better so they could be easily washed. After I made that change, I got to looking at the one shirt with a design on it, and I thought, "Wouldn't it be neat if I could make the other pillows coordinate with this design?" The wheels of creativity were set in motion, and my project got considerably cooler-- and a heck of a lot more involved.

Materials:

- T-shirts (at least one for each pillow you plan to make... avoid spandex blends as much as possible)

- double-sided fusible interfacing for appliquéd pieces

- single-sided fusible interfacing for backing the base fabric

- Velcro (if you want to make removable casings... I used iron-on but sew on would work just fine)

- fabric for inner pillows (amount varies based on number of pillows)

- stuffing (I prefer the silky Poly-fil)

- an iron

- sewing machine

- thread and notions 

I began by cutting the shirts off under the armpit to create roughly rectangular shapes with one raw, open side and one finished, open side. I designed my appliqué patterns using the scraps left from cutting the t-shirts (right). I know from experience that sewing with t-shirt material would be kind of a pain. It's stretchy, so it tends to bunch and move when sewing appliqué. Stitched t-shirt to t-shirt doubles the bunchy factor. So, I ended up breaking down and trying some fusible interfacing. By accident, I only got one-sided fusible, but even that helped the stretching on my designs tremendously. If were ever to do this again, I would also get some interfacing for the back of my base fabric to get some more stability there as well. You live and you learn, right?

 Here I am sewing on my appliqué designs (left). As you can see, I normally straight stitch around the edges before finishing with my zig-zag stitch. Had I gotten double-sided fusible interfacing, I probably could have avoided that. This is normally how I do all of my appliqué since I am too lazy (cheap? set in my ways?) to buy interfacing. Although the appliqué was the most time consuming part of this project, it also gives a lot of character to the pillows. If you don't have the patience to do this, it is very optional-- do what works for you!



Next, I sewed up the raw edges on the pillow casing from where I cut the shirt under the armpits. On the finished edges, I ironed on some Velcro designed for bonding to fabric (right). This creates an outer, washable casing for the pillows.

With the casing all ready to go, it was time to work on the stuffing. I cut the fabric for lining materials to match the casing, thinking that this would leave enough seam allowance (below, left). In reality, I should've cut the lining with an extra half inch around the edges. This would've helped to fill out the final product more.

 

 With the lining sewn and stuffed (above, right) I was able to finally complete my throw pillows. Here are the final products in all their glory (left)! My 3 year old has already claimed them for herself. They are comfy and super soft because of the t-shirt fabric. You can more easily see here where I tried to play off the one t-shirt design with my appliqué.

Overall, I am really happy with my final product, but as always, there are things I would change if I were to do it all over again. I hope this helps you find some inspiration in your closet now!

Upcycled Dinosaur Crayons

In addition to crafting some plush brontosaurs for my daughters' pink and yellow dinosaur party, I decided to make some dinosaur shaped crayons for the goodie bags. Since the other children at their childcare are all between 2 and 4, I figured the chunky crayons shapes would be perfect for them to color. Also, this craft gave me the excuse to upcycle all of the old, broken crayons I have sitting around the house. When I decided that I was going to do this, I also started saving all of the crayons that my kids get from restaurants (my husband deserves credit for that idea). Why let them go waste?

Materials:

- crayon pieces, labels peeled off

- 1 or 2 cooking pans (depending on how many colors you are using)

- tin cans or aluminum cans (1 for each color)

- popsicle sticks or wooden skewers for stirring

- a candy mold (I used this one)

- wax paper (to cover the workspace)

- lots of paper towels (for quick clean up)

1. After peeling the labels off the crayons and sorting them by color, I put each color into a metal can. Tins cans work especially well because the edges aren't as sharp, but a cut aluminum can does just fine. I would recommend breaking the crayons up into little chunks-- they will melt faster. (I forgot to do that and it was a pain.)

2. Heat the cans in your pans on the stove. A low heat (2-3 on my stove) was sufficient. If you turn it up much higher, you start to get a funky odor and stress out your pans. Use the popsicle sticks to stir as needed. If you mix different shades of the same color, the stirring will help blend everything together.

3. Pour heated wax into the mold. The cans don't get super hot, so you could do this with bare fingers, but I thought it was easier to use a pot holder once I got the can out of the pan. Since the shapes in my mold were pretty big, each child is only going to get one crayon. I wanted each crayon to have different colors to give it a neat effect. On the first batch, I stuck the mold in the freezer between each layer of colors. This allowed each layer to be very distinct, but it took a lot of patience. On the second batch, I pour the colors into the mold without allowing cooling time in between. The result was more of a tie-dye effect, which is visible in this picture.

4. Once the crayons cool completely (again, the freezer helps speed this up), they pop right out of the mold. These are some of the crayons from my first batch to show the distinct layers. The whole process took about 45 minutes and was pretty fun. Be sure to wear clothes that can get dirty... I ended up with quiet a few splatters.

Happy crafting!