Monday, March 31, 2008

Dollies

Evie recently learnt how to say "Dolly", so I thought I'd share some photos of her Waldorf dolls. The 3 sitting in a row are from Little Jenny Wren on Etsy, and they have flown over from Launceston In Tasmania. The one in the middle is a cushion doll, and the other two are 12" dolls. I love that they have hand knitted singlets and knickers, as with Waldorf philosophy, children must be kept warm so that their internal organs can develop properly, so the dollies need to be kept warm too. I made their clothes.
The baby in the cradle is from Oak Way on Ozebaby. I bought the cradle from the local flea market and painted it white, as it was painted in purple and cream, with Minnie mouse stickers on it when I bought it (yuck!). I made a little mattress to go under the doll, but I've yet to make her a quilt or blanket.
Waldorf dolls are made from natural fibres, cotton for skin, with pure wool stuffing so they hold the warmth of the child. They have minimal facial features, so the child can imagine it to be happy, sad, angry etc, rather than being in a fixed emotion. This way the doll can be the child's alter ego, and he or she can express themselves through the doll. So it's equally as important for boys to have boy dolls.

3 comments:

Christie said...

Oh, beautiful! I made my daughter this style of doll for Christmas, I am going to make my son one next.

Willow's little doll sleeps in the cradle that my dad made for me when I was little, which makes it pretty special!

Alicia said...

Aw, sweet Christie. I'm sure I could make a Waldorf doll too, but I'd be scared I wouldn't get it 'just right'. I've seen a few dodgy ones in my time, I prefer to leave it to the experts. That and I can't crochet, so the hair scares me too. But I love Little Jenny Wren, Bamboletta, and Moonchild Studio, so I'll let them do it for me. I have made Evie some softies though, I'll have to do a post about them :)

Ginger_nut said...

Gorgeous - I like your philosophy on clothing and toys for children, and you attempt to get away from any of societies genetic coding about colour etc.

I haven't heard of Waldorf dolls before, but I shall look into it a bit further. When I get around to having kids I plan to clothe them in natural fibres, and it would be wonderful to extend this thinking to their toys.