How to make a cuddle doll - Part 2

Ok - as promised, here is the next part where we see the doll coming together.

Now we ready to stuff the legs. I use a combination of wool batting and Merino wool knops to get a soft, cuddly stuffing.

The legs are then gathered at the waist and sewn onto the body. Then the feet are made by running a small gathering stitch around the 'ankles'.

The arms are then sewn with neat stitches onto the legs.

Now it is time to make the hands. The hands are sewn on the sewing machine with a stretch stitch and then trimmed to shape.

The hands are now firmly stuffed with more wool and tied with lined thread.

Next the hand is rolled in a length of wool batting and this is used to stuff the arm.

The hand is sewn in place at the sleeve.

We are nearly finished! For this doll I wanted to experiment with some embroidery stitches for sewing on the hat. Here I am using herringbone embroidery stitch. 

Here is the finished doll. I hope you have enjoyed reading about the way the doll is made. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in attending a workshop or have a request for a special doll in mind.

I have one more workshop before Christmas, starting on 6th November.

Best wishes

Sam

Mid -Winter Crafting

Winter lantern Festival

I have been doing quite a bit of mid-winter inspired crafting lately.

I would like to show you is this lantern that I made with Theo. He was home from kindi for 2 weeks whilst unwell and as he recovered we found the chance to craft together.

He missed out on making a lantern at school, which is a yearly tradition ending with an evening lantern walk - so we made our own. A quick look through Pinterest and we were all set.

 This is what we made.

We used vegetable oil to make our water colour paintings translucent, then I did lots of folding whilst Theo claimed he was hungry! A bit challenging for a small boy - fun for me.  A very good and detailed tutorial is here

Then we had to be very patient and wait for the glue to dry until the next stage! time for a snack.

We then stuck the base and spent time shaping the lantern - sorry too busy folding to take photos!

We were quite pleased with the result and they are nice and sturdy. The addition of a 'twisty' for a handle and we were ready to go.

Lantern in use at the festival.

Doll love

I love making dolls.

Here are a few of my favourites that I have made.

I discovered this type of doll through attending my local Steiner Playgroup. The dolls at playgroup were different, made from natural fabrics with simple features. I bought a book on dollmaking and made my first doll for my daughter's 3rd birthday.

What I discovered when I made my first doll was that there is much more to a doll than merely fabric and sewing.

As the doll is formed it starts to take on a personality, a character. I was genuinely surprised by this and totally fell in love with making dolls.

However, it is when you give the doll to a child, the real magic begins.

Evie and Lily

When I make dolls, I make sure I have time and am not rushed and therefore have only started regularly making dolls for others fairly recently now my children are a little older.

I usually have an idea as a starting point but stay open to the character of the doll coming through. 

Sometimes the finished doll will be quite different from the idea that first started.

I currently have some dolls looking for good homes, either at our Felt shop or you can visit some in person if you are local at a very special little shop called Forest Folk.

Doll Making Classes

I am very happy to have the opportunity to share my doll making skills with you in 'Doll Making Classes' held together with the Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School craft group. 

"It is a beautiful thing to craft a doll with your own hands, sew it together with love, then make a gift of it to your child with these words 'I made this for you!'"(Sara McDonald, Magic Cabin Dolls).

If you are interested learning doll making then please get in touch - all the details are below. There is a limit of 6 places this time. All proceeds go to the school.

 

For more details and to book go here.

Best wishes

Sam

Colourful Wool

This week the kids were keen to dye some wool. It's a pretty simple process to make colourful wool using things you probably already have in your kitchen.

Here's how we did it.

You will need;

Pure wool in a light colour

Water

Vinegar

Food colouring

First of all you will need to wrap the wool into small skeins. You can use the back of a chair, a book or the kids found a basket handle worked really well. Tie the skeins loosely in a couple of places.

Next soak the yarn for a while in some warm water. Try to limit the temptation for the kids to stir it at this point as it can get very tangled. yep.

When the yarn has soaked a while take a small saucepan and heat some water with a glug of vinegar in it to a low simmer. Add drops of food colouring. I have the primary colours and we have fun mixing them. Less is more I think as the colours take really strongly.

Next add your wool. You can put the whole thing in or let some hang over the edge so you can make it another colour. As the wool simmers gently it will very quickly start drawing up the colour from the water. Sometimes it will make the water completely clear again. Lift the yarn occasionally to check the colour and when you like it take it out and rinse under cold water. You can put it back in again into as many colours as you like.

Dry the wool by pressing in a towel and then hang up to dry.

Enjoy!