Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Fixing up an old Waldorf Doll

Many of us think about either making or purchasing a Waldorf doll for our children. Another option to consider is accepting a hand-me-down doll and fixing her up!

Our niece Sydney had a much-loved Waldorf doll named Kiki for years. She had a beautiful wood wardrobe and a variety of clothes sewn and crocheted. Sydney is now 13, so the doll was passed down to her cousin, Linden.

The body was in great shape. There were dark spots on the face and hands that were cleaned by hand with soft soap and a wet wash-cloth. We let the doll dry and lighten up in the sun for a day.

The hair was ratted and removed easily. Instead of blonde, we made her brunette. The hair was first created by crocheting a wig cap, and then looping strands of wool, silk and mohair boucle along the edge.  The hair is long enough to put into a ponytail or two pigtails.



















We then sewed new olive green eyes over the previous blue embroidery threads.  Thus, her new name, "Olive"! We also sewed some darker pink threads over the light pink mouth.





We are enjoying playing with Olive and crocheting her new shoes.  She is so loved!



(knitted hat and sweater by Mama Judes on Etsy)

2 comments:

Maureensk said...

OMG! This post is so timely! My daughter's doll's mouth just came off today. I drew a mouth on her with a beeswax crayon for an immediate fix. I cannot figure out how to sew the mouth though. Where/how do you tie off the thread?

Tan Family said...

Hi Maureen! I used a super long doll needle and sewed straight through the head, knotting under the hair. Good luck!