My Waldorf Dolls

Completed 2014

My waldorf dolls were made for my grand daughters. I wanted to make a unique play doll for my youngest grand daughter. After a lot of searching through Pinterest boards I decided to make a Waldorf doll. I was drawn to the all natural materials that were used - 100% cotton fabrics, sheep's wool stuffing and recycling materials of days gone by.

I purchased Maricristin Sealy's book "Making Waldorf Dolls". A great book with detailed instructions and hand drawn patterns. When I received it I quickly scanned through it looking for photos of all the completed dolls. There weren't any!! Just hand drawn images. Also the book is printed entirely in black and white with exception of the cover. I have to admit to being just a little disappointed at this point.

There are so may beautiful photos of these dolls that people have made on the internet that I soon got over my disappointment.

Once you get into using the book you become too engrossed to even notice! The patterns are great to use and since they have to be traced from the book you will never lose the master copies.

Disappointment aside, I collected my materials and set to work making my waldorf dolls. As much as possible I tried to use all natural materials that I could get locally. Below is a list of what I have used.

  • 100% double knit cotton
  • 100% merino wool
  • Washed & carded sheep's wool for stuffing
  • Mohair for hair
  • Cotton string to tie the head and neck
  • 100% cotton fabric for clothing - from my quilting stash

I could only source white double knit fabric for the body. I dyed this using tea bags and was very pleased with the result! For my second doll I used the merino knit for the body. Both turned out well.

I wanted a different dress pattern than the ones offered in the book. Here is where I got my free dress pattern from. It did require a bit of size alteration and I used the photocopier for that. I made all the wee dresses reversible - easy to do.

Below is the doll made with the tea dyed fabric. She is not a jointed doll.

Below is the second doll I made but this time using the merino wool fabric for the body. She is a jointed doll. Dress shown in reverse as well.

I've made a few dolls over the years and most have been the more arty doll for older children or adults created by Jane Coughlan. One day I'll add them to my gallery. My older grand daughter would love me to make her a Gothic doll so I will probably base this on one of the dolls I made using Jane's patterns.

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