Classic Waldorf Doll "Wood Sprite"

Expecting a stretch of really hot weather in early July (which amazingly didn’t materialize), I took some time off from quilting to make 3 Waldorf dolls.

I’ve been wanting some type of a fanciful doll but not a gnome. I decided to make a Wood Sprite. And here he is! He’s a medium size (13 inch) classic Waldorf doll, based on the pattern in Maricristin Sealey’s book Making Waldorf Dolls.

Because he’s a sprite, I needed to give him real ears. That was a first for me. I rather like how they turned out. And he has a cowlick at the back of his head that just won’t stay down!

Look! He’s got ears!

I gave him “pinched” knees and elbows and rouged them up a bit since I’m sure his knees get a lot of friction from his hiking and climbing in the woods! (See my previous post for instructions on pinching limbs to create knees and elbows).

His socks are recycled SmartWool® socks which I’d worn until the heels were threadbare. But there was still a lot of usable sock left. I got both his socks out of one of mine! And I gave him hiking boots, which he definitely needs! He has a special arboreal seat which is growth on this oak’s trunk. When he climbed up to sit in his seat, he took his boots off to show you his socks.

He also took me to his favorite place to pick low bush wild blueberries to see how they are coming along. This was the second week in July. It’s still a couple weeks too early to pick any blueberries. if you look very closely, you can see a cluster of immature green blueberries and one just starting to purple up. The blueberry season was just about perfect about 2weeks ago now that it’s the middle of August.

As he showed me around his woods, he started peeling off the “extra” clothes he was wearing. Such a boy! At least he kept his shirt and shorts on! He thought he wanted to climb this rock in his bare feet but then decided to just sit and enjoy the dappled sunlight.

Two more photos, closer to my home. He wanted to be sure you got to see the gingham bunny shirt I made him. He’s starting to outgrow it. The paper airplane shirt I just made is a bit larger so it should fit him for a long time!

My Waldorf Wood Sprite is a one-off, and a keeper. He’s staying with me so you maybe you’ll see him again some other time!