Two More Classic 13 inch Waldorf Type Dolls

I really have fun making the medium size, 13 inch, classic Waldorf Type dolls using the pattern in Maricristin’s book, Making Waldorf Dolls.

I made two more in August when it was hot and humid, and sitting in front of my portable air conditioner was the only smart thing to do!

The little girl above, with the bright yellow mohair boucle and shades of white and yellow wool yarn is sitting next to an echinacea variety called Chacita that is in my front yard. When her hair is down, it’s just shoulder length. It’s the first time I’ve put short hair on a doll that isn’t a baby. I think it is pretty cute!

Here is the other 13 inch classic Waldorf Type doll. She is a present. I chose the skin color and hair yarns based on what a 9 year friend told me she liked when she surveyed my collection of dolls. I can’t wait to give it to her!

13 inch Waldorf type doll with dark tan skin and a variety of yarns in her hair

The fun thing about these size dolls is that they can share clothes with Bamboletta Cuddle Dolls. And the girl getting this doll has a Cuddle Doll! Here’s a link to page of Bamboletta doll clothes. Their inventory changes weekly on Wednesday so there are always new clothes! There sometimes aren’t clothes for every size of doll they make, but they do restock regularly.

Notice: This blog is not monetized: I do not use affiliate links. When there are links in a post, they are to give credit to another creative person, because I like or have used a product, or to help the reader easily find supplies for a project.

Summertime Doll Dresses

It's high summer and I've been having so much fun making summery dresses for the extended doll family! 

The dress patterns I draft are usually for dresses with short sleeves. I figured that if I skipped the sleeves and just overcast the raw edges of the fabric, turned it under the 1/4 inch seam and sewed it up, I'd have a perfect sleeveless dress.

That was a good idea, but doesn't quite play out perfectly in real life! It turns out, I really need to add some width to the front of the dress bodice, otherwise the dress have a bit of a halter look (see above).  For some reason, the bodice back is better than the front.

Here's a closer view to show why it would be better to use a bit wider pattern for the bodice of a sleeveless dress.  Not horrible, but it could be better!

Sleeveless dress with a bodice that's not quite wide enough. The doll is a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll.

I went back and redrafted the front and back bodice pattern pieces.  This version is better.

Revised bodice on the same Bamboletta doll as in the photo above

Here are a couple photos of dolls I made wearing dresses with short sleeves.

Little limbed doll, pattern in Mariecristin Sealey's book, "Making Waldorf Dolls"

15" Waldorf type doll made with my own pattern

It's been so much fun making dresses with these summer fabrics--sharks, crabs, sailboats, ducks (or maybe they are geese), frozen treats on a stick, tacos, and flowers!

Happy Holidays!

Besides sewing presents, I've done a little knitting.  This cute little knit polar bear is fun little ornament. Mine is 2 1/2 inches.  The bear's head flips back and reveals a little pocket made in the bear's body.  Just right to hide a little note or a treasure. One of the bears I knit up is part of a Christmas Day Treasure Hunt.

The bear is also just the right size for a pocket book for a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll!  Tulip (my "borrower--she is wearing a smaller doll's socks and a bigger doll's leggings) immediately claimed the second one I made as her own!

Tulip, a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll, with the Polar Bear Pouch

The "Polar Bear Pouch" is the creation of Barbara Prime who publishes patterns as Fuzzy Mitten's. This pattern is available, free, on Ravelry.com. Barbara designs delightful knit animals and her patterns are easy to follow.

Enjoy your time with friends and family over the next few weeks!

Tutorial: Cut-and-Sew Mermaid Skirt for a Child and a Doll Skirt

In my last post, I showed a child's Mermaid skirt and a Doll's coordinating fish skirt made from the Mermaid Skirt Cut-and-Sew Panel I designed that is for sale at Spoonflower.com.

Instructions for sewing the skirts are printed on the panel. Here is a short tutorial to show the steps of making the skirt.

NOTE: This design works best for children ages 4 to 10.  It can be made as small as a 3T size (maybe a 2T if you cut off the sandy bottom) and as large as a Child's size 12.  The smaller sizes will have quite full skirts and the larger sizes will less full.

Supplies: 
Scissors, sewing machine, matching blue thread (you might think you need tan thread for the hem, but once it's folded, you'll be stitching in the blue fabric), 3/4 inch elastic for the child's skirt and 1/2 inch elastic if you plan to make the coordinating doll's skirt.

Decide how long you want the child's skirt to be. Here's a helpful skirt length link from Craftershours if you don't have a skirt you can measure. (I looked at the original source for these charts but this information is no longer available there). 

1.  Cut the child's skirt the desired finished length PLUS 4 1/2 inches to allow for the elastic casing at the waist and the hem at the bottom of the skirt. Measure from the BOTTOM edge of the "sand" on the ocean flower.  Mark this length several places along the skirt panel, draw a straight line across the panel and cut out the skirt.  Trim off the un-printed white margins on the fabric.

          2.  Fold the fabric in half, right sides together to make the back seam of the skirt. Pin.  Stitch 1/2 inch seam.

          3.  At the top edge of the skirt, fold down the fabric, wrong sides together, 1/4 inch. Press. Then fold over again 1 1/4 inches to make the casing for the waist elastic.  Stitch close to edge of the fold, leaving a couple inches open at the back seam to insert the elastic in the casing.

      4.  At the bottom edge of the skirt, fold down the fabric, wrong sides together, 1/4 inch. Press. Then fold over again 1 inch to make the hem. Stitch close to the folded edge to hem the skirt.

      5.  Cut a piece of 3/4 inch elastic for the waist. Use with waist measurement PLUS to 2 inches.  (If you don't have the child available to measure, waist sizes can be found on line at mail order stores that sell children's clothes--for example Lands End will have this information).  Using a safety pin as a guide, run the elastic through the channel at the waist of the skirt. Make sure not to lose the far end of the elastic in the channel)!

      6.  Overlap the 2 ends of the elastic, taking care not to twist them.  Stitch them together using a zig-zag stitch.   Now stitch down the opening in the casing.

      7.  Great job!  Iron the skirt and have the child try it on!

For the doll's skirt:  Use the same directions to make the doll's skirt with these changes

•   Cut the fish doll skirt panel the desired skirt length PLUS 2 inches.
•   Since the doll's skirt uses 1/2 inch elastic, make the elastic channel at the waist 3/4 inches, rather than the 1 1/4 used for the child's skirt.
•   Cut the length of the elastic for the doll the measurement of the doll's waist. Don't add any extra. Dolls need a tight fit so the skirt doesn't slide off! 
•   The hem in the doll's skirt is made by making the first fold 1/4 inch as with the child's skirt and then folded again 1/2 inch.

The doll pictured here is a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll. Bamboletta sometimes has very cute Mermaid dolls for sale too!  Their Mermaid dolls were my inspiration for this Mermaid skirt design!

Hope the little girl in your life enjoys these coordinating skirts!