5 1/2 Inch Tiny Baby Waldorf Type Doll

A young friend of my asked for a tiny Waldorf type doll. I haven’t made any dolls for a couple years and was actually thinking about making a twelve to thirteen inch doll just for the fun of doing it. Tiny dolls are a real challenge, just because they are so small. I had designed a pattern a few years ago, so it was just a matter of gathering up some scrap doll cloth and knuckling down to work.

I did solve one of my long-standing issues making doll bodies. Because the doll is tiny, I decreased the length of the zig-zag stitch I use to sew the doll skin. In the past I’ve never liked how the stitches showed when I stuffed the doll with wool roving. I stuffed this baby tighter than I usually do, and the stitches did exactly what they are supposed to do—held tight and stayed out of sight! One problem solved for any future doll I make!

Being so small, I wasn’t able to do my typical eye shape. While I’m not super thrilled with these eyes, that’s who she decided to be! I would make her legs a tad longer if I ever make another tiny baby doll. Not sure that I ever will!

Here is a gallery of the doll and her clothes. (The backdrop for these photos are blocks from my version of Cheryl Arkison’s Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along 2024—Rainbow edition).

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Here’s link to photos of the tiny Waldorf type doll that I made in 2020. The clothes have definitely improved since then! It’s really hard to sew clothing this small! I had to go back and re-sew several seams because they fabric didn’t catch well in the stitching.

Newborn Size Waldorf Type Baby Boy

Here’s Linc! He’s my newest newborn size Waldorf Type Baby dolls. He is based on a pattern found in Sewing Dolls by Karin Neuschutz. I altered the pattern slightly so that he will fit in commercially made baby clothes. His torso is a bit longer, his arms a bit narrower, and his feet a bit longer than the pattern in the book.

He is weighted with glass doll weighting beads. This is the third doll I’ve weighted using glass beads. I’ve found that making a couple little bead-filled cloth packets works well. A pair of weighted bags fit nicely into the bottom of the doll’s torso.

His hair is a knitted wig. I was really curious to see if the type of knit wig I made for a tiny doll works for a really big one. It does! More about that in my next post.

I just had to give him some eyelashes. Baby boys always have the best eyelashes. (I don’t put any eyelashes on my baby girl dolls).

Linc is a cutie—he looks like a real boy. He’s gonna steal some hearts!

Here is another photo of Linc and one of him with Lillibelle so you can see a boy and girl together.

Linc is wearing truck shortalls from Carter’s.

Linc and Lillibelle with a bunny cake made by my neighbor. I designed the pattern and made the dress Lillibelle is wearing. Linc’s shirt and pants are a thrifted outfit.

Knit Wig for a Tiny Waldorf Type Doll

A lot of Waldorf type dolls have hair that is a cap crocheted with mohair yarn for doll making. But there are some makers who knit wigs. I probably could crochet a wig but I’m much more comfortable knitting. So I decided to try knit a wig for this tiny 5 inch tall Waldorf type baby doll. There’s a pattern for a knit wig on the sleeve of De Witte Engel mohair boucle doll yarn but it creates little pseudo pig tails and I just wanted a smooth wig. So I decided to try and make my own pattern.

I used smooth mohair doll hair yarn. ThIs doll has a 4 inch head circumference (measured around the head at eye level).

Here’s what I did:

Using size 3 US knitting needles, cast on 8 stitches. Using a garter stitch knit until the piece is long enough to reach from chin level on one side of the face to chin level on the other side of the face. (I didn’t count rows, I just checked the knitting on the doll until it was the right length). Bind off.

Fold the rectangular knit wig in half the long way. Sew the two halves together on just one side, leaving the other side open. Fit the wig on the doll’s head. The sewn seam should be at the center back of the head. Pin the wig around the face and around the back of the lower head. Adjust as needed. Once you are happy, sew the knit wig to the doll’s head with a tiny running stitch with cotton thread.

The bangs are several scraps of yarn that I sewed to the doll’s head before I put the knit wig on the doll’s head.

This worked beautifully for this tiny doll. I’m wondering if there might be a bit of a point a the upper back edge of the wig with a bigger doll, but I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know.

Life size and Tiny Waldorf Baby Dolls

Here are two dolls that I made in the past week. They are the largest and smallest Waldorf-type dolls that I’ve ever made. They are both baby dolls.

The tiny baby is 5 inches tall. You can read more about tiny babies in my February 6 post. The doll pictured above is the second tiny baby I’ve made. I got some mohair doll hair yarn and knit a wig for her. (More about that in my next post).

I remember saying a year ago that I’d never make a life size Waldorf doll. But when I found a great pattern in a book that was already on my shelf, I figured it would be fun to try. The pattern “Olga and Ollie” can be found in Sewing Dolls by Karin Neuschutz.

My doll is the size of an average newborn,. She is 20 1/2 inches long with a head circumference of 14 1/2 inches. I used glass doll beads to weight her and she weighs in about 3 lbs.

I did alter the pattern in the book so that purchased baby clothes will fit her. Here’s what I changed.

• I lengthened the torso of of the doll pattern one inch so that a purchased one piece snap play-suit will fit perfectly.

• I lengthened her foot by an inch so that she can fit into newborn size socks and shoes

• I lengthened her arms 3/4 inch

• I trimmed a bit off the width of both the thigh and the upper arm. The pattern made a doll that was just a bit too chubby for a newborn.

As you can guess, half the fun of having life size baby is being able to dress her! She is just about a perfect NB size. Though maybe her legs could be 1/2 inch shorter!

Despite saying I’d never make a doll this large, I had so much fun doing it! Here’s another photo of this doll and a picture of the first newborn size doll I made a couple weeks ago.

Checking out the snowdrops

The first life size Waldorf baby doll I made

Tiny Waldorf Baby Doll and Carrier

A friend wanted a tiny Waldorf type doll for her daughter so I decided to draft a pattern for one. This tiny baby doll is just 5 inches tall. That’s about as little as I can imagine making a doll! It’s definitely a great way to use up odd bits left from making bigger Waldorf type dolls!

The carrier is based on a pattern in the book, Making Waldorf Dolls, by Maricristin Sealey. I downsized the smallest size carrier to fit this little doll. I used leftover quilt binding to finish the raw edges on the carrier. I sewed the binding on before I cut out notches to create the sides of the carrier. The book has all the details about how to make the carrier.

Here are some more photos. I made her two dresses and one sleep sack. And a very tiny pink peg doll so this doll will have a tiny baby of her very own!

Because the hand stitching is a bit lumpy around her shoulders think I’d try to sew her arms in by machine the next time. I also a little length to the legs in my pattern.

Overall, I’m pleased with my experiment.

Doll Flower Girl Outfit

I’ve got a show-and-tell today. I made an outfit for the doll of a young flower girl. She really, really, wants to take her doll to the wedding. So of course the doll needs an appropriate outfit, including white slip-on shoes with tiny pink bows! (Modeling this outfit is my doll, a 9 inch Waldorf style baby doll. I also made the doll going to the wedding).

Here is Lucy Birch trying on all the pieces of the Doll of the Flower Girl’s Outfit. She’s a baby doll and normally wear diapers, but Lucy Birch thought she really should, (yes, I CAN!) , wear big girl pants to go to a wedding!

The wedding is still a ways off, but I can’t wait to hear how this all works out!

A Bit of Sewing for Dolls (and Animals)

I’ve been having fun sewing a lot of doll clothes lately. I just designed this bomber jacket for my little Waldorf baby doll. I took the fleece sweatshirt pattern I designed a while back and modified it by adding ribbing to the bottom edge of the garment. I might try putting ribbed cuffs on it if I make another one.

Lucy Birch modeling the Fall Bomber Jacket

It’s good to have a lightweight jacket for fall!

My 10 inch Baby Waldorf Type Doll Pattern Grows Up

I spent the Dog Days of July, when it was too hot and humid to move much (or quilt anything!), making several dolls.

I've noticed that children play with my 10 inch Waldorf Type Baby doll as if she were an older child even though she has the bowed arms and legs of a baby.  Over the past couple years, I've drafted an extensive wardrobe of clothes for this particular doll, most of them not really baby clothes. It made sense to try and change the baby's pattern to make an older looking doll.

So that's what I did. In the new pattern, the arms have been straightened some and the legs are much straighter and the feet turned so they face forwards.

Little girl on the left, baby on the right. Phoebe has dark tan skin and Lucy's is skin is sunkissed

I altered the neck a bit in the new doll and inadvertently the torso became a half inch longer. That meant the dress patterns for the baby doll were just a bit too short for the new doll.  It's easy enough to lengthen a dress, but I've adjusted the child pattern so next time I make one it will be exactly the same size as the baby.

I did have a bit of trouble sewing on the arms of this doll. Her left arm is better than her right. But she's a prototype, so I'm okay with that.

It's so fun to have a new doll that already has a whole wardrobe of clothes patterns that will fit her!

Phoebe sitting in the Crab apple tree

Waldorf Style Baby Doll Completed

Here's Lucy Birch. She is the third 9 inch Waldorf Type Baby doll I've finished. She the "model doll" that I use when I design new clothes.  I probably should cut her hair a bit shorter since she is a baby, but I like this blonde bob on her!

Because I designed the pattern for this doll, I also have to draft patterns for her clothing.  I don't have any formal training in pattern design so the clothes are often more of a challenge than designing the doll!

Lucy Birch is a baby doll. So she needed diapers, not under pants.  Her diapers are a layer of quilting cotton on the outside and a fine fleece on the inside. I used fold over elastic at the waist and a strip of folded ribbon with Velcro® stitched on to make the closures.

I'll share some baby girl outfits in another post!

Waldorf Style Baby Doll

Last summer I started working on a design for a small Waldorf type baby doll. I have designed patterns for 13 to 15 inch boy and girl Waldorf style dolls. But I wanted to try making a smaller doll.

I drew an initial working pattern and made the torso with arms and legs. Something just didn't seem right but I wasn't sure what needed to be changed. That prototype sat on my work table for 4 or 5 months.

Then one day I decided to finish the doll.  Waldorf doll knit fabric skin is expensive and so is the wool stuffing. So I made a head and and sewed it on the doll.  As soon as the doll had I face, I was in love!

But I still had design issues. The first head I made was too large for the body. I carefully un-sewed the first head and rolled a smaller one which was perfect. I also decided to make the legs a bit longer and the torso a bit rounder.

The doll above was made with my final pattern.  The doll is 9 inches tall.  It's arms are open and legs flexed like a newborn baby's. The doll body fits perfectly in my adult hand. 

I like all the dolls I've designed but this little baby has really captured my imagination and my heart!