This is a project I’ve been working on for some time. It wasn’t quite finished, but the other day Dustyfeet lifted the lid of my sewing basket, saw what was inside, and fell in love.
Fortunately the doll herself was actually finished – I had intended to make her a bit more of a wardrobe before giving her away, but Dustyfeet didn’t care in the least that she only had one outfit.
She was very impressed with the fact that Dolly (we tried to give this Dolly a name, but all her dollies are called Dolly) had toes. Five toes on each foot, just like Dustyfeet!
She felt very strongly that Dolly needed some shoes – so strongly that when given the choice of doing some painting or letting Mummy use the sewing machine, she headed straight for the sewing machine (no photos of the shoes, I’m afraid – they seem to have disappeared).
She was also charmed by Dolly’s blonde hair and blue eyes, which are rather like Dustyfeet’s own.
This Dolly is totally handsewn (I never handsew anything – don’t know why I took this on!). She’s inspired by Waldorf doll making techniques, which I found fascinating, because you build the whole shape of the doll from the inside, quite unlike making an ordinary ragdoll. I’m not going to describe how I did it because there are LOTS of Waldorf doll tutorials out there. This particular doll can’t call herself a true Waldorf doll because she isn’t made of natural materials – she’s recycled. The outer fabric is two outgrown white baby vests, which I soaked in the washing machine with a t-shirt of Sandydad’s that always dyes everything pink – and then with a teabag to tone down the pink a bit. The inner tube (which provides the structure for the head) is an old sock. The stuffing came from a cheap cushion. And her clothes are from my scrap bag. Her hair is two whole rolls of embroidery thread and I nearly went crazy – if I ever make another doll like this, I’ll do the hair differently!
I do have to wonder though, if it’s the hair that makes Dustyfeet love her. Dolly is going everywhere with us at the moment – she’s got a trip to the UK coming up at the end of the month. Now, what does a dolly need to pack for a trip to London and the Hebrides?
Sandytoes and Dustyfeet 
My goodness you are talented. No wonder this was received with rapture. Can we all put in an order? (Ours would have to have brown or red hair and green or brown eyes of course!).
I think I’d only take orders if I could work with proper Waldorf doll-making materials – real wool stuffing that holds its shape much more easily than this did, and wool roving for the hair to save having to knot every last individual strand to the head.
If anyone genuinely wants a doll I would consider making one or two more (because I enjoyed the process and wouldn’t mind refining it a bit), but I’m definitely not going into business with these – they’re way too time consuming.
I love your hand made dolly, saw your blog link on the expat forum, my daughter has one too from `South Africa…they are gorgeous….i love that they have toes 🙂