Spring is coming...

I can feel it in the air. Spring is on the way. As much as I love spring,  I don't care much for the springing forward of the clock. It makes people grumpy. I read in the newspaper that it's actually not good for our health. Supposedly heart attacks go up by 21% with the changing of the clocks.  Are you a fan of daylight saving time?

Well my day started with a very grumpy teenager around here...A trying morning. But now everyone is gone and I am enjoying the peace of my little studio. When stressed out, creating new dolls is the best therapy.

I realized it's been a long time since I made a little felted leaf buddy. I found two little pre-cut felt leaves waiting in my basket. I must have cut them out a long time ago. So all I needed to do is transform them into little cozy beds for the dolls.

Then the peaceful work was interrupted again. Just one of those days. Teenage boy forgot something. Another trip to school to bring the forgotten items. Oh well.

It was good to come back and finish the little ones you see in the pictures. I'd say a very productive morning - against all odds.

soft baby dolls...

I live to make soft dolls for young ones...

First dolls for toddlers and young ones - the real simple ones - are my favorite toys to make...

Lillian

Meet little Lillian, or Lilly for short. Isn't she lovely? I just finished her yesterday. She is the perfect little waldorf doll friend. Soft and cuddly, and quite well behaved as well. She didn't fuss at all when having her picture taken. Some dolls love to pose while others can be quite bratty. Not Lilly!

Could her sweet demeanor have to do with her clothing?

 Pink and green are two colors that look so great together. I am not sure why I waited so long to put a set like this together again.

What are your favorite color combos?
We may have to do another photo session outside when the weather is right.

what to do with small fabric scraps?

I have been working hard on cutting down on my fabric buying and collecting. It is tough though when there is so much temptation out there. I'd call it a occupational hazard. When you are a waldorf style doll maker you just can't help it. I have been making dolls for over 10 years. With each year my collection of cute fabrics has grown.

I have to put on my tunnel vision when I go to the fabric store and head straight for what I need so I don't come home with more yardage.

I have to stay strong and not do searches for fabric on Etsy or the Internet in general. There are entirely too many cute fabrics out there.

I am proud to report that I have been rather successful in my quest this year. I actually have half-empty fabric bins at the moment. I point to them whenever my husband complains about my business taking over the whole house or grumbles about not having a dinner table to sit at. For years I have been trying to explain to the family that it's a cutting table. Who needs a formal dinner table?

To stick to the topic though: what is it people do with their fabric scraps if you are not a quilter? As I have managed to shrink my pile of whole yard cuts I find that I simply cannot throw out the smaller scraps of fabric or little remnants. Our church quilting group turned them down. I did some friendship peg dolls with the kiddos at school. I also dressed card stock Easter bunnies a couple of seasons in a row. But I need more projects to use up the bags of scraps. I keep telling myself that I have to use them up or say Goodbye to them soon.

Well, in the photos you can see my latest idea of using them up. I sewed some pumpkin fabric scraps onto one of my wee pocket dolls. I think it turned out pretty darn cute. But please let me know if you have any other ideas for using up precious little pieces of fabric that are just too good to be thrown out.

I hope you visit Linda's Creative Friday this week. I am always excited to see what people have come up with each week!

Who Will Do the Wash?

Seriously. The complaints are getting bad around here. Every time Christmas rolls around I get tons of orders. Why can't people order in the summer? How can you tell it's Christmas at GermanDolls? Not just by the amount of little sticky notes by my sewing table. The wall is getting covered. It's that darn laundry piling up. And the constant nagging by the family:" Mom, where are my socks? I am out of shirts and undies." Oh dear! How will I ever catch up? Not to mention the dust bunnies under the beds? The German Hausfrau is cringing at the sheer thought of them...

But I am making some really cute dolls. And my studio is spotless, right? =)

A Baby to Care for...

I couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about why boys need dolls. I recently received a letter by a customer which confirmed my belief. I am convinced that all boys should have a doll to play with in their early childhood years.

Here is an excerpt from the letter I received:

"...If I could adequately express how much BOTH dolls were appreciated, not just by my son, but by my husband and I, I would. The first doll, who we ordered before we were expecting any children with the intention of giving her to our first child, ended up serving a very special purpose. Our first pregnancy, sadly, ended in a miscarriage. When we returned from the hospital, we put away all the baby things but kept your doll out. Having her near helped me to heal and keep a positive outlook during this hard time.

So not only have your dolls been wonderful for children, but at least two adults- my husband and I- have also found them to be a great comfort. Your work is immensely meaningful.

Our son has just come back from buying bread with his Daddy- and of course, Baby went with them. He woke up this morning and kissed her before making her pretend to kiss me. She is bringing out his kind, gentle nature. I think more little boys should be given dolls to love at such an early age. "

Receiving this letter made me cry. Yes, all boys need dolls. Maybe even the grown-up ones - at times... I love making dolls but the there is no better reward than receiving such a letter with cute pictures attached like the ones above...

Some thoughts on making doll heads...

In my opinion the most important part of a Waldorf style doll is the head. The head needs to be the perfect size for your doll. If it is too big or too small your doll will not look right. In order to achieve a successful doll you must get the proportions right! I guess being trained as a painter and taking lots of "life" drawing classes, has helped me immensely with this aspect of doll making. After all, dolls are just imitations of the human body, usually the child sized body. When you look at a painting with human figures, you'll probably find the one with the right proportions more beautiful and pleasing to the eye. I believe the same is true for dolls.

If you have ever made a Waldorf doll you probably know how much work it is to make a doll head from scratch. The ingredients and tools used are rather simple: a strong kind of thread or string, floss, cleaned carded sheep's wool, a piece of stretchy cotton tubing, scissors,doll maker's needle.

It takes me about an hour to make a good head. I admit it is not my favorite part of doll making. In fact I like to make heads only about once every couple months. I call it my head making day or fest. I will make between 8-10 heads in a session - usually spread out over two days. I find that making a number of heads at a time improves the quality. With each head I get more into the grove until they finally become effortless and perfectly even.

Here are some pictures of my latest "headfest". I had fun arranging them in different ways.

Why boys need dolls!

A few of years ago I had a rather strange encounter. I believe it was on a sunny fall day when I took the kids to the park to play at the playground. As usual when I go out, I had one of my projects with me. I am always crocheting, sewing, or have something with me to keep my fingers busy. As I sat there on a park bench a young woman approached me. People are always curious when they see an artist at work. So of course, I end up telling them that I make dolls.

The young woman had her 4-year-old son with her. As we got to talking she sighed and told me about her dilemma. A couple of weeks ago a toy catalogue had arrived in the mail, and her son saw a dollhouse in it. Now whenever she asked him what he wanted for Christmas he'd say: I want that cool dollhouse from the catalogue. To which I responded: "So, why don't you get him a dollhouse?" She said her husband would have an absolute fit. He thinks boys should play with trucks and "manly" toys and that "Dolls are for girls"! I was totally stunned and maybe even annoyed. After taking a moment I told her that her husband was so wrong. That there was no reason why her son should not have a dollhouse to play with.

Role play with dolls is very important for children. Why would we assign boys to play with inanimate objects such as cars, trucks, and building blocks only? Maybe we throw in an occasional plastic soldier or a plastic superhero. But why not give them a soft cuddly baby? Or a doll family? Some day this little boy will be a dad, have a family, and a real house. I told her to ignore her husband and get the boy the dollhouse anyway!

I get so frustrated when I hear such stories. Often I hear boys, big and small, talk derisively about the "Pink Aisle" in the stores and dolls being "for girls" only. I think this world would be a much better place if we gave boys dolls and allowed them grow up in a more loving and nurturing environment. Both boys and girls need to learn how to nurture and cuddle a doll because some day they will be a parent. I feel sad for this dad in my story who did not want to give his son the gift he so much desired. It made me wonder how he grew up...
I really wish more people bought dolls for their sons. I always keep one or two boy dolls in my store. Sadly they sit around the "virtual store shelf" much longer than the girl dolls...Sprinkled throughout the text please find some examples of sweet dolls that have found a loving home - nurtured by a boy who will, no doubt, become a great dad!

Maybe you know a boy who would love a friend like that for Christmas. My son still loves the doll I made for him when he was little. He is much older now but recently requested a new outfit for his friend...

Sleeping babies

Oh to be to able sleep like that again....

I just received the cutest picture from a customer of mine. I love it! What do you think?

Maybe after Christmas I can get sleep again. For now I am "sew" busy!

The Dollmaker's Dilemma at Christmas...

I started my blog in March and then sort of abandoned it. I was not quite sure what to do with the whole idea of blogging. But then I became a blog author for my etsy team: The NaturalKids team. I post there every Wednesday, and I have immensely enjoyed it. So I decided to come back to my own blog and give it a little love.

The sweet Native American girl doll from my first post (for those of you who were wondering) has found a good home. In the mean time I have made many other dolls. As we get closer to Christmas my hands have been so busy. Here are some pictures of new dolls. I am mostly working on customized dolls these days. There is such a great need for them I can hardly keep up with demand...

My favorite kind of dolls are ethnic dolls. I made the Asian dolls you see in the pictures for children adopted from China. I really enjoyed creating them and I am sure they will be loved very much by their new owners...

Christmas is the busiest time for the doll maker. One can hardly keep up with custom orders. I feel bad having to turn people away. But I am only one woman. I wish I had some elves to help. Maybe some day my daughter will be old enough to help. But for now it is just me.

The whole custom process is very difficult for me. It is a love-hate relationship. On the one hand the custom orders make me a better doll maker. My customers come with all kinds of good suggestions and challenge me to get better at my craft.

But sometimes the stress level gets high. Especially when you have to balance so many different orders and keep them straight. Later I might post a picture of all my little sticky notes in the window of my "studio". I feel like a short order cook at times. Which is a funny way to put it since my orders take hours to complete. =)

I love etsy

another day another try. nobody seems to read my blog. so I will just play and practice. see if I get this figured out. if anybody should stumble up this and leave a comment I'd be elated!http://www.etsy.com/mini_generator.php