Tiny Waldorf Baby Doll

On my list of things to make before the new baby comes was something special for my 3 year old, to be given to her shortly after the baby was born. She is already obsessed with dolls and is constantly labeling them babies and mamas, so I thought a tiny waldorf baby doll, a doll for a doll, would be perfect for her.

Strangely, there seem to be very few of these around. The most popular ones are heads with little pillow bodies, and I really wanted to make something that was more doll-like.

I ended up adapting the pattern for the button baby doll that I had made in the 16-inch size previously. It took a number of tries to get the proportions right... just scaling down the pattern resulted in what looked like a disturbingly malnourished premie!

I ended up with a doll that is about 6 inches. The head size is pretty realistic in proportion to the body... about 1/3 of the height, which I think I've decided that I like. The other alternative would to be to make the head more like 1/2 of the height of the doll, which would have resulted in a more cartoony, perhaps "cuter" doll... but I didn't go this route, at least this time!

For the hair, I usually crochet a cap, but that looked out of proportion on this doll, so I ended up embroidering the head with mohair wool yarn.

Making the clothes for the doll was really difficult... the proportions were difficult, and I just couldn't convince my machine to sew such tiny seams. I had to hand sew, and I never hand sew! But it came out pretty cute. I used a tiny bit of leftover Birch Organic knit fabric along with some matching cotton knit for the top, and bamboo interlock with velcro closures for the diaper.

I deliberately left the gender a bit ambiguous. I wanted to let my daughter choose... she could see the doll as a representation of her new brother, or she could choose to read herself as a baby into the doll. I sort of can't help seeing it as a girl though, but I think that is just my bias.

I also created a sling for the doll, to be worn by her full-size Waldorf doll that she already calls "the Mommy doll." It is just a tube of woven fabric. There is 1/4 inch elastic sewn in a circle to create a depression for the baby doll, and 1 inch elastic sewn into the back of the sling to fit over the larger doll's shoulders.