Yes, that's chocolate on their mouths, first thing in the morning. Ah, the magic of Christmas morning. What better time for indulgence.
Their Christmas day was certainly sweet and indulgent. As usual, it's hard to balance the spirit of magic and gratitude and mindful appreciation of the season with the overwhelming influx of so many exciting things, so much stuff. As things calm down though, in these in-between days, they are slowly discovering the lovely, thoughtful gifts they received and much engaging, imaginative, musical play is happening all over the house.
This little dolly was my one handmade achievement of the Christmas season (other than a couple of quick Dolores Park cowls here and here). And actually, I finished sewing her up over the summer, so I just needed to tweak her hair and make her clothes before wrapping her up and placing her under the tree.
Juni named her Ginger and has been getting to know her now that the bustle of the holiday is winding down. Apparently, she likes carrots and hot chocolate and "being warm and cozy". She makes a good "matey" (see previous post) and she enjoys being twirled around by her hair. They will be good friends, these two.
I had been hoping to get Juni one of these Waldorf-style dolls for such a long time, but they are quite in demand and difficult to acquire without lightning-fast mouse-clicking skills and a rather deep pocket (for good reason, this is meticulous, labor-intensive handwork). So I thought I would give dollmaking a try and, well, this project has been my very favorite. I already can't wait to make another and I can think of a dozen different things I would like to change the next time around.
(After checking out my amateur attempt at dollmaking, click over to Fig & Me to see Fabiola's absolutely gorgeous dolls.)
Details, details... I used the pattern, instructions, and materials from Weir Dolls and Crafts for a 16" Waldorf doll and I used the hair instructions from Meg McElwee's wonderful book Growing Up Sew Liberated. Juni chose the yarn for her hair from our local yarn store ("I want it to be black like mama's and also purple"). It is the very luxe Madeline Tosh DK yarn in the Duchess coloway. She also chose purple embroidery thread for her eyes. The purple corduroy overalls and purple shirt are made from patterns in Meg's book, as well. The knitted sweater is the Poppy Cardigan by tikki (and yes, now that I'm looking at the photos, I forgot to sew on the middle button). I used Malabrigo merino worsted yarn in the Verde Azul colorway (Ravelry link here), which is a nice bluish-green sprucey color (that didn't translate well at all in these photos).
