Waldorf dolls: a learning experience

As promised on my birthday, here is the story of my first Waldorf doll.  For the uninitiated, Waldorf dolls are also called Steiner dolls, even though they apparently have no connection to Jules Nicholas Steiner and his bisque dolls from days of yore.  Indeed, when I saw the name "Steiner" attached to a Waldorf doll I thought "WTH, that's not a Steiner doll!"  Turns out there's more than one type of Steiner doll, so keep that in mind if you're a fan of the antique bisque dolls.  Also be wary of confusing the name "Waldorf" with the name "Walda," as Waldorf dolls and Walda dolls are about the same as night and day.  Anyway, Waldorf/Steiner dolls are specialized rag dolls with minimalist facial features and fluffy yarn or wool hair.  They can be either gender, any race, and any age, and they're almost always handmade from all-natural materials (uh...WHY???  don't they know that all-natural stuff just drives the price up???).  Since these dolls are handmade out of the good stuff they're almost always expensive, meaning that I'd have a hard time getting my hands on one...and that led me to do something dumb.  My mommy made me do it, LOL!  Early on September 19th Mama sent me an ad that she'd stumbled across on Facebook, one that was offering these dolls for...I think half-off of a sixty-dollar price tag.  It sounded like a good deal, but let's ask Captain Picard what he thinks of that idea.

Yeah, some of y'all are probably facepalming right now too.  Mama and I should've listened to the captain!  This is what the site was claiming to sell (and what we wanted to buy).

Supposedly these dolls all came with extensive wardrobes, like so.

The knockoffs STILL aren't here, nearly two months after we ordered them, but I know for a fact that they're not real Waldorf dolls.  Some folks on Facebook got fairly decent knockoffs of the real deal, complete with large wardrobes of poor-quality clothes, and some got dime store rag dolls that were cute but WEREN'T WHAT THE BUYER THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING!!!  Long story short, the pictures on the site were all stolen from various sources.  Some of the images appear to have come from DollsJoy and Taisoid, but I'm not sure where the pictures I showed above came from.  Some of the untrustworthy sites are Ashley's secret, ColorfulJell, Mimgo, Foforlove, and the site that suckered Mama and me in, which uses the names Kimiss and Happy Komi.  I also do not trust Emma's Realistic Toys, as they use the same pictures the other sites use and offer the items for the same prices.  Sooooo, if any of y'all want an honest-to-God Waldorf doll, DON'T GO TO ANY OF THOSE SITES!!!  I should've known those prices were too good to be true since that rule stands for any sort of item, but live and learn.

Luckily for me there is a silver lining of sorts, as my slip in judgement gave me the impetus to purchase a kit...y'know, like I probably should've done from the beginning but didn't because I'm dumb and lazy and a cheapskate.  She's really just the frame for a Waldorf doll since I'm too lazy and cheap to try sculpting my own, but she IS the frame for one.  I've chosen to name her "Zlata," after Zlata Filipovic.  This doll spent two weeks in quarantine after arriving from Ukraine.  No lie.

The completed doll won't look a thing like her namesake, who was and still is an attractive fair-skinned brunette, but I've always loved the name.  Zlata came from Happy Waldorf Dolls on Etsy, and she is legit.  Her name means "golden" in Ukrainian, which I find fitting considering her country of origin and the color of her "skin."  There were five skin options, but I liked the ruddy tone the best.

Zlata wasn't cheap (though not as expensive as a complete doll), but I think in the long run it'll be worth the effort to customize her.  It should be a fairly simple job, as I don't have to sculpt the whole doll.  Heck, I don't even have to worry about making a dress for her!  Dressing a Waldorf doll can be a tricky affair, since the clothes are pricey like the doll is, but Happy Waldorf Dolls has Zlata covered...literally.  The proprietor included a nice outfit, and I added the unicorn cardigan, which came from Baby Jane Knits.  

It tickles the soup out of me that the cardigan matches the outfit Zlata came in!  This was strictly a coincidence; Olga, the proprietor of Happy Waldorf Dolls, always puts her dolls in some sort of cute outfit, but I had no idea what it would look like and I didn't want to request specific colors, as doing so would've made good fodder for r/choosingbeggars.  Olga even gave Zlata a hat, which I wasn't expecting.  The doll kits showed clothes, but not hats.

I also have some bloomers and a dress that I'd planned to use for Halloween...

...but I didn't know and STILL don't know how long it'll take to stitch Zlata's face, so I've just set these aside for next year.  I wish I could photograph how soft Zlata is, by the way, as she is apparently stuffed with sheep's wool, and her cardigan is soft too.  Oooo, sheep's wool...sometimes when Daddy would take us to his black powder rendezvous he'd have a friend or two who'd have a sheepskin, and those things were so soft and warm that it was sinful. 

Now, about Zlata's face.  Some Waldorf dolls are a bit like traditional Amish dolls and subsequently have no faces, but I'd prefer that Zlata have a face and hair.  I have the yarn for hair, in the form of auburn mohair boucle yarn.  I have enough to make both the cap and the individual hair strands...hopefully.

I told Mama that it reminds me of a Tribble.  LOL, another Star Trek reference!  I am NOT a Trekkie, kids...not yet, anyway.  Regarding the choice of color, black hair was a bit too obvious a choice for Zlata's ruddy "skin," and red hair was too garish, so I picked the intermediate.  It's surprisingly course for yarn, but since it's simulating hair I won't moan about that too much.  As for eyes, I wanted something that would stand out, and I think violet eyes are interesting so I picked dark purple.  Happy Waldorf Dolls appears to feel the same way, as her dark-skinned dolls often have blue or violet eyes.  For the mouth I picked a dark pinkish red, since I want the mouth to be visible against the strong coloration of the base fabric.

Being the strange person that I am, I stewed about Zlata being all-natural except for eyes...until I read the label.

100% cotton!  Looks like I've got nothing to worry about!  Regarding the actual sewing part, sewing the mouth does not scare me at all.  I'll just get a chalk pencil, draw on the mouth, and sew over the draw lines.  The eyes do scare me, as the tutorial I found has a lot of steps, but I reckon I can get the job done.  I have the tools I need, so it shouldn't be too huge of an undertaking to get this doll complete.  All the sources I've found imply that the KISS method is the best for these dolls, so that's what I'm doing my best to do:  as I sew her eyes and crochet her wig I'll whisper "keep it simple, stupid."

At the time of writing Happy Waldorf Dolls has more kits available, plus several complete dolls (some Waldorf, some crocheted).  The most expensive of the dolls costs a little less than a new American Girl doll, which is a lot for a doll, but a fairly good price for a Waldorf doll.  So if any of y'all want one of these for yourself Happy Waldorf Dolls is a good place to start.  Bella Luna Toys also looks like a good place to go, though the prices are a little higher there.  And lastly, eBay has a few secondhand dolls that appear to be good as new.  The prices for the eBay dolls are unfortunately just as high as the prices for a brand-new doll, and since the name "Kathe Kruse" is attached to some of them they'll understandably go for a bit more.  I personally am in love with Miyu, one of the Kruse dolls, but she'll have to wait since I've got plans for something else this Black Friday.

Welp, that's it for today!  I'll keep y'all posted on Zlata's progress.

Hugs and birthday cake,
RagingMoon1987