craftgrrl | A home made Christmas!

For the last 2 months I have been working a putting together a 'Home made Christmas' for my family and friends. I am so proud, I still have some baking (Christmas cookies) and cooking to do (a huge Christmas day meal) but for the most part I am done and completely organised.

And now for the spoils of my hard work, which my family will enjoy this Christmas:

A waldorf doll for each of my girls. 100% natural materials, 100% hand made

I ordered two Waldorf doll kits back in November hoping to give each of the girls a little mini-me dolly they could grow with and love on for Christmas. I had seen the completed dolls sell on etsy anywhere from $150 and up each (!!) and I couldn't understand why, when the two kits complete with pattern, instructions, supplies and a few extra sewing implements cost me US$97 total (shipping included). I figured I would have no problem whipping them out and saving myself a bucket load of money .... I was about to learn why these dolls cost so much!

These dolls are so intensively laborious to make!. There were nights where my fingers bled from hand stitching and binding. In the end it definitely became a labor of love for my two little girls.

I had read that the mark of a well made waldorf doll is a very hard head. I stuffed those heads so full of wool and bound them so tightly I cut the flesh across my fingers, and then when I went to hand sew the head to the body it bent my needle! (as seen in one of the middle pictures in the collage)

Once I had the dolls made I needed to dress them. Since the dolls are crafted from 100% natural fibers I wanted to stay true to the tradition of waldorf doll making, and craft the clothing from natural materials as well.

The shoes are made from wool felt and the socks are made from cotton ribbing. (heh, I'm so picky I made the socks from scratch too!)

These are the first outfits I made. I drafted the pattern myself from the oliver+s pattern I used to make the girls christmas outfits (as seen in the insert). I'm not entirely happy with them, but it was my first attempt at dolls clothes, and I did learn a lot from it

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I'm including pictures here of the Christmas outfits I made my girls in early December (its an Oliver+s Pattern) even though I have already given them to them to wear to all the party's we attended this month)

My eldest's Christmas Dress

My youngest's Christmas overalls

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I then made the dolls a set of Christmas pajamas each. These are made from the patterns that come with the doll kits.

The last things I made was a set of summer dresses. I made these from scraps and drew the pattern up completely myself from trial and error. I'm really happy with how these turned out.

The last thing I made for the dolls were a set of underwear each, a cloth diaper for littlest girls doll (since she is still in diapers herself), and a set of sleeping bags with built in pillows (I hope to make a wooden crib for the dolls sometime in the new year so I wanted to make the bedding now given the dolls have PJ's and youngest's all time favorite thing to do is to wrap her baby up in a blankey)

And now for the finished dolls:.

I also made everyone (hehe, my husband is going to love this! ~ not!) matching christmas PJs. I can't think of anything cuter then coming down from our beds on christmas morning to sit around in our matching PJ's opening gifts. (Note: I bought the t-shirts pre-made but embellished them myself with left over fabric I made into little flowers from the Japanese Kanzashi fabric folding technique)

I made the girls princess crowns from scrap felt to wear for important meals (birthdays, Christmas) or when they need to be little princesses for the day (which, lets be honest, is everyday!)

I made them both a Crayon roll each which is a really quick and easy project if anyone is looking for stocking stuffers.

Handmade Business Shirt for hubby

Colourful Bunting flags for the nieces

Gifts for our friends and neighbours included Home Made Eggnog Fudge and Home Made Toffee Popcorn. Both are sinfully sweet but amazingly goooooood! :D

*I made the lables for the bags myself by cutting ovals from cradstock and hand writing on a Christmas wish and our family initial. I tied the bags with red and green ribbon.

AND I made my own home made boiled christmas puddings (an English Christmas tradition) just like my grandmother use to do! These took 3 days to make as each step needed to be rested overnight. I've had a small taste test and although its not as good as Nan's I think its a good place to start! I'll be eating this warm, with cold custard drizzling all over. *Droooool!!!* Now thats the Christmas I remember!

And now I'm completely too excited to see the reaction of my family when they open the gifts I have made them on Christmas morning. :)

*Cross posted to Sew_hip and my journal. Sorry if you see it more then once.