In the background

Ladybug - a 50cm high natural cloth doll by Puppenka

Although everything is quite here, and even on my Isnta and Facebook page, there are a few things happening in the background. First of all I have attended a sewing course, to improve my doll clothes making techniques. I learned a lot, really. Small trick and tips, that helps to make my finished dollclothes cleaner. However, I have to say, the most important thing I learned, is that I have to be much more precise and patient, by eminence when cutting out the little pieces for the clothes. This is difficult for me, since when I finally have some time to sew, I want to do twice as much as I can or even more! But that won't work of course. So I have to slow down a bit, ease on the urge I feel, and admit to myself how much I can do during a given period of time.

Netti - a 25 cm high natural cloth doll by Puppenka

Currently I'm working on a little boy. He already has a future papa. It is going to be a long and slow process I know, since I have only 5 weeks left before my baby is born. Working on him helps me to be relaxed, such a pleasure to see a little one forming in my hands, and knowing that a little one is growing inside me as well.

Ladybug a waldorf inspired doll in her apple apron by Puppenka

Lonka and Simon will get new clothes. A little collar dress with cherries and berries for Lonka, and a comfy fishing set for Simon. This time I bought the patterns, and I'm very exited to see how these will fit on the favorite rascals of mine.

I have 4-5 minidolls started, I plan some of them are going to be strawberry-babies, but not everyone for sure. Somehow I want the to reflect the seasons, so there are going to be summer dolls as well.

Netti - a waldorf inspired doll playing with her animal friends by Puppenka

I do have baby sewing and knitting projects as well, I have to finish some bedsheets, baby-socks and baby-hats as well. I'm trying out patterns that I would use later on to create accessories for clothdolls as well.

The photos of Netti and Ladybug helps to make this post more pleasure to the eyes, they really deserve proper introduction, I hope you can read about them soon.

Have playful days!

My babies

I know everything was quiet here for a while. It is time for me to initiate you into a little secret of mine, our second little son is on his way! He will arrive among us by the end of June. So this little new baby I'm expecting, and his 1,5 year old brother kept me away from my wool-children, and I fear it's going to be like this for a while. I decided to take no deadlines at all, just make a stitch here and there, when I have a tiny bit of time. So hopefully I'll be able to make one or two dolls and also can find some time to show you them in appropriate blog-posts.

Before Christmas two little rascals were made. I hope by now they have proper names, for me they just go by the beautiful names of their mamas. I hope in some time, I can introduce them properly, here in the blog.

Ladybug (in Hungarian Kathlin can be fondled like that) is a 50 cm high blond little girl, with a great enthusiasm over color red.  

Netti is a small doll, she is only 25 cm high, has a beautiful light hazel-nut hair (my first ever Dolly-Mo mohair wig), and steel blue prying eyes, Netti is an always inquiring little girl.

Since I have a huge motivation, that roots deep inside me, to create dolls, you will always find some little natural cloth dolls here for sure. Making dolls is the most charging activity for me to satisfy my creative thirstiness, which means it's a must for me. I just can't promise a schedule now, I want to work on these little fellows without pressure on me, while my main focus is on my two little sons. 

I hope you will hear more about these to girls soon!

Have playful days!

Little Snail Lover - a handmade, natural doll by Puppenka

Little Neele - a waldorf inspired doll by Puppenka

I call this little rascal Neele, but I know it isn'ther name, this beautiful name belongs to her little mama. Still, I just can't help myself thinking about any other name for her. 

Neele - a handmade natural doll created by Puppenka

She is a mystery for me, fast as a wind, smart and cunning, and you never know what is on her mind. She smiles all the time, but it's impossible to decide is it a "everything is OK, I'm happy" smile or "I have a great idea, but it's better if you don't know about my plans" one. She never breaks the rules, or do anything dangerous, just loves to have her own ways. 

How careful she is, watching my little snail climbing the walls - a kind natural cloth doll from Puppenka

She is a friend of tiny ones, my little old snail-whistle found a confident in her. They learned some poems about snails, made up some undersong and sang out loud all around. 

My little snail whistle, bought some time ago at a so called "Valley of Arts" festival from a kind potter man

The snail is very odd and slow.

He has his mind made up to go

The longest way to anywhere

And will not let you steer him there.

Today I mat one in the grass

And hadn't time to watch him pass,

But coming back at sunset, I

Discovered him still traveling by. 
                                       (Unknown author)

Miss Little - a handmade fabric doll - playing hide and seek with a tiny snail

Their other little song is a proper tongue-twister:

Slippery slimy slugs and snails 

slide along on silvery trails.
                               (Unknown author)

A little girl and a tiny snail sunbathing in the golden rays of the afternoon Sun - a one of a kind natural doll by Puppenka

Some days ago, this little snail accompanied her to a late afternoon walk, and this Little Miss show him as much as she can. Traveling in her comfy pocket, my little snail can get much further, then sliding on his own. By the way, he has a name of course, he is called CsiGusztáv, which makes sans in Hungarian, but cannot be translated to English, what I'm really sorry for. It's a mix of the word for snail in Hungarian 'csiga' and a not so frequent male name 'Gutsztáv'.

The little snail got collard hiding among the leaves

So my little Neele showed him flowers, old baileys, parks with scented grass...so lots of perfect hide-and-seek places. She knows, this is the favorite game of my little snail.
 

Neele and her little friend in the park - a handmade natural doll by Puppenka

While she is my 13th doll, I still feel that I'm just at the beginning of a beautiful, miraculous journey. I have to learn so much about everything, from sewing to taking photos, about different fabrics and fibers, new ways of knitting or crocheting, designing patterns and so on. This Little Miss was a great help for me to develop my skills a bit further. She is an important step for my dollmaking,  I hope lots of other ones will follow. I'm so thankful for all the knowledge, shared by talented dollmakers, which help me to get better from doll to doll.

Neele - a natural handmade cloth doll - sitting on the top of a wall

 
Creating her, I have tried out a new stuffing method, which I learned from the selfless dollmaker behind Fig&Me, Fabiola, who introduced her technique in a wonderful tutorial. This time I got a clue, what 'firmly stuffed' means, and I'm really happy about the result I could reach!

Neele - a waldorf insiperd doll - and her little friend in her pocket

For the first time, I made panties for this little girl, based on a free patten by Juliane Strittmatter. It is a clear and detailed pattern, therefore super easy to create.

A little cloth doll girl, stuffed with wool by Puppenka

This is my first hand-knitted cardigan as well. To be honest, this is my biggest knitting project ever. This is a simple top-down piece, I didn't follow a pattern, just enjoyed, that I can knit anywhere, and anytime I have to minutes to pull out the needles from my bag.

This little girl enjoys the last warm summer afternoons - a waldorf inspired doll by Puppenka

She also has my first eyebrows, ans I have to say I really love them. I hope eyebrows will let me make my dolls face more expressive.

Neele lying on the grass - a natural handmade doll from Puppenka

My little dolly Neele is 40 cm high, her skin in made out of cotton jersey, stuffed with clean wool. She has embroidered eyes, and mouth, and she has my first ever eyebrows. Her hair is made of brown mohair yarn. She has ears, elbows, and knees, and a little bellybutton. Those rosy cheek are blushed with beeswax.

Neele - a little fabricdoll - and her little snail on the old brick wall

Her wardrobe consists of a purple, polka dot, linen dress, closing with a foliaged metal button, a matching purple, linen skirt with cotton lace hem, a beige, linen peasant blouse, a hand-knitted pale-pink cotton cardigan, white cotton-jersey underwear with a little bow and a pair of crocheted gray shoes.

The wardrobe of a little fabricdoll by Puppenka

An other first thing, I made her a little moths repellent pillow, from matching fabrics. From now on, I will make one for every doll, since I like moths, just far away from my wool-friends.

The little moths repellent pillow, made for Neele.

Have playful days!

Lulu

I found Puppenka! - a new logo for my handmade natural dolls

Poor little Majorane and Laurel got ready so-so slowly, because I was working on a new logo and blogdesign for Puppenka. I was not completely satisfied with the previous one, but I wanted to start the blog and focus on doll sewing rather then primping the layout forever. And now I feel I find the real logo for Puppenka.

The bloglayout is not totally ready jet, Blogger tricked me at some point, but I am so so delighted with this swinging little girl. She represents everything for me, what I want Puppenka to mean.

Kindness - I wanted her to be pure and sweet, having a smile hovering over her lips. For me, she is kind as an innocent always heart upon her sleeves three year old little girl.

Playfulness - swinging is one of the most basic ways of playing, a great way of calming a baby, and also develops lot of skills such as sense of balance and movement coordination. Hence it has an effect on body and soul.

Simplicity - I want my dolls to be simple but delicate. I think simplicity does not means that it has to be unexacting as well. She has simple facial features, a simple but pretty hairdo and a nice dress. I'm not fun of too much ruffle and glitter. 

Connection to nature - Swinging is usually an outdoor activity, which connects kids to nature. When you swinging you hear the birdies, feels the warm rays of the Sun. You experience the effect of gravity, and the flourishing of the wind.

For all this, she is Puppenka.

I kept the thread and nail trick at letter 'P' as well, referring the way these little dolls are made. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Little Majorane and Laurel has to wait just a wee longer, but I promise to introduce them soon. In advance you can find pleasure in the photos of their spring walk.

Have playful days!

Round eyes of a little rascal - challages of creating doll face for natural dolls

Two little dollies forming in my hands in the same time, a boy for my son and a girl for my nice. Finishing the eyes of a doll is a key movement of dollmaking for me. When the facial features are created, the little personality reveals itself. This is a precious moment, when somehow a doll comes to life. That is my favorite moment of creating cloth-dolls. So intimate, so touching moment...

But if the features doesn't work out, the eyes remain cold, that is everything, but my favorite. Sometimes it happens, and my beloved moments change into the most annoying and frustrating ones. And it happened again, of course when I'm making the first doll for my little son. It seems, when working for someone real close, dolls make me to take a roundabout way.

Eye-embroidery was always a mystery for me. I could plan the position of the eyes, the color and the approximate size, but the exact shape, it was determined by someone or something else, maybe by the doll herself. Embroidering on such an elastic, and unforgetting fabric is no picnic, but it belongs to the magic of these handmade natural dolls, I think.

While creating the face of my son's doll, after the long-long eye-positioning procedure, I pulled in the fabric, to create little pits for the eyes. I wasn't happy with the pits, but I couldn't tell what was wrong, since I liked the positioning, so I went on. I embroidered the eyes, and I couldn't see the personality. Such a frustrating thing to happen. I decided to re-do the eyes. And I realized, I accidentally cut the fabric with the threads. So I had to cover the head again. Since the tubing also broke, I decided to restart it from the very beginning, I was completely finished with a head, but I had just a big pile of clean, soft wool before me again.

So I was struggling with eyes, when something marvelous happened, the help came from Fabiola Perez, who is a gifted dollmaker (Fig and Me), in form of this great blog post. She shares sometimes here experience in great mini tutorials, which I'm really thankful for. This time the idea of embroidering the two eyes simultaneously meant the breakthrough for me. I tried two follow her method when creating the doll for my niece, and it worked! I love her eyes! I also found super little, and flexible embroidery needles, with which these satin stitches are much easier. 

However, the little boy triked me again. I tried this method when redoing his eyes, but he insisted on me to add one more layer embroidering since he wants to have round eyes. But working with to needles, creating the two eyes simultaneously gives me much greater control forming them.

These two little dolls are being created based on a brand new pattern. They are going to be approx. 20 cm high, and will have simpler body-structure and hairstyles, to fit better in the hands of the smallest. Wish me luck, so I can find more time to sew, to be able to finish these dollies soon.

Have playful days!

p.s.: Besides eye-embroidery, as you can see, I tried out myself in hair-embroidery for the first time, and I love it!

Simon, finally!

Simon, who waited for clothes so long, is ready now to introduce himself to you. One of his most peculiar quality. The reason why I keep him waiting, because between creating him and sewing his clothes, my little son was born, so it took me two months to get him dressed.

So now I'm happy to announce you dear Simon! First of all, he wants me to tell you, he has a passion for water and boats. He wanted to wear so called "sailor-colours". Ok - I said. Then blue, red and stripes started to wreathe in my mind. His favourite is the little red boat on his dungarees.

Simon has a really calm and quite personality. He enjoys the sounds of nature, the water, the wind and the birdies, when he remains quiet. He is always smiling, and gladly helps to the tiny and the week. He always listens to every happy, exciting or sad stories, he never interrupts the story-teller. As everyone he has some bad habits as well he doesn't want to wear jumpers, because he wants his little red boat to be visible, and hates to comb his hair.

Simon was created based on the PuppLonka pattern. He has a straw-blond crocheted mohair wig, embroidered mouth and blue eyes. She wears a dark blue striped blouse, re-purposed linen, striped, light blue trousers, a red shawl and a pair of crocheted shoes made of red cotton yarn. He has a nice bum, knees, elbows and bellybutton. Simon is my fist dolly with ears, maybe that's why he is a good audience. He is approx. 45 cm heigh, his skin is made of cotton jersey and his features are blushed with beeswax. 

Simon and I made two paper-boats, and went out to try them, so next time, you will here about our little trip. And finally, here you can see my helpers, who accompanied me, so these nice photos of Simon could be taken.

Have playful days!

Naming dollies

..is a very big privilege. Personally, I really enjoy the process of finding a name, but I also think, it strengthens the connection between the child and her doll.  So maybe this privilege belongs to the "mummy".

During my university years even my clothes-horse had a name, so you can imagine, how much I enjoy naming dolls. Searching for the name is a challenge itself, finding it always induces happiness. When you find THE NAME, it seems it was never your idea, but the new little owner whispered it into your heart. I think, the name shows much of the doll's personality and helps to make playing with her more real like.

This is a real fun part of dollmaking, but still, the dollies made for a certain kid  will not be named by me. Of course I have to call them somehow, so I plan to use titles, which refers to their habit, hobbies or any kinds of favourites. Like Tricky, Brave, Dotty, Redhead, Shy or Strawberry. I would like to leave the magic of naming them to the little kids, who hopefully will play whit most of my dolls. I will still have plenty chances to name dollies, since the ones I make without knowing the future owner will get their name from me, yeeaaah!

Have playful days!

Lonka

What can I say about Lonka! She and I spent a long long time together, before she could come to life. From the first sketches all the four seasons went by, until she got finished. In the beginning I couldn't see whether I'm working on a boy or a girl dolly. 

Many hours of daydreaming, investigating, trying and trying again ... and slowly her lovely personality took shape. I was working on her on train trips, during holidays, and expecting my baby. We have lots of common experiences, and slowly, step by step, as I was creating her, I got to know her. We found some materials for her cloths, we choose fibres for the shoes and her scarf. I have to say, she had the shoes first, even before her hair was completed. She had a red babushka on her head for a while, before her locks were prepared. I was really keen to finish her, but even a blonde dolly steal her thunder. 

Having her ready was a remarkable event for me! She turned out to be a mischievous little ginger, who has a passion for nature, especially for flowers. Lonka is not dare to stain her pinafore, she loves working in the garden. She has a really kind and always cheerful temperament. Although her pinafore is covered in flowers as well, she loves the shoes better, because of the flower-buttons we found for her! Those are her favourites! By the end of the summer, her freckles turn darker, just to be able to fade during the following seasons. 


Lonka's hair is made of Valais Blacknose sheep locks, she has embroidered mouth and brown eyes. She wears a beige polka dot blouse, repurposed linen dark green trousers, a flower printed calico pinafore and a pair of crocheted shoes made of grey cotton yarn. Of course, she needed a hairpin with a handmade woolfelt flower. She is approx. 45 cm heigh, her skin is made of cotton jersey and her rosy-posy cheeks are blushed with beeswax. She is my first "large doll" so later on you can read her "how it's made" story for sure. And I think after her, my large doll pattern will get the name: PuppLonka.

You can find more photos of Lonka at my Flickr page. 

Have playful days!

The beginings...

I think it may be interesting how I met with Waldorf dolls and started my playful and adventures journey in dollmaking.

It it really simple. I have seen some Waldorf style dolls on a Hungarian craft selling page, and I fall in love with it these dolls in that very moment. My husband bought me a doll from that dollmaker for the next Christmas. She is Reka, an always cheerful friend of mine. 

Reka was created by Marta Schnetzer from Stoffpuppe

Next summer I bought the book "Making Waldorf Dolls"  by Maricristin Sealey. To be honest, today I do not use the patterns, or hairstyles shown in this book, but it meant the only basis for me at the beginning. It also tells about the nature of dollmaking and Waldorf dolls, which was really interesting, since I knew nothing about these traditional toys.

I started on with my first "Corner Doll", what I made from an old T-shirt, and soon I created two 20 cm traditional dolls with a borrowed sewing machine. At that time I used materials, that were available, which was quite challenging. At this point, I have to mention, that I had no previous sewing experience at all. I struggled with the not so perfect supplies and my own inexperience, but I made a doll for my sister as a Christmas present. He had far too long arms, and was no perfect at all, but I was happy with him, although I really struggled with some steps of sewing him.

Next year from an academic contest price I bought my own sewing machine, but it was long before the next doll came. I had concentrated on my studies, got married, moved to a different part of the country and started working as an engineer.

In 2013 December I realised, I promised a doll for X, and two for Y, so in the end I had to make four dolls, in a short period of time. All were Christmas presents for sweet little kids, moreover, one of them was made for my God-daughter. At this time, I knew a bit more about sewing and I could buy better materials, which made the creating process more joyful then ever before. 

I think these four little figures meant the turning point, and I felt so motivated and enthusiastic. In the beginning of 2014, I searched as much information on the web as I can, and was really impressed with some talented dollmakers work, such as Fig&Me, Fröken Skicklig, Poppenliefde, Petit Gosset or Marias Nature Toys. 

The spring found me endlessly thinking and talking about dolls, designing limbed doll patterns, learning crocheting and knitting. The idea of this blog occurred to me approximately a year ago as well, so I started planning logos, collecting name ideas. During the summer I made my first large limbed doll, but I wanted to try out everything, so I made many many investigations, made many mistakes and changed my mind again and again, until she became ready in the beginning of this summer. Sometimes weeks went by me, without making a stitch, sometimes I advanced with triple speed. Later on I will write 2-3 post about her, and the making process, so stay tuned! Lot of sweet memory, many good and some hard experiences are connected to her creation.

And now here I am, I feel ready to show my work to the public. I hope some of you will find these dolls nice and loveable, and maybe also find it joyful to read about dolls, who are always ready to play! 

Welcome Here at Puppenka - a blog about dolls and dollmaking

Hello! I'm Lulu, and this is Puppenka, a blog about my doll sewing journey. A small but playful corner of mine, where I want to share my devotion towards creating these little friends. The dolls made by me are based on traditional Waldorf dollmakig, but usually they are more detailed and also may show emotions. Despite these small changes, my dolls are all natural, created with cotton jersey skin, sweet wool stuffing, and I use cotton or wool yarns and fibre for making their hair. Creating these little guys is a favorite hobby of mine, which has started three years ago, and now I would like to share this joy with you!

Although the main theme here is going to be dollsewing, from time to time, I will share some other creative projects as well (the first one maybe my sons appliqué blanket). Making dolls led me to lots of other handicrafts, like crocheting, knitting and natural dying, therefore I'm planning some posts concerning my learning process of these skills too. 

Now I'm working on a nice boy, who may stay with me, and accompany my little family in some adventures. My plan is to share spots from the special and also the usual days of his little life with you.

The world of children is something, that I find really interesting, just like designing toys and also the nature of playing. So you may find some "philosophical posts" concerning these topics as well. Don't say I didn't warn you!

I'm not a professional - maybe one day I will be - so for now, I can make dolls and also take care of the blog only in my free time. Thus please excuse me, if there are going to be less active or a bit silent periods. Here I want to mention as well, that English is not my mothertongue, therefore, I'm sure, I will make mistakes in my writings, please be indulgent towards me, I will try to do my best. 

I hope sharing this playful adventure pleasures not just me, but my readers as well!
 

Have playful days!