Has anyone made their own bendy doll house dolls?

[NinaUk]

I would love to make some for my little one for when she is older and I was wandering if anyone here had made there own and if so did they have any pictures...and any links to online turorials or books which would show me how? Oh and is it hard? Thanks!

[Plarka]

Do you mean make them totally, or buy the wooden/bendy bodies and dress them? I LOVE these:

http://www.myrtleandeunice.com/2010/...aft-gnome.html

and wanted to make doll house dolls along these lines, but the blank dolls are more expensive or the same price as regular doll house ones, so I got them already made and might make my own clothes for them after all my Christmas projects are done, someday!

[NinaUk]

Wow, they are CUTE!!! I was wanting to make them from scratch and make removable clothing so they could be dressed and undressed...but they are so sweet! Thanks for the link! Any other ideas ladies?

[VegMomma]

I have tried. There are good instructions in the Waldorf Dolls book... I wouldn't say that I failed necessarily, I just really don't have the patience or skill for things that are that small-scaled. Sewing things, I should say.

Basically, you make a little pipe cleaner body, and wrap that in roving. You make a head separately. That you sew a little skin-suit, that fits perfectly over the pipe cleaner body.

HTH!

Good luck!

[Plarka]

I've seen these pipe cleaner dolls in my Feltcraft book, and have been wondering if pipe cleaners would last long with all that bending, or if the wire would break after a while?

[VegMomma]

I have no idea... Maybe the roving would protect them a bit, but I don't know.

[RollerCoasterMama]

If you use nicer pipecleaners...not the craft-store ones...then they hold up nicely...I tweaked some instructions last year and it's really simple! And you don't have to sew a skin suit! Just hands, feet and face...although if you used skin-toned embroidery floss, you could skip the hands and feet.

Here is the tutorial I did. I didn't show how to do the head. But it's basically a tiny Waldorf doll head.

Here's the one I made. One leg is too long, and he's kind of a dork. But for a first try, I'm happy with him! The clothes were a bit of a pain to sew, so I didn't finish up my great plans for a whole family. We just use the wooden people instead. (Really, DS uses the dollhouse more as a stable anyway!)

[MamaScout]

I made some last year.  They are pretty time consuming, but once you get the wrapping technique down, it's not too bad.

I used this tutorial:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33901148@N00/sets/72157594279192350/

[Plarka]

Rollercoastermama, are those wooden feet and where did you get them?

[henny penny]

You can get the wood feet from A Child's Dream Come True.  Get the large size. The small feet are too tippy on the finished doll.

[MommyKelly]

Originally Posted by MamaScout 

I made some last year.  They are pretty time consuming, but once you get the wrapping technique down, it's not too bad.

I used this tutorial:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33901148@N00/sets/72157594279192350/

I used this same tutorial. We have about 20 and they have lasted almost 2 years with daily play by 6 kids :) I suggest spending the money on good pipe cleaners though.

[hello.kiddo]

Kelly, thanks for the feedback! I've been wanting to make some and was wondering how long they would last.

[honeybunmom]

There is another great tutorial recently posted.  I'll have to go find it and come back with the link.  The blogger used a wooden egg for the feet - cut in half!  Brilliant.

Here it is.

Edited by honeybunmom - 1/6/11 at 11:44am

[Demeter_shima]

I have been making this style doll for a few years now...I make fairies and such and sell them on Etsy.  I have been planning to start making a to-scale doll house family, but I know I'd have to charge a LOT to make it worth it for sale.  I plan to make them mostly for my children and for friends. 

The copywritten idea was published in a book called "Wee Felt Folk"...by Sally Mavor. 
The design possibilities are endless with this structure! 

-Annette

Originally Posted by MamaScout 

I made some last year.  They are pretty time consuming, but once you get the wrapping technique down, it's not too bad.

I used this tutorial:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33901148@N00/sets/72157594279192350/