[Plarka]

<p>It's taking me sooo long to clean all the little bits of junk from my sheep's wool.  I washed it, but there's so many little bits of junk left.  Should I not be so meticulous and just leave it in? Or some of it?  Or is that gross?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, for the one I already finished, the head is reallly floppy at the neck.  I didn't leave any stuffing in it when I tied it off. Any idea on how to fix it?</p>

 

[BethSLP]

<p>are you talking about the inner head neck?  or the doll itself where the inner head needs stuffing around to stabilize the neck?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>my doll has a decent neck, but its still flopping if I put the hair up in the buns since the rainbow dreadlock-ish hair is so heavy.  I am planning to remedy this by taking a bit of tricot fabric and pulling it tight around the neck to strenghten it.  The Dancing Rain pattern has you do this anyhow, but for this doll, I'm going to go much wider with that strip in hopes that it adds stability. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If I had to do it again, i might consider sticking a chopstick inside the inner head to make for a really strong neck.  The floppy neck issue is really bugging me, but now that my doll is sewn, I can't go back and add this.  There may be a reason not to do this (I'm not a waldorf doll expert), but my doll's hair is so heavy and I really like the look of it pulled up.  I wish there was a better way to strengthen the neck, but my options are pretty limited at this point. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>XOXO</p>
<p>B</p>

 

[herent]

<p>I also wash and card my own wool for my dolls.  Are you carding it or are you just picking it out by hand, I just bought two cheap square dog brushes and brush the wool back and forth to get as much hay and bits out as possible and mine turns out pretty clean by doing that.  As for the neck problem make sure when you stuff your head and tie the neck off that you have a pretty large part below the neckline which is called the "muff" that really helps stabilize the head and make sure you have plenty of wool in the neck as well a decently thick firm neck were you tie it off.  My dolls have lots of hair too and there heads don't flop much because of a good size muff that goes down into the body.  I had a small muff one time and my dolls head was floppy and I tried and tried to tie more onto the neck without much luck, I had to redo the head.  The chop stick idea might work but I would worry it might eventually stick through the body of the doll.  Hope this helps.</p>

 

[Plarka]

<p>BethSLP, do you mean you make a band of the skin colored material and sew that to the outside of the neck of the finished doll? I saw that somewhere online and it's all I can think of to fix it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Herent: Would these dog brushes work?</p>
<p><a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Metal-slicker-brush-wooden-handle-/290504998074?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item43a3727cba" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Metal-slicker-brush-wooden-handle-/290504998074?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item43a3727cba</a></p>

 

[herent]

<p>Yes those brushes would work perfectly.</p>

 

[Plarka]

<p>Thanks!  By the way, I don't have any wool hanging down into the muff on the first doll, that's why the head is so floppy.  I just finished my second doll and made a decent sized neck and all is fine!  I can't believe I didn't do it the first time, I didn't reallly know what the instructions meant.</p>

 

[MagicRainbow]

<p>One way to fix a floppy head is to sew again around the neck - even MORE than once or twice, keep going around as many times as you need to without ruining the look of the doll. You dont want to end up with a doll that has NO neck!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Stitch the head to the torso with small evenly spaced  ladder stitches about 1/4inch out from where it is currently stitched. If the fabric of the torso or head is a bit baggy, you might even have room to make the gap larger or to fold some of the torso the new neck line fold so that the head and torso are more tightly connected and there is no extra fabric to make it more floppy</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have repaired dolls that have too floppy heads by doing another few rounds around the neck and torso seam - and grabbing up some fleece of head and body with each stitch as I go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>it it is a baby waldorf doll it can actually be nice to have the head a bit floppy - they it is more like a real little newborn baby.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When stitching the head and torso together at the neck seam...the IMPORTANT bit is to DIG DEEP into the fleece and grabbing some with EACH and EVERY stitch - so you are effectively strengthening the attachment between the head and torso and giving it stability by taking up the filling with each stitch. Use a doll needle that is about 5inches long and not too thick or too thin</p>
<p> </p>
<p>please, dont put a chopstick in - the doll is not as safe then, the chopstick could spit or else another accident might happen. It is easy to make sturdy heads by making sure you have enough neck thickness when you tie off the head from the neck - and MAKE sure that the thickness of the neck includes a sheet of fleece that goes right OVER the entire head and down the neck - ie the neck and head cant be two separate entities, they need to be the SAME thing tied in the middle - or in this case at about the 1/3 point (2/3s for the head and 1/3 for the neck)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hope that helps </p>