Category: Waldorf Dolls

Stella is 52 cm tall and went to a very special girl that Huxley used to be in Kindergarten with and whose parents are friends of ours. The little Girl had visited me at the booth and had held Eloise in her arms and really, really wished for her, however, I had already been in communique with her mom about a special doll for just The little Girl. So between her dad and I we had to persuade her in the most gentle of manners about why Eloise was not the right one for her.. That was so hard… But it made it even more fun to secretly work on Stella (named so by The little Girl).

The little Girl had originally seen Meg after her friend was gifted with her at her 6th Birthday last November (That little Girl) is also a friend of Huxley's. That little Girl took her doll to school and The little Girl became enthralled with Meg and so the wish to an Olive Sparrow child of her own came to be. 

Stella is walking on Love through life.

Eloise, whom The little Girl had seen at the Winterfair was not the perfect child for her, because Eloise has little braids that can be undone, but doesn't have a huge head of hair to play with, and hair for play is what the mom of The little Girl felt would be exactly right. The little Girl is 6, and at that age hair play is huge. So Stella has long hair that was hand dyed by me. Each strand is fairly fine, so there are many hair styles possible.

Stella also got another dress to take with her, here it is worn by Eloise (who will be in my Etsy shop when it opens in the next few days)

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Morning when The little Girl received Stella:

The Little Girl put Stella into a dress that was meant for The little Girl, but I agree with the little girl, she looks like a Christkindli.

So sweet!

Stella in her birthday suit, but still decent. This picture illustrates well how large a 52cm doll is. The little Girl has tall parents and she is tall herself for 6. You can also see her that The Olive Sparrow children are plump dolls. They have a nice weight and can give very nice hugs…. 

This past weekend I heard from another friend of my that her son was visiting The little Girl and admired Stella. The little Girl then continously commented to her mom how wonderful it was that The little Boy seemed to love Stella as much as she did. This shared love really moved her.. and I stood there with goosebumps on my arms, knowing that through my hard work and care I was able to play a small part in The little Girls life. I can never say anything though.. because Stella was gifted to The little Girl by Santa… then again… Santa has elves working for him in mysterious ways.

Each doll is made up of the following materials.

Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread

Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing,  wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.

Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible. 

Toby is 31 cm tall and was the first Olive Sparrow child to be adopted at the Winterfair of the Toronto Waldorf Academy in December 2010. 

He was purchased by a mom, whose boys are already too big to play with Toby. Yet Toby brought back so many memories for her about her boys being little, she just fell for him.

Toby wears up-cycled linen trousers and a natural linen shirt. His vest is from an up-cycled woolen and felted sweater and his hat knitted from fair-trade Manos del Uruguay yarn.

Toby loves his wild head of hair and won't let scissors near it. He is full of mischief and loves to tell ghost stories. 

Each doll is made up of the following materials.

Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread

Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing,  wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.

Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible. 

Lilli was a custom order to join some of the Olive Sparrow children sold in 2009. She is 35 cm tall and has gorgeous black hair. The same hair as the mother of the children that received her. 

Lilli is a very stylish girl and a real tomboy. She loves her jeans that are reversible — this makes it easier if she gets some grass stain on them to keep wearing them… 

Black can be a harsh colour for hair on a fair skinned doll, but Lilli pulls it off with her lovely eye colour and just a touch of girly-ness, methinks. 

Her body is the same as Emmi's and definitely a new basic pattern for me. 

Each doll is made up of the following materials.

Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread

Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing,  wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.

Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible. 

Kerri is Emmi's sister. She is 31cm tall and loves that she is a red-head. And contrary to conventions, she loves to wear pink!

She was purchased for an older girl (I think 12 years old) who had never played with dolls, but her mother felt that she would still be well received. A few days ago I saw my client and she told me that her daughter opened up the present and exclaimed: "This is the best present ever!" and rushed over to kiss her mother (much to the surprise of her and her grandmother who was there with them). It is for these wonderful stories that I love creating the Olive Sparrow Children.

Kerri's tunic is made from up-cycled linen fabric and has a free-hand machine embroidered little heart on it's front. Her hat is knitted from a wonderful alpaca yarn.

This is just a teaser to let you see the tiny stitches I use to sew the bodies. I also sew each seam twice for sturdiness. Kerri's hair is high-quality merino wool that I hand-dyed to give it variegation, more like natural hair. She has a lovely head of hair, ideal to fashion into many styles. 

I also embroider the lips with a few stitches, rather than one very long one. I want to ensure that the lip threads do not get caught on anything. It also provides me with many possibilities in altering the expression of each little soul.

Each doll is made up of the following materials.

Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread

Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing,  wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.

Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible.