The Wool I Use

My girls all have hand styled wool tops for hair, another name for wool tops is wool roving,  This is the same material that felt makers use to make handmade felt or weavers use to spin thread. The tops comes from a variety of different sheep with varying textures, I mostly use merino wool tops as it is soft and makes lovely curls & waves for the doll.

Wool tops arrives as a batt or long piece of roving with all the fibres going in the same direction, I select the amount of wool I need and gently pull the tops apart.  I have to say practise is needed to know how much wool each size of doll needs, too much can be pulled into tight curls which can look good but too little won't work.  I find you cannot add more tops successfully and need to start again. The tops is stitched to the head with matching thread and styled as you go, this takes patience and a good eye, again practise is needed.

I have in the past, used many different materials for doll hair but come back to wool tops as a favourite.  One of its many attractions is the range of colour you can get.  Tones and hues in beautiful shades.  Mostly these days I use natural hair colours, browns, fawns, brunettes etc, but I cannot resist a doll with pink hair.  The brands I favour are Trimits Natural Wool Roving and Clover Natural Wool Roving.  Both are readily available and come in very pretty shades, however they are only sold in small quantities so if you are making a large doll then I would recommend tops sold by George Weil. There aren't as many colours but you can buy a large batt for a large doll head.  Lastly I wouldn't recommend tops for a doll for a child, the wool can be pulled away if you are vigorous and rough play may result in a hand full of wool or worse a mouth full of wool.

Marianne, A Milly Doll with Liberty Lawn

This is Marianne, a Milly Doll so she is dainty with a tubby bottom.  She has a hand dyed calico body with hand painted, hand embroidered face. Her eyes are blue and she has brunette wool tops for hair.

Being a Milly Doll she stands just nine inches with a piece of rose quartz in her stuffing for love.  Also in her stuffing are rose buds and lavender for a gentle scent.

She is dressed in Liberty Lawn called Bobo which is based on Elizabethan embroidery, decorative stylised leaf and flower patterns were popular on garments during this time. Her dress is finished with navy organza ribbon, tiny buttons and a lavender filled sampler style embroidered sachet. She also has tiny navy leather shoes.  She is calm and gentle with a warm spirit.

Tuesday Talent - Aldegonde Ceelen

This lady is one of my favourite doll makers and I follow her on Pinterest.  She is a Dutch lady from Amsterdam and makes Waldorf style dolls. Aldegonde Ceelen is a childrens book illustrator who wanted her dolls to look like the illustrations that she draws.  The expressions of the dolls are kept neutral so that they generate a response from the child or grown up who plays with them.

The details are stunning, each one is unique, using traditional Waldorf doll techniques but with her own variations that have taken many years to develop.  There are two styles of dolls, my favoutite are the standing dolls. They are firmly stuffed and can stand freely on their own.  These dolls have more details to them, designed costumes and are more individual.  The eyes are very basic embroidery dots and the hair is wool yarn, simple but used so effectively.  They have joints so that they can sit as well.  The original sitting dolls where more like a traditional Waldorf but still with Adlgonde's refinements.

Check them out on Pinterest, they will melt your heart.They are more than just dolls but really soft sculptures. Should you wish to treat yourself or a loved one, Aldegonde still has an Etsy shop to take orders.  Lovely, lovely boys and girls from a very talented lady.

Nell, A Folk Art Rag Doll in Liberty Lawn

 This is Nell, she is a doll made to my Nora pattern so she is extra tubby.  As always she is a one of doll, I never repeat a combination of pattern and style.  Her body is made of tea dyed calico and she has a hand painted, hand stitched face with the softest pink hair.

Her dress is a Liberty Lawn called Thorpe and is reminiscent of a meadow in summer.  She has coordinating knickers and underskirts with a cotton lace petticoat to finish.  Her outfit is detailed with tiny buttons, white organza ribbon and little leather shoes.  Finally she sports a little sampler style lavender sachet.  She has a rose quartz heart and her stuffing is mixed with lavender for a gentle scent.

I like her, she makes me smile.  I think she has a cheery smile and soft gentle eyes.

The Herbs I Use

When I make my dolls I stuff them with two different types of stuffing, one very soft and one harder for the weight and balance it brings.  I always however add herbs to my dolls, I like to think they leave with a little bit of home.

I live in a tiny little bungalow that backs onto the woods but I have a big garden!  Being a great believer in natural remedies and the power of green plants I grow a great many herbs.  I make tissanes and teas for all kinds of ailments, soaks of herbs in oils to rub on and at this time of year we all make nettle beer.

All my dolls travel with lavender in their stuffing, it gives a gentle scent and brings a feeling peace and calm to the dolls. Sadly the scent fades but I believe the presence of the herb gives them a tender calm.

All the other herbs I use to add a little scent and colour to the doll I am making at the moment.  I add the herbs before I have even painted the face but the fabric and the dolls shape give me a sense of character.  Rosemary they say is for remembrance but for me it banishes negative energy and points the way forward.


Thyme is a lovely herb, it is for passion and purpose, it is also great when your cooking.  There are so many thymes, I must grow five or six, each with a distinctive smell and the bees love them.

Chamomile is an all time favourite the colour and the scent, this herb has so many uses.  To help you sleep or to help headaches it really does invoke peace and harmony and I love to use it in my dolls.


Rose petals and rose buds I use for love, they are one of my treasured stuffings.  I confess I buy my roses from Apothecary Oils in Mawdesley, I do not have the right setting for many roses in my garden.  I love, no adore the smell, I buy her rose water by the gallon and in summer nothing is as refreshing as a spray of rose water.

Finally I use nettle all the time, it is a real sense of Lancashire and the woodlands to the bottom of my garden.  I treasure my nettles, they grow in the woods away from any pollutant and make the best nettle beer.  Nettles lift a tired spirit, when you are totally pooped a cup of nettle tea is the best thing you can have.  So I use nettles for energy, some dolls just speak out to be full of energy.  A mixture of nettles with lavender and chamomile gives a wonderful balance to a doll.

So this is another of my secrets, I am sharing because Becca thought people who buy or commission a doll should know all that makes up Pook's Studio doll.  They really are folk dolls for grown ups, little totems of womanhood and as you know they all have big bottoms!

Tuesday Talent - Little Ragsmith

Little Ragsmith is a design company run by MA Fashion graduate Hannah Tucker-Salfield from Teddington in Middlesex.  Primarily she makes personalised interior items for children, which are lovely but her doll kit caught my eye.

At the right age my daughter would have loved to have a doll with her dress matching.  It would have become an instant favourite.  The doll design is very fetching, with lovely colours and stipy limbs.  She is a simple design, making a suitable toy for young children with no hidden dangers. The matching dress is equally fetching and any little girl would love it.

The doll and dress come in two colourways, a smart yellow, blue and orange or a softer pink, orange and blue.  A unique gift from Little Ragsmith on Etsy.

Morag, A Milly Doll with Liberty Lawn

 Morag is Milly Doll size, so she is only tiny.  She has hand styled red hair and as always a hand painted, hand embroidered face.  She as an amethyst heart for peace and lavender in her stuffing for a gentle scent.

Her dress is a Liberty Lawn called Dulwich Park, it was created with hand drawn roses from a garden in Dulwich. No flower has attracted more use as a symbol than the rose, revered for smell and beauty.  She has coordinated knickers and underskirt, finished with tulle lace petticoat.

She is trimmed with a sampler style lavender sachet, organza ribbon and tiny buttons, with little leather shoes.  She is very sweet and the pattern is a joy to work.

Tuesday Talent - Eszter Wiesner

I cannot imagine a prettier rag doll or rag mermaid for a little girl.  I found this lady on Etsy and she just makes me smile.  Proper rag dolls.

Eszter's shop is Cleo and Poppy, which has all kinds of treasures from rags dolls and mermaids to beautiful soft jersey dolls for little ones and gifts with young children in mind. Happy colours and lots of choice.  The dolls are a good size at twelve to sixteen inches and are a made with mostly vintage and recycled fabric.  Eszter even has a selection of dolls made with organic fabrics and stuffing.

Eszter is from Grass Valley in California, which sounds idyllic and makes her dolls there in a pet free, smoke free studio.  She states that all her dolls are made in the traditions of old fashioned craftswomanship, which sounds just grand.