Sewfunky

Your handmade doll has been made with natural fibers (mainly wool) and will need specific care. 

The yarn hair of your doll is made with wool, mohair, soy, bamboo or silk blends.  Because it has been freshly cut you may find the ends of the hair shed at first, this is normal.  If your child is still young it is a good idea to braid your dolls hair or put it into ponytails until your child is old enough to not carry their doll by the hair.  Because each hair is individually placed your doll can have any hairstyle you wish,  comb the hair with your fingers and use ribbons to style the hair.  If you would like to cut your doll’s hair shorter you can carefully do this.

You may find over time that your child’s doll needs to be cleaned.  Firstly, never put your doll in the washing machine or send it to be drycleaned.  It will result in all the wool inside your doll and her hair felting up entirely.  Do not use hot water or detergent.

You need to fill a tub with cool water and a small amount of natural soap or something used to clean wool like Eucalan or Woolite.  I sometimes use natural shampoo.  Put your dolls hair in braids or ponytails to keep it from matting.  Immerse the doll into the tub and gently with your hands clean her just like you would with a baby.  If you can avoid immersing the dolls head it is best to just gently wash her face.  You can use a gentle cloth to scrub any stains.  Remove the water from the tub and press down on the doll squeeze out the soapy water.  Fill the tub again with clear water to rinse away any soap residue.  Wrap the doll in a towel and gently squeeze to remove excess water, leaver her to dry face up,  changing the towel from time to time until she is dry.  If it is warm and sunny out you can place the doll inside a white pillowcase and put her out in the sun to dry.  It will take a few days for your doll to dry completely.

From time to time you may need to re-blush your doll’s cheeks as it fades. If you have Stockmar beeswax crayons these are great,  I use them when I make the dolls.  Take a scrap of fabric and colour it with red/pink or red/orange crayon then use the scrap to blush the cheeks of your doll.  If you don’t have beeswax crayons regular crayons will do.

If you find your doll is in need repair or has had an ‘accidental’ hair cut please let me know and I would be happy to help.  These things happen with young children, like the time my daughter used a pink highlighter to put blush on her doll or my friend’s daughter who decided to trim dolly’s bangs.  The hair is easily replaceable in such a case!

Your doll has been double stitched for the entire construction and made with high quality supplies.  It has been made to last many years of play. 

Tanja