Well Hello, Dolly!

Last Sunday afternoon, I made sure I was free to join a doll making workshop by Craft MNL 🙂  It was held in Bungalow 300 in Alabang from 2-5PM.  I was just so excited.  Couldn’t wait for this crafty afternoon!!!

This sign made me smile! I remembered one of my favorite films growing up, “Hello, Dolly!”, starring Barbra Streisand.

I love B 🙂

The workshop was held on the 2nd floor of Bungalow 300.  Loved their space so much!  I felt so at home the moment I entered.  Lots of goodies for the house like furniture, decorative items and handmade stuff.

We were all given our own little kits for the workshop.

We had a basket of yarn at the center of the table for everyone to use.  LOVELY.  I actually wanted to take out my crochet hook the moment I saw this. Haha! But oops, wrong workshop. Hehe!

Kits for everyone!

Meet our teacher for the doll making workshop… MOMMY JAC of I.Am.Handmade. Dolls & Dollhouses by Mom 🙂

Love her!  Look at the handmade dolls that she made recently??? SOOOO CUTE! 🙂

Mommy Jac giving a brief introduction about the cute dolls she makes 🙂

Now it’s time to check out what’s in our individual kits!

It’s everything we needed to make one doll each.  Cloth, pins, needles and thread.

Plus we all get some fiber fill to stuff the dolls with.

And here’s another type of stuffing that I really liked.  It’s soooo soft, like clouds. I forget what it’s called though.  Cotton fill?  Puffy fill? Haha! Ergh…

Now here was what we were making that day… Waldorf-inspired fabric dolls 🙂  I’ve never heard of these dolls ’til I heard about this workshop.  It’s a doll that is used in Waldorf education and is created with no facial expressions so that the child will use their imagination.  It is normally the size of a baby.  Mommy Jac also explained that it would be nice to match the hair, skin color, eye color of the doll to your child’s features.

Here are more of the Waldorf dolls that Mommy Jac has made.  The photo below was taken by Mommy Jac.

Aren’t they so adorable and huggable?!

Ok, time to begin with our own dolls.  First the head…

So happy that one of my good friends, Michelle, was there to take the workshop with me! 🙂

Michelle’s doll head on the left and my doll head on the right.  Michelle’s had the perfect shape!  Mine just looked… flat. Haha!

I am not a good sewer at all.  Thank God the stitches won’t be seen.

Time to sew the arms.

The basket of clouds 🙂

Using the clouds to stuff the doll’s body now.

Put them all together and yey!!!! It looks like a doll na! 🙂

Mommy Jac made these cute little dresses to give away to the students.  She raffled them off and I actually won one! Haha! But I gave up the dress sadly since I was making a little boy doll.

It’s hair time!

My doll badly needs a haircut. LOL!

Mommy Jac now doing a demo on how to sew the eyes.

Our dolls looking like dolls already!!! So proud 🙂

It’s Bella and Damien Crow. Hehehe!

It was such a great and inspiring workshop, Mommy Jac, and I had so much fun, let me tell you.

I was so inspired by your creativity, skills and patience to make these lovely handmade dolls.  I love being surrounded by people who are into arts and crafts, even if I suck at sewing. Haha!  This workshop, to me, wasn’t just about learning the steps to make these lovely dolls but the realization that anything handmade came with a lot of love and patience.

And that’s what it all about… Creating something extra special because you made it with your own two hands.  The flaws and imperfections are the ones that make them unique.  And to the one who will receive it, it means the whole world to them because you made it.

That is how I feel every time, I finish a toy for my son.  He doesn’t care about the imperfections 🙂  I can’t wait to give this to him.  I just need to sew the eyes, give him a little haircut and find him something to wear! LOL!

Thanks again, Teacher Jac, Yelle from Craft MNL and Vernice from Bungalow 300 for having us that wonderful Sunday afternoon.  I will definitely be joining one of your workshops again soon!!!

Let’s go, my crafty friends!!! Check out www.craftmnl.com for the next Hello, Dolly Workshop 🙂