June | 2015 | wild ginger dolls

June is half way through here on the coast, lavender and sage and chamomile are blooming in my herb garden, tomatoes fruiting nicely and vegetables growing larger by the day. This hot and dry June weather has burned off any vestiges of spring, my delicate trilliums and lilies and mushrooms have all gone and are being replaced by salmon berries, abundant tree growth, large horsetails and ferns, and creeping blackberries ready to pop my chariot and bicycle tires. But my little Sage is a trooper and decided to go searching the woods with me none the less, seeking for spring fiddleheads and mushrooms. And what do you know, we found some? And here was our morning’s catch, two varieties of edible mushrooms, and some fiddleheads ready to be steamed. Sage enjoys looking at the tree tops along the creek, watching as the cedar boughs and aspen sway and tremble in the breeze. Sage-11 Here she stopped to watch the little fry and alevin dart among the sunken logs and reeds. Its a good thing she brought her lace trimmed shawl, it can be a bit chilly at times near the water.Her wool gathering basket has little ferns embroidered near the handle attachments, and come filled with two detailed and finely crafted alpaca blend mushrooms, as well as four fiddleheads in wool. Sage-21 Sage-22 Sage is an 18″ waldorf style doll. She is made in the waldorf tradition: all natural materials, wool stuffed to a heavy firmness, inner head shaped by rolling roving, tying string and needle felting to created facial features. She is made with high quality doll skin cotton jersey, double stitched and hand sewn in places, and blushed with tinted beeswax. Her eyes and mouth are formed from french embroidery thread. her hair is made from merino wool, hand spun and dyed and is one of a kind with a variety of tints and hues. Each doll takes between 20 and 25 hours to complete, a process that is challenging, rewarding, and alluring.

I made her floral dress from cotton and linen, with a layer of lace underneath, and polka dot cotton for a total of three luxurious and heavy layers, perfect for warmth in the spring weather. The back closes with two vintage glass buttons. Her white bloomers underneath are also from cotton with a sewn little bow at the front. Her galoshes are cotton and linen as well. Her shawl took many many hours of enjoyable work and is made from a fine sock weight wool, and edged with lace scallops. It is very soft and pliant, and comes in a myriad of purple and indigo hues. If you would like to take Sage home, please visit my Etsy shop. Here she is, all ready to be packed home from our hike and await her new family.