The Olive Sparrow Child — Elwood

This big boy really grew close to my heart… He was created for a client whose children all receive a Waldorf Doll when they are little. The little one is just over 2 years old and named the doll Elwood (an absolutely wonderful name me thinks).


Elwood was finished in November, but stayed in some temporary clothes until the middle of December. During that time he grew so close to my heart that I had a really hard time letting him go to his new family. He kept telling me stories of adventures he planned on having in his new homes and how he would hug the little one whenever he was sad. He also told me about the importance of keeping secrets that are whispered to him. 


Elwood is about 52 cm tall, so a big boy. His scarf and shoes are sewn from up-cycled wool sweaters, his shirt made from an up-cycled men's shirt. My client owns a lovely wool store and provided me with the wool for his hair, matching her son's hair. 


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

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 whispy 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.