This adorable, small Waldorf-style doll is made by the indigenous women from the Q'ewar Project (Perú).

The Doll

From the pure woolly innards to the finely crafted traditional clothing, a Q’ewar doll is a work of art from start to finish. It takes five days to craft a Q’ewar doll and the process starts with the cutting out of patterns for the head, body and limbs – from Peruvian cotton cloth.

After each part is cut, sewn and filled with clean sheep’s wool and possibly some alpaca, they are put aside, on reserve. Since the head and torso are one piece, the next step is the careful sewing in of the alpaca hair, strand by strand.

At this stage, the doll is ready to be assembled after which the eyes and mouth can be gently sewn in. During the above labors, the seamstresses have been busy making lovely doll outfits for both boy and girl dolls – of Peruvian everyday wear as well as the traditional fiesta dress as worn today on special occasions.

The last stage in the doll making process is the dressing of the dolls and the careful overview, thus ensuring quality control for each individual order.

The Q'ewar Project

The Q’ewar Project, a social work initiative begun in early 2002, is situated in the rural highlands of the Andes Mountains in Peru, South America.   By providing open, bright and comfortable workshops where the beautiful handcrafted dolls, doll clothing and other articles are created, Q’ewar has created an atmosphere which fosters self-esteem, personal growth and a way to gain economic independence through learning life skills in a community setting.

Productive and artistic work, either in the workshops or on the Q’ewar land, is done by both women and men, most of whom live in the village of Andahuaylillas.  The Q’ewar school, Wawa Munakuy (“giving love to the children” in the Quechua language) care for the youngest preschoolers of the working women, as well as conducting classes for primary school age children.

Learn more at: http://qewar.com/doll-making/