precious primates

Natural Fiber Mini Ape Doll

Apes and Animals, Uncategorized

I have two main styles of ape dolls that I’ve been focusing on: those made with faux fur and needle felted faces, and those made in the natural fiber art doll style like the picture. This style is adapted from the classic Waldorf-style dolls and I have used it to make ape babies. Typically, I add “fur” by way of brushable mohair (visit my gallery for examples).

The gorilla head being formed from wool before getting covered

I wanted to try a natural fiber ape baby that was tiny rather than life-sized. Because of the small size, I was able to give this baby string-jointed legs which makes him so fun and pose-able. His arms are flappy/floppy which just adds to the fun.

I haven’t added any fur to this gorilla baby yet because I haven’t found something that looks just right. Stay tuned!

Realistic baby chimpanzee doll

Apes and Animals

I wanted to take a moment to highlight one of my favorite dolls which was made to order for a lovely customer back in the spring. This is my chimpanzee baby doll, made with luxurious faux fur fabric and a highly detailed face made by hand with the needle felting technique.

The ears, hands and feet are also made with wool. The baby is the same size as a real baby chimp and is lightly weighted with floppy arms.

This is the kind of ape doll I dreamed of owning as a child. It is so fun to hold and cuddle. The techniques I use result in a doll that is not fragile and even though I don’t make these dolls for children, I feel that as an adult collector, the lack of fragility still really improves the appeal of the doll. While you won’t be dragging it around or throwing it across the room (I hope!) it’s really amazing to be able to hold and pose these dolls and not have to worry about them breaking or coming apart.

This style of doll is available in any ape species. If you’d like one of your own, make sure you’re signed up for my mailing list. Subscribers get first dibs when new babies are available and are the first notified if/when I have made to order slots available.