How to Hand Applique a Doll's Face
Hand-crafted dolls are a timeless gift for children and adults alike. As family heirlooms, they are often passed down from generation to generation, and are well-loved by all of their owners. When creating your own doll, a highly customized face can be created by using the art of applique, which combines the application of artfully cut pieces of non-fraying material with embroidery stitches to create a three-dimensional, detailed finish. With this technique, both sophisticated and primitive doll faces can be created for your projects.
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Things You'll Need
- Finished fabric doll head
- Paper
- Pencil
- Carbon paper (optional)
- Felt
- Scissors
- Sewing pins
- Embroidery floss
- Sharp sewing needle
Instructions
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1
Trace the size of your doll's face onto the sketch paper. Sketch out the features you would like your doll to have and determine their placement. Play with the arrangement of the facial features and their size until you are pleased with your design.
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2
Copy your design onto your doll's face by either hand-drawing it or placing the carbon paper over the fabric topped with your drawn design and tracing it. Trace out the features onto the appropriately colored felt for each feature, such as blue for the iris of the eye and white for the outer part of the eye.
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3
Cut out all felt pieces carefully and check their placement on the doll. Pin in place.
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4
Thread the sewing needle with embroidery floss that matches your felt. For areas of stacked felt (for example, the eye with a white area and a blue iris), begin by sewing the bottom piece of felt in place using a straight stitch worked close to the edges of the felt. Hide all thread knots and ends between the felt and the face fabric for the doll.
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5
Remove the pins once all felt pieces have been attached.
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Tips & Warnings
For extra whimsy, add freckles to the doll face with french knots made from embroidery floss.
Accent felt pieces with an edging of blanket stitch or whip stitch before pinning them in place on the doll. Use a contrasting color of embroidery floss for a whimsical look.
Fill in pupils for the eyes with black embroidery floss and satin stitch, or sketch pupils directly onto the felt with a permanent black marker.
Iron-on doll faces are available in hobby stores and can help create a basis for your applique doll face. Iron it onto the fabric before sewing the doll together.
Items made for small children or which must tolerate heavy wear can be reinforced by adding fusible interfacing or fabric glue between the felt and the doll face before the felt pieces are sewn into place.
References
Resources
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