How to Make a Soft Body for a Clay Doll

Using a soft body made from fabric is a recommended choice for children's dolls.

Clay dolls can be taken apart and reassembled with a personal touch using other materials. Replacing a clay doll body with a soft body makes the doll more pliable and appropriate for children's play. Almost any material is suitable to use when making this type of doll, however, scrap fabric, cotton or muslin are common choices. Sewing a soft body for a doll with clay hands, feet and head is a relatively quick craft that can be completed with basic sewing materials.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric
• Needle
• Sewing machine
• Sewing thread
• Paper
• Chalk
• Quilting Pins
• Polyester filling

Instructions

1. Make your own template by tracing the outline of an existing clay doll. Place paper against the torso of the doll. Trace along the outlines of the torso, pressing the paper so it contours to the lines of the doll.

2. Cut a square section of fabric that is sizably appropriate for your template. Usually you want the section to be twice as big as the template. Fold your piece of fabric in half so that the right sides are facing and the ends match up.

3. Lay the template on the fabric, with the lines of the shoulder on the fold. Trace the template with chalk and cut out along the solid lines. Pin the open sides together.

4. With an 1/8 to 1/4-inch seam allowance, sew around the edges of the fabric template. Start by sewing from one side of the neck fold line to the middle and repeat on the other side, leaving a 1/2-inch opening in between. Use a backstitch to secure the ends of the stitching.

5. Turn the sewn together fabric inside out. Stuff the body using polyester filling. Turn the edges of the unstitched opening to the inside and hand stitch it closed. You can use regular cotton thread. Ensure the stitches are as close together as possible for a tight seam closure.

6. Apply a dab of tacky glue to the clay arms and legs of your doll and hold in the desired position on the fabric body for 30 seconds. Use a greater amount of tacky glue to secure the clay head of the doll.

References

• Cloth Dolls; Brenda Brightmore