How to Create Baby Dolls

Baby dolls are an important part of growing up and can also be important decorative items. Dolls have been a part of human society since ancient times; we have examples of dolls from historic eras in Rome, Egypt, Elizabethan England, and even the culture of Native Americans in North America. Modern dolls haven't changed as much as we would expect. Today, small dolls can decorate couches, tables, beds and chairs. But they maintain their highest role as a universal gift for children. Making your own dolls adds a personal aspect to the toys--you can change the color of their hair, personalize their faces and give them clothes that match the child to whom they belong.

Things You'll Need

• 2 yards cotton jersey
• 2 yards cotton lawn
• Chalk
• Pins
• Scissors
• Sewing machine/needle and thread
• Turning tool
• Polyester fiberfill
• Glue
• Paint
• Blush
• 1 yard designed cloth
• 6 inches ribbon
• Wool yarn

Instructions

1. Download a doll pattern at craft.nunodoll.com/mini/mini_pattern.gif. Use whichever pattern you like, but make sure you have one head, one body, two arms and two legs in your pattern (two versions of the pattern have legs attached to the body). Enlarge patterns to desired size; print them (pattern at standard size will create a 4-inch doll). Cut patterns out.

2. Cut your jersey cloth into two pieces, and your cotton lawn into two pieces. Place the two sheets of jersey between the two sheets of cotton lawn, and pin them in place. Use chalk to trace the pattern shapes you need onto the material.

3. Cut the material at the chalk lines. You should now have four pieces of material for each piece of the doll: two pieces of cotton jersey (outside of the doll) and two pieces of cotton lawn (lining for the jersey).

4. Sew the pieces using a sewing machine or needle and thread. Stitch around the edges of the head, body and arms. Each piece should be four-fold: cloth, jersey, jersey, cloth. Leave two openings (approximately a 1/2 inch) in the seams of each piece. Make sure you have one left arm and one right arm.

5. Use the openings in the seams and the turning tool to turn the pieces inside out, so the seams are invisible.

6. Stuff the pieces with fiberfill. Don't fill the ears in the head. Stitch the seams closed after you've stuffed the doll.

7. Cut the designed cloth in a 1.6-inch-by-7-inch strip. Set it in a ring for the doll's skirt and hem it. Stitch it to the body, with gathers at the top. Tie a piece of ribbon around the top.

8. Paint the doll's eyes and mouth onto the front of the head. Put blush on the cheeks.

9. Stitch the arms onto the doll's body, toward the front of the shoulder areas, using small stitches. Stitch the head on at the top of the body.

10. Tie the wool yarn in a knot at the center, and spread the individual pieces of yarn to style it. Glue the yarn on top of the doll's head at the knot.

11. Cut a circle of cloth 4 inches in diameter for cap. Use glue to hem the cloth. Center the circle on the doll's head and tack it on at the center (it should be directly over the knot that forms the base of the doll's hair). Create gathers in the cap, and tie a length of ribbon around it to finish the design.

Tips & Warnings

• The front of the doll's head is the same as the back until you stitch it on. If you don't like the first face you've given it, turn the head over and try again on the back.

• For easier face application, buy pre-made features at your local craft store.

• Always be careful when using a needle and thread or sewing machine.

References

• Doll Making