How to Make a Goth Doll

You can make a goth-style doll in any manner and material, but the simplest way to do so is through creating a cloth doll. Cloth dolls are easy to customize and can often have the look of creepy rag dolls, a style made popular in recent years through movies like "Coraline," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Nine." You can design your goth doll to emulate this aesthetic or create your own style through a combination of costume, body type and facial design.

Things You'll Need

• Paper and pencil
• Sewing machine
• Pins
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Fabric pencil
• Embroidery needles
• Standard thread
• Quilter's thread
• Doll needle
• Medium-weight woven cotton fabric
• Ribbon
• Polyester fiberfill stuffing
• Yarn
• Tissue paper
• Large buttons
• Embroidery thread
• Embroidery needle
• Colored pencils
• Iron and ironing board
• Doll zipper

Instructions

Make the Basic Goth Doll Body

1. Sketch out an in-scale drawing of the body of the goth doll you would like to make, using a front view. Cut the drawing from the paper, then cut the head apart from the neck at the base.

2. Trace the head separately onto another sheet of paper, adding 1/4-inch seam allowances to all sides. Do the same for the body. Use these pieces for pattern pieces.

3. Lay the pattern pieces over a double layer of the cotton fabric you have chosen for your doll. Pin the pieces to the fabric and cut around them so that you have two copies of each pattern piece.

4. Pin the head pieces together, right sides touching, and sew around the outside on your sewing machine, 1/4 inch away from the edges. Leave the neck edge open. Do the same for the body piece, also leaving the neck edge open along with a large opening in the side of the doll through which you can push stuffing.

5. Turn the head and body right side out and iron the pieces flat.

6. Push polyester fiberfill stuffing through the neck edge on the head piece, until you have the head stuffed as desired. Leave a small amount of space in the middle for the neck to go through. Do the same to the body piece, then handstitch the opening in the side together using a slipstitch.

Customize the Goth Doll Head

1. Sketch the face lightly onto the head using a pencil, including the placement for button eyes. Thread a doll needle with quilter's thread and insert it through the back of the head, where the hair will be.

2. Sew small stitches beside the nose, going from one side to the other and trapping the stuffing beneath the fabric and your stitches to create a raised effect. Do the same to the lip area, then tie the thread off at the back of the head.

3. Sew the buttons to the eye markings. Thread your embroidery needle with the eyebrow color and make a series of angled stitches along the eyebrow markings.

4. Thread your embroidery needle with black thread and sew vertical stitches across the mouth, creating a spooky look. Shade in the lips, cheeks and eyelids as desired, using the colored pencils. Blend the color with your fingers.

5. Sew the head to the neck of the body. Turn the raw edges under and insert the neck into the head. Slipstitch the fabric together at the joint, using the quilter's thread.

Finish the Goth Doll

1. Add yarn hair to the goth doll. Create wefts of hair by lining up pieces of yarn side-by-side and folding a strip of tissue paper over the ends. Stitch over the ends of the yarn, through the tissue paper, several times on the sewing machine. Pull the tissue paper away and handstitch the wefts to the doll's head to create the desired hairstyle.

2. Take the doll's measurements for an outfit. To make a dress, measure the circumference of the bust, waist and hips. Measure the distance between the neckline and bust, bust and hip, and hip and dress hem. Measure the skirt circumference you would like.

3. Make the bodice of the dress. Draw an hourglass-shaped piece that is half the circumference of the bust, waist and hips, spaced the proper distance apart. Add seam allowances of 1/4 inch to all sides. Cut this piece once in the dress fabric. Cut the pattern piece in half vertically, then add seam allowances of 1/4 inch to each new side. Cut these pieces once each in the fabric.

4. Make the skirt of the dress. Draw a rectangle that is as wide as the hem circumference and as long as the skirt length you would like. Add seam allowances of 1/4 inch to all sides. Cut this piece once from the dress fabric.

5. Sew the bodice pieces together at the sides, then turn the top under 1/4 inch and sew it in place. Turn the hem of the skirt up 1/4 inch and sew it in place, then gather stitch the top edge to fit the bottom edge of the bodice. Sew the skirt and bodice together, then sew the back seam of the skirt together, stopping 1 inch from the hips. Sew the doll zipper to the remaining back edge.

References

• Cloth Doll Making
• Creative Cloth Doll Making

Resources

• Everything For Dolls, Dollmakers and Dollmaking