Here is a quick, little project for a snowy afternoon, especially if you have a baby doll head with no body.

Our local doll club tackled the dilemma of the bodiless baby head and created a one piece baby or snow suit…stuffed with pellets and polyester to make the body. The body was then attached to the hapless baby head and topped with an attached or separate hood.   Below are instructions and illustrations along with a printable pattern.

Materials needed:

• ¼ yard ( for pattern size shown here) of fleece, flannel* or thick sweatshirt material (use the soft inside)

* if the flannel is thin you may consider lining with muslin or other light interfacing

• Cardboard for a template
• ½ yard of elastic thread
• Strip of Velcro (optional for hood)

Step 1: Print out the pattern by “select” and “print” from this site.

Once copied, resize the pattern either in a graphics program or use the grid method. Select the size of your fabric to accommodate your revised pattern dimensions.

The original size for this article is for a 6 inch body, neck to toes.

Step 2: Outline the paper pattern after resizing onto a piece of shirt cardboard. Cut out to make a     template. In this case, half of the template is used to ensure both halves are even. (Fig. 1)

Step 3:   Draw a pencil outline around the template on the wrong side of one half of the piece of flannel. If the flannel is thin and you are adding a lining, you can draw the pencil outline on one piece of the muslin or lining material. (Fig. 2)

Step 4: Fold the flannel in half so the right sides are facing. If using a lining, sandwich the folded flannel in between two sheets of lining material.  Otherwise just fold the flannel. (do not cut the pieces yet)

Step 5: Machine stitch along the pencil outline, through all the layers. Leave an opening at the neck and 1 ½ inches along the side. (Fig. 3) Now cut out the suit ¼” from the sewn seam. You should have a piece as in Fig. 4.

Step 6: Turn the suit right side out. ( Fig. 5) Stuff the legs and if desired make a small pouch of pellets to be inserted for the baby’s bottom. (Fig. 6)

Step 7: Stuff the baby’s arms and loosely & stuff the chest area.

Step 8: Run a stitch around the neck opening with the elastic thread. (Fig. 7) Insert the baby’s head in the neck and pull the elastic thread tight, holding the head in. (Fig. 8)

Step 9: Finish stuffing the body through the hole left on the side of the baby body. Sew up the hole.

Make a small hat or hood to attach at the base of the back neck of the suit. Decorate suit with buttons, sew on appliqués or other trims, such as fur.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came across a pattern for a simple doll that is reminiscent of the “old fashioned” rag dolls – dolls that were hand sewn  from scraps of fabric, usually left over from a hand made dress or curtain.   Here are two I recently finished…one is a gift for a friend and the other will be added to my rag doll collection.

The dolls measures 14″.  The head and torso are one piece with sewn on legs and arms.  All the outer clothes and facial features are hand sewn…there were often no sewing machines available so everything was hand stitched.  The fabrics are vintage for the dresses and pantaloons, but the hats are new.

They were fast and fun to make!

This past spring, my doll club, the Catskill Mountain Doll Club was trying to decide on a project that would include making doll heads…but no one was interested in crafting – or buying the expensive – bodies that go with small porcelain head. So we decided to make “marotte” dolls!

Marotte is a French word which means “frivolous amusement”.  Such was the name given to the toy made in France in the last half of the 19th century.  Essentially a marotte doll is a doll’s heads attached to a dowel or stick…adorned with various decorations and a music box.

When the stick is swung around, it activates the musical movement producing an attractive effect combined with the bells decorating the pointy ends of the gaudy dresses.  The heads and costumes often depicted a jester or harlequin.

Club  members cleaned and china painted a variety of milette heads and used these as the basic head for their marottes.  Below are four marottes I made:

The gaudy outfits swing freely when the dowel is twisted…there is the sound of bells…a music button was added to two of the dolls to afford music as well.

They were fun to make and really offered the opportunity for creativity!

 

 

 

 

 

Over the years I have learned many lessons…and have made many mistakes.  So to open this category  I would like to pass on my five top rules for doll making:

1)    Cut it a little larger, longer, bigger…it can always  be cut down

This rule probably could be applied to all kinds of crafts, but is especially effective when making clothes for dolls.  The only time I find it will not work is when patterning the bodices for dolls…the shoulder and neckline is proportional and just adding to the seam lines may throw the proportions off.  But for hemlines, sleeve lengths and widths, arms holes, side seams and waist measurements, this rule works well!

2)    Eyeball it!

You know that old expression carpenters have…measure twice…cut once.  I would insert eyeball it!  Trust your sense of proportion!  Once I was making a doll hat and measured the circumference of the doll’s head for the crown.  When I put the measurement to paper and fabric, I thought it looked too large.  Indeed, I was using a plastic tape measure from which, somehow, almost two inches got chewed off!  I know I said in my first rule to cut it larger, but this would have been really out of proportion!

 The first markings for the crown of this bonnet looked way too large!  I discovered that I was measuring the head with a tape measure from which almost two inches was cut off!  (Watch for later posting for directions on how to make this easy and quick bonnet.)

       3) Use the right tool

If directions call for a screwdriver, don’t use a nail file…if for a chisel, don’t use a screwdriver.  Sometimes tools can be expensive, especially those specialty tools for doll making.   But using the wrong tool can often end up in a botched job… and wasted materials!  Spend that little extra and save money in the long run.

4)Use the right glue

There are so many kinds of glues on the market these days…epoxies, resins, silicones and more. Wikipedia lists over 40 kinds!  When considering the kind glue for your project, check out the holding power, drying speed, color or clarity and ease of clean up.  While cleaning up casein based glues like Elmer’s glue© is easy , its holding power is inadequate for ceramics.  Epoxy glues work well for ceramics, but are messy. A whole article can and have been written about various kinds of glues.  Check out the DIY site!  And if you haven’t heard of it yet, Fabri-tac by Beacon© is a great substitute for a hot glue gun.

5)Mull it over!

If you run into a sticky problem that you just can’t  solve, put the project down and leave it for a while…maybe even overnight.  If you let your mind mull the problem or issue over, a solution may come to mind…or you will find a solution in an unexpected place.  Talk to other doll  makers…look on the Internet…sleep on it!

Well those are my first five rules for successful doll making. There are others which I may add later on, but these are the biggies!