How to Make A DIY Handmade Doll

Doll-making is a valuable skill to have, especially when you have kids. It’s one DIY craft I always looked forward to mastering.

There are many ways to make a doll from scratch; what matters are the results. Learning how to handmade a doll can save you the trouble of buying new dolls for the kids every time.

It’s also an incredible pass time or hobby; some people sell their creations for a little extra cash. With that said, here is how you can make a doll.

Step 1: Collect All The Required Materials

Gathering everything you need before starting will make doll-making a breeze. Some of the things you are going to need are needles, thread, wool or polyester batting, pins and embroidery floss.

You should also get a doll template of what you want to make. You need something to look at as you go for accuracy.

You can buy the fabric or repurpose an old piece of fabric in your house. Get a large enough material to allow room for error.

The most important thing is the pattern of the fabric. Pick materials according to what you have envisioned; too many patterns can make the doll look less adorable.

Step 2: Cut the Fabric

Following the template, cut every piece of the doll from the fabric with your scissors and set them aside. You can mark the pieces on the fabric with dots before cutting them out.

Remember to leave the extra fabric on each piece, like 1/8 inch for stitching. Some dolls have body outfits that are different colours, do not forget to cut out these pieces.

Step 3: Start stitching the pieces

You should start stitching to form the body of the doll. Stitching helps define the curves and create space for batting.

Use thread with the same colour as the doll’s skin; if the doll has more than one colour, you will need multiple thread colours. Different colours will not make it look like what is on the template.

You can start with whichever part you want and stitch until you have something resembling a doll. Remember to leave space where you will add batting.

Step 4: Batting

Cutting and stitching are usually the hard parts of making a doll. Adding batting is easy because it takes the shape of what you have already stitched.

Start rolling your batting into balls and insert them in each part of the doll. Ensure there are no parts that are looking uneven, especially the head.

Your head needs to be very firm and tight, so use more batting there and less on the body. The body parts can be a bit loose but not the head.

Batting comes out of the package in strips or clumps. To achieve an even ball, you should lay them down in small rectangular or star-shaped pieces and roll until you get the size you want.

Once you are done stuffing the doll, take your needle and thread and close the open ends to prevent the batting from escaping. When you are done batting every part, stitch them together to make the doll whole.

Follow your pattern and the doll template because making a mistake at this point is not fun. You will have to unstitch the parts and stitch them again, ensuring everything is in the right place.

Step 5: Add Facial Features And Hair

It won’t be a doll unless you add eyes and a mouth, at least. You will need a different colour threat for the eyes.

You can use brown or black depending on which colour the doll is. You will have to sew these features onto the doll using a needle.

Red or black threads can also work for the mouth. Give the doll a smiley face unless you want a sad doll or no emotions at all.

The eyes are two dots, and a mouth can be a single line. But if you are feeling creative, you can make them look as realistic as you want.

Mark where you intend to stitch the mouth and eyes to ensure they are evenly placed. If you have yarn hair, stitch it on the head to give the doll a full head of hair.

Ensure you give the doll enough hair because it makes it look different and beautiful. People go with all sorts of colours for their hair.

You can explore the colour you want if you are feeling adventurous. When the hair is done, you will have successfully made a doll.

Conclusion

These are five easy steps to follow if you want to make a DIY doll.

Step 1: collect all the required materials

Step 2: Cut the fabric

Step 3: Start stitching the pieces

Step 4: batting

Step 5: add facial features and hair