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Making Tips for Cloth Figures & Rag Dolls

The links below take you to FREE downloadable PDF files to describe the varieties and complexities of cloth figure construction.    Use your browser's back button to return to the website page.
More information on face application; clothes; busts; cloth doll hair and joints in the pdf file pages
FACES:
Planning Faces
Painting Faces 		BODIES BUST CLOTHES JOINTS
FEET HANDS HAIR HEADS
BASIC EQUIPMENT TOOLS Basic Information

TEMPLATES

NEEDLE SCULPTURE
 		DYEING NOTIONS
HEADS BODIES HANDS FEET
OUTLINE/PANCAKE HEAD is created by cutting a shape out of a double thickness of fabric. 

Often the body and head outline are continuous. Sometimes the head and body pieces are separate and the two sides must be sewn at the neck before the front and back of the doll is sewn together around the edge leaving a gap for turning and stuffing. The face is usually shown on one side of the flat surface looking forwards.

It is also possible to create a continuous outline of the head following the profile of the forehead, mouth, nose & chin.

Shaped heads can also be made with a row of running stitches around the top, which are drawn together once the head is stuffed: The BALL HEAD is simply created using a circle of fabric around which a row of gathering stitches are sewn and inside which a clump of stuffing is enclosed, when the threads are drawn up. Two rows of stitches creates a stronger seam. The stitches are then tied off, knotted securely and neatly trimmed. The ends can then be hidden at the back of the head behind the hair. 

The OUTLINE/PANCAKE BODY is created simply by cutting the body shape out of a double thickness of fabric, which is then sewn around, clipped and turned.  All-in-one bodies are also created by this method. 

 

Stump bodies are without legs and often no feet. They are free standing with the dome-like body sewn onto a rounded base.

OUTLINE/PANCAKE HAND

Stump hand
As with the stump foot, this is the simplest to construct by simply sewing around the shape. It is possible to give the illusion of a hand by tying around the arm or using different coloured material for the hand part or painting the stump end. 

A variation on stump, where hand is created by tying stump at wrist level.

Mitten hand
This is a simple hand shape with thumb and no fingers. Simply sew around the shape, clip curves and turn.

Top-stitched fingers
Like the mitten hand only the fingers are top-stitched by hand or machine after the mitten hand is sewn, clipped, turned and lightly stuffed. (Back stitch at beginning and end of each finger to catch threads).

 OUTLINE/PANCAKE FOOT
 

Stump leg (footless) 

This is the simplest foot style to construct. It is made by simply sewing around the shape of the leg. It is possible to give the illusion of a foot by tying around the leg or using different coloured material for the foot-part or painting the stump end.

Pancake foot (boot shaped foot)
With this style, the foot can be shaped in many ways and is created by sewing all the way around the leg and foot.

Separate Sole

With this style, the front and back seams of the foot are sewn leaving the bottom open. The curves are clipped and seams ‘finger-pressed’ open. The sole is then sewn to the bottom of the foot.

Inserting an inner piece of card will help to make the sole more rigid and make it easier for the doll to stand.

HEADS BODIES HANDS FEET

DARTED HEAD
This type of head produces a three dimensional shape, achieved by inserting darts / sewing across the seam at chin/neck/eye level to produce better shape and dimension. 


DARTED BODY produces a three dimensional shape, achieved by the positioning of darts at shoulders/ hips/sides/chest. 

 

 DARTED HAND/Pleated wrist is created by pressing a small pleat in the top layer of fabric for the arm. The pattern template is placed over the pleated fabric so that the wrist is over the pleat.
When turned and stuffed, the hand will turn out at a different angle from the arm. (This is like the darted ankle.)

DARTED FOOT: By elongating the leg and sewing in a dart on the inside ankle & then sewing the outside of the foot against the leg, the stump leg can be transformed into a leg with a foot.

HEADS BODIES HANDS FEET
Seamed head
This is a clever way of manipulating the bias of the fabric in a 2D profile head, by sewing two rectangles of fabric together, refolding them right angles to the seam, applying the head template across the seam and sewing this before cutting, trimming and clipping.

Seamed/Tailored bodies
are made up of sections seamed together to create the shape.

 

 

There is a technique known as Cloth Over, which involves making a body using one of the above methods and then making a stretch jersey knit over skin to cover the sewn seams, giving a smoother more realistic effect.

 Separate fingers: This style gives a hand with realistic fingers.
The pattern is drawn with separate fingers and thumbs.

To achieve this style of hand requires tiny finger turning  tools, chenille stems, mini stuffing fork & hemostats.

Inserted wrist

 
Seamed toes gives a foot with realistic toes.  The front and back seams of the foot are sewn, leaving the top and bottom ends open. 
You are effectively making a leg/foot tube open at the top, thigh end and bottom, toe end. The shape of the pattern piece needs to allow for the sewing of the toes later. (see picture below)

The toe end of the foot is then folded together so that the seams (finger pressed open) are pinned together at centre front. (see picture lower right)

A toe template (various shaped toe-tip designs) is then applied ¼ inch from toe edge and sewn around to create the required foot style.

Make sure you have a right and left foot, remember as you stand with feet together your big toes are next to each other.

The big toe is sewn prominently with 2 small stitches between it and the next toe. The other toes are top-stitched after turning and light stuffing to define their shape.

HEADS BODIES HANDS FEET
Gusseted heads produces a three dimensional shape, achieved by the addition of a gusset usually between the two continuous head & body outline pieces.

 

 Gusseted bodies produces a three dimensional shape, achieved by the addition of a gusset usually between the two continuous head & body outline pieces.

 

BOOK AVAILABLE: 'Fiddly Little Finger and Tricky Toes' by Madeleine Sara Maddocks 
contains lots of fabulous time and tear-saving tips and useful step by step how to information to enable you to make those fiddly little cloth figure wired hands and toed feet easily and effectively:

CLICK ON IMAGE TO FIND OUT MORE:

  
HEADS BODIES HANDS FEET
Skinning of faces involves applying PVA glue to the needle sculpted doll head onto which another layer of cloth is applied. It is important to smooth out all the wrinkles and push the top layer of fabric gently into all the valleys and dips of the face. This can be achieved with a Clover Mini iron or any tool with a small flat surface. Once you have applied the 'skin' you are left with a needle-sculpted face that doesn't show the sculpting stitches. However, there will be folds of fabric around the doll head at the sides which need to be tidied up and secured with gathering stitches and covered with the doll hair.

 

When attaching the arms to the body, the thumbs should always point forwards/towards the body. Make sure the thumbs are not pointing away from the body as this looks less natural. People don't normally stand with the palms of their hands outwards.

 

These pages are here as a guide.
If you want to get good at cloth doll making you need to practice and to research and to experiment. Make mistakes and learn from them!


Go ahead and enjoy yourself, nothing is a waste of time or materials because you will always be learning what works.