Creative Cloth Dolls: cloth doll patterns

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Enjoying The Christmas Spirit - Free Cloth Doll Pattern

If you're anything like the other crafters of the world you absolutely LOVE decorating for the holidays. This Christmas season, I really wanted to put my very own Santa doll up in the house - one that I had made and not purchased from the store.

So, I began searching the internet for different Santa Doll Patterns. I even went to the local bookstore to see if they had any holiday dollmaking books (no such luck). The good news is that after some searching, I came across a free doll pattern online for an excellent santa doll.

I chose this free cloth doll pattern because it added a few more skills that I haven't tried yet. The first are the detached arms. All of the previous cloth doll patterns that I've tried had attached legs and arms to the body before stuffing. This cloth doll pattern requires them to be separate and attached after stuffed. Sounds a little tricky, but the detail it gives should be worth it.

I've also never stuffed the doll with a stick at the neck to give it more strength. All of my past dolls have been for kids so I wanted them to be flimsy bodies (but durable of course). This doll will most likely be shelved near the mantle or stand by the christmas tree so he needs the extra body support.

This free cloth doll pattern also forces me to use new types of material - the fuzzy thread for the hair, and the fuzzy material for Santa's clothes. I'm a little worried about how easily they'll sew together, but with the awesome directions that the pattern and instruction gives I'm sure it'll come together nicely. So, let's get started:

Here are the materials you'll need for this free santa doll pattern:

Felt (skin colored)
Cotton batting (neck)
Stick (neck core)
Furry yarn (hair and brows)
Artificial leather (boots and belt)
Red Woolen or cotton cloth (clothes)
Furry cloth (beard and rimming)
Thick paper (for shoe sole)
Snap fasteners
Elastic

Other materials you probably already have:

Sewing kit (sewing machine, needles, scissors, etc)
Polyester fiberfill
Threads to match your materials - White, Skin Tone, Red, Black)
Craft glue
A stick to stuff
Blush for cheeks
Paints for the face - Black, Brown & white

The best part of this free doll pattern for Santa is the step by step picture instructions. You can find the complete instructions for this free cloth doll pattern here:
Picture Instructions For Body
Picture Instructions for Clothes

Here are just a few steps that I pulled from the instructions:

Constructing the head and adding a nose. I haven't added facial features like this before.. only ever painted them on - so I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Building the body strong enough to stand on it's own.

Making boots for the legs that will be strong enough to support the rest of the body makes me a little nervous, but with the instructions and pictures - looks pretty simple.

Here are the free cloth doll patterns you'll need to download and print:
Head, Arms, & Legs
Jacket & Pants
Cap & Body

It may be easier to just download an entire PDF of the free cloth doll pattern for Santa - You can do that here: Free Santa Doll Pattern

Special Thanks to Runo the dollmaker for being so creative and sharing your free cloth doll patterns with us.

Enjoy this free doll pattern and don't forget to send in your pics!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Cutie Kids - Felt Doll Making

I'm really enjoying all the patterns available online for different free doll patterns. Today, while searching for something simple that I can make for my niece I came across these cute little kids.

This free felt doll making pattern was perfect for my first attempt mostly because I didn't need a sewing machine... and the pattern seemed simple and easy enough to follow.

Here's some of the really cool "Pro's" of these felt doll making patterns:

Each doll is 6 inches tall. They are not too big, but not so small that they are too hard to handle putting clothes on and off the doll. Ever tried putting clothes on barbie? or one of those tiny polly pocket dolls? They are always a hassle so I'm thinking these dolls are a great size.
I also really liked that the creator gives you free felt doll clothing patterns too. Not only does he give you the little girl and boy clothes, he also links to a couple other patterns that include a Kimono. The clothes are cute, but also simple. Another bonus here is that the backs are open which make them easier to take on and off the doll.
Hair seems to be one of the hardest parts of the other cloth doll patterns I've looked at, but the creator of these felt doll patterns makes the hair separate from the doll so it's interchangeable! Plus his patterns are very simple.

The only "Con" I can come up with for this felt doll making pattern is that there isn't much instruction for the face. I'm a little nervous to hand stitch the mouth with the embroidery thread. I think if the mouth is the only difficult obstacle I'll be able to tackle it and make some pretty awesome felt dolls.

Materials Needed: