How to Make a Doll

Doll making as a hobby can be surprisingly engaging and creative, keeping you engrossed for hours together. Diehard doll making hobbyists swear that the process of making a doll has extraordinary healing and transformative powers too.

Want to give it a try? Get started with a few basic supplies and a big dollop of imagination.

Doll making supplies
Here's a ready reckoner for making a cloth doll. The list will vary and get longer and more elaborate depending on your progress!

Doll's body: Cotton jersey and thin cotton fabric as lining OR good quality muslin (medium weight)
Doll's clothes: Coloured or printed cloth of your choice
Doll's hair: Wool yarn
Polyester fibre-fill for stuffing
Fabric paints
Materials of choice for making doll features (beads, buttons, yarn, glass eyes)

Tools to make a doll
Sewing machine
A pair of sharp scissors
Dual duty thread
Quilting pin
Craft glue

Doll making patterns and ideas
The first thing you need to make a doll is a pattern that appeals to you. You can buy printable doll patterns or download them for free; alternatively, make your own doll patterns using basic geometric shapes.

If you are making a doll for the first time, choose a simple pattern like a rag doll. For an innovative touch, research clothing and accessories from another era. Make these out of scraps of your old clothing items and glue them directly on to your doll. Alternatively, you could buy ready made doll clothes in craft stores.

Orphaned socks hanging around uselessly in your drawer make for inexpensive sock dolls.

Doll making kits
For the impatient and easily discouraged, doll making kits are the ideal way to learn the craft. A basic doll making kit typically comes with all that you need, from doll body parts to yarn, coloured thread, various fabrics, sewing supplies and making instructions.

Once you have assembled a few basic dolls, you may want to challenge yourself further with professional doll making kits. Reborn doll kits are hugely popular with doll makers these days. The elaborate set of materials needed may appear daunting, but the startlingly lifelike baby dolls that can be made from these kits are well worth the effort.

If you're looking for a child's birthday gift , you might like to pick up a soft toy making kit, teddy bears and cuddly rabbits come in relatively easy to assemble kits and will keep children happily occupied for hours.