Tips for those new to doll making:

My name is Diane and I live in a wheelchair and cannot often get out without help. When it came to stuffing a baby rabbit I was making I needed something smaller than my large hands.  I looked in the tool box and found a pair of very small long needle-nosed pliers.  They worked quite well for me and have used the\m more at the sewing machine than for other projects.
Diane Steedly,  Monrovia, CA

There are many free patterns available online, and most that you purchase will come with a "level" marked on it - Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. If you spend some time online, you will be overwhelmed with the different kinds of dolls, patterns, styles, techniques, etc.

Now that I have made a few dolls I have come up with a tools list that I wish someone had already packaged and had for sale when I started this. This is just my personal list, others here will have their own and hopefully will add to this and make it better!

Other than the obvious Fabric, paint, various embellishments, thread, good quality scissors etc., there are a few tools that I did not already have in my supplies that I had to search for:

Forceps/Hemostats: MUST Haves. You can find them online at doll supply shops, or you can go to the nearest Medical Supply and purchase them in various sizes. I have two sizes, 5" and 3." These are used for placing stuffing in small places, helping to turn parts, and REALLY a necessity in turning small fingers.

Stuffing forks: these are little pointed "forks" that are used to place stuffing in small places. I have two of these, and personally don't use them a lot, but I see their worth. I know that a lot of people swear by them, so at least one needs to be in a beginners kit so that you will have options available.

Turning tubes - I had a pattern that mentioned turning tubes, and I had someone explain the concept to me over the phone, so instead of purchasing something specific, I went to the hobby store and got some brass tubes from
the model airplane section in different sizes. One fits inside the other, and that's what I have been using. I know that these can be purchased cut specifically for dolls at online supply sites. Anyway, you need these for turning small fingers, small legs, etc.

Other items that will be very helpful, but if you are on a budget, can wait until you decide how you like to work:

Freezer paper: used for transferring templates - you can trace your pattern piece onto the "dull" side, then iron it to the fabric to use to either cut or sew around.

Sculpting needles - depending on what size dolls and how detailed you want your faces to be, you may not have to purchase these right away, but you will be glad you have them when you need them. I was able to find a variety pack at Jo Anns.

Button or Carpet Thread - at least one spool of this - for sculpting faces and body parts.

My personal Fabric tip:

As with any new fabric hobby, I always think "If I spend too much on this, and it doesn't work, then I'll be stuck with it." One thing that I personally wish I had *started* with is a pillow case that I bought - It was a 300 ct. Pima cotton pillow case that I got at Wal Mart for about $6, and then I tea-dyed it to make a better skin tone. Even if you just started with the basic case fabric, it would give you an idea of how cotton fabric works in dolls. It was cheap, and I still have enough of it left to make some more dolls - small ones, at least. I tried muslin, felt, and various versions of cotton before I finally found what I liked, but I think that had I started with this pillow case, I could have saved myself some headaches along the way...

That is not to say that you should take that as *the* fabric to use - there are plenty of places online to get other kinds of fabric that work better for doll making, and it's ultimately a matter of preference. That's just my"I wish I had started with this" $.02

And last, but certainly not least - you must have FUN! :)

Hopefully this helps some!
Good luck!

Susan Wallace
Houston, Tx

Hang Tags and making them unique:

Gathering your supplies:

But before you spend a small fortune on supplies, look through the things you have on hand…items like buttons, small rusty cutouts, fabric, yarn, etc., can all give your tags your own special style! Surf the web for prim, Victorian, folk art, modern, etc., pictures, graphics and print them out.

I bought in Walmart ... 3 cheap but nice rubber stamps, Dragon Fly, Hand Made By, Celestial Sun , Package of Vintage looking stickers, pastel chalk,
All for under ten dollars.

Came home and created several Tags...I will be placing them here to show you

Look through an assortment of stickers, rubber stamps, die cuts and other bits and pieces, You can also find CDs of primitive and vintage graphics on line (check Ebay) as well as great prim rubber stamps.

To age your Tags

Coffee/Cinnamon Aged

Tea Aged

I used instant coffee/cinnamon strong solution in a pan of water. If you'd like a lighter age/dye use tea bags.

Bring to a boil. Turn off burner and place 6 tags at a time into the mixture.
Then take tags out of mixture and lay on foil, or cookie sheet, Take a paper towel and just wipe all the tags. I usually do a dozen at a time or more, you do not have to, you do any number you like. I at this time also add my jute or string to be aged at the same time. I then place them in a preheated oven of 250 for 8-15 minutes watching them non stop.

Tie some jute, yarn, homespun or ribbon or whatever else you'd like to use for a string.

What to do with the curl:

If your tags curl, you can flatten them ...I used canned veggies and sat them on top of a (3-4)stack of the Tags:) Using pictures I ran a hot iron over very quickly, and they flattened out nicely. While some wrinkling and curling is a nice touch, you will need them fairly flat in order to work on them.

What to Buy For Supplies:

• Tags…I used bigger ones, 5" long and 2 -1/2"wide.
• instant coffee/cinnamon or tea for dying
• foil or old cookie sheets
• Jute or string
• (Your choice) Rubber Stamps, or Stickers or Letter Stamps
• Black ink pad
• Rubber Stamps and you will use Letter Stamps a lot
  Get them at Walmart Lettering Stamps the whole alphabet for $9.99
• Copies of old photos and clip art…I printed mine out of my computer, but you could also make digital copies of actual photos. Stickers give you a huge variety of creation also.
• Other stamps, black permanent pen, etc. as desired
• Glue

Begin!!

Place Tag in front of you..
Now pick the picture.. stamp... sticker ...buttons what ever you choose..
Place that beside your tag..
Now be clever and think what you'd like it to say...Use a word or saying that you feel bests describes Item or Doll, using a picture and or either stamped it on with the letter stamps, or for longer sayings, or descriptions I write them on with the permanent black pen.
Be sure to plan the saying out on your tag before actually stamping or writing!
Small stamped or drawn doodles, stars or hearts can fill in any blank spots

This is an Art Tag Vintage Style

I took the dried, aged Tag. and create a back ground of color. I used chalk with these. Then took a picture I printed out and cut the pictures to fit on the tags and glued them on. I glued with good OLE Elm er's. and them used gel pens to high light the picture and chose a word or saying and also descriptions I felt described the doll I either stamped it on with the letter stamps
Or: or longer sayings, wrote them on with the permanent black pen.
when finished I sprayed a sealant on the tag so the chalk and gel pens will be sealed

Prim Folk Art Tag

Shown here a Prim Folk Art Tag... which is aged...string attached... No background. Used letter stamps for words: Fast n Simple

I hope you have enjoyed this "mini class" on the basics of Tag Making.

Sherrie Nordgren of SandSpurPatch

Sewing on Knit Fabric:

Having trouble sewing on knit fabric? You need a ball point needle on knitted fabrics. The regular needles are sharp & are able to separate the threads on a woven fabric, going down into the hole the separations makes, & not cause the threads to break. Consequently smooth sewing. With knitted fabric the needle needs to be able to basically do the same thing, but because the threads are a continuous filament a sharp needle will break the threads, causing a run. The rounded point lets the needle slide down around this thread. Again for smooth sewing. I know that Singer needles have a yellow band needle (all sizes) for knitted fabrics. And a red band needle, (again all sizes) for woven fabrics. I'm sure the other brands carry those different needles also, as it is necessary to use the right needle for any given fabric. Also use the right size needle for the weight of your fabric. And adjust your stitch length for different fabrics. There is a lot written about needles now. I'm sure you can seek advise from your local fabric store. And I'll bet there is an online source for such info. Try needles in your search engine, & see what comes up. Happy doll making.

Jackie

Things I learned the hardway - Tips submitted by Trish Pellerito 

Definitely cut and sew little things like hands out of a bigger piece of cloth.  On my next project, I will also coat the seams with watered craft glue before turning them.

Fray Check works great on raw edges of the Dolskin. It won't discolor the fabric by much and prevents the knit from 'running' when it's stretched, or 'skinned' over a body base.

Turn-it tools would have been a good investment! I have since purchased both sets from CLOTH DOLL SUPPLY for future projects.

Retracing your patterns for templates!

Here is a really important, big tip that very few dollmakers think about or do.When retracing your patterns for templates, like for legs and arms, fingers especially…Cut the lines you drew off. If you don't, you end up sewing around the template which has gotten fractionally bigger because you tend to cut Outside of the lines you drew, and then you are also sewing outside of the paper. This makes the fingers fatter and in some cases eliminates the space between the fingers, which is the main cause for blowouts and impossible to turn fingers.This is also the main cause for a designers sample  dolls to be slimmer and the dolls made from the pattern by others to have fatter proportions and also shorter fingers.

Ditto for noses on center face seam dolls!

Judi Ward - Judi's Dolls.

Milli by Judi Ward

Techniques to do a black doll and aging:

Saundra from slower, lower Delaware

Neck Supporting Tip By Gail Wilson:

Gail Wilson

How I stabilize the neck of a small cloth doll:

First, cut a piece of thin all cotton quilt batting (you can use a cotton
flannel too) a bit wider than the length of the neck height - for illustrative purposes we'll say: 2 inches, by about 20 inches in length. 

Roll/wrap - very tightly - the batting/flannel around the cardboard shaft of a Q-Tip (on which I have put a bit of glue on to hold the batting in place - don't cut the cotton tips off till later), forming a tube.  As you're forming the tube make sure you do not make it bigger than the neck opening, you want a snug fit though.
Have ready a long needle, threaded with strong thread, to sew the raw edge of the fabric in place so the tube will not come unrolled. 

Cut the protruding ends of the Q-Tip off with scissors or wire cutters.  Shove the rolled bundle up into the neck area of the already stuffed head as far as you can to stabilize the neck.

Ann Hudson
Wilmington, NC

Saw Dust Stuffing

I purchased some sawdust a couple months back and now can't live without it. I have found that if I mix a little dried lavender and rose petals from my garden with the sawdust, my dollies smell wonderful!

Dolly hugs,Kristen Strand-Tibbitts

Doll stuffed with sawdust,
made by Kristen Strand-Tibbitts

REAM THOSE SEAMS!

I like to use a paint brush handle, eraser end of a pencil, or similar object to ream out all my doll body parts before stuffing. After the unit has been turned right side out, Â I take the handle and insert it into the opening of the part and run it firmly along the seam. I try to keep the seam to one side or the other, as you will be able to see twisted seams after you stuff the part. If a seam starts to turn, just push it back over with the handle. your dolls will have a much nicer well finished appearance!

Doll :)'s.
Patti LaValley of Patti's Dolls

Magen's Fairy
by Patti LaValley

Working with poly pellets or stuffing pellets can be a pain, they fly every where.  I found that if you put them into an empty large coffee mete powdered creamer container, the kind with the pour spout, you can pour the pellets into you project without them flying all over place and it makes a great storage container. Empty koolaid containers work great for storing glue sticks.

Sam of Samantha's Angels

I am just finishing Arley Berryhill's LeFemme with eyelashes, and will send a picture when finished. Thank you Mimi, for only 3.99 a yard I can now make thousands of eyelashes.

Linda Peffley

Holding Doll Head:

Use a metal doll stand to hold just the doll's head while painting and arranging the hair do, etc. Simply take out the wire that goes around the body, and push the doll head on the part left sticking up. It is easy to take the head off and work on it, turn it around to see all sides, and keeps it in a safe place while you work on the body.

Delores Straight

Making the wigs out of eyelash yarn is very simple.  Eyelash yarn is great for doll hair.  All it takes to make the wig is to knit a rectangle that will cover the dolls scalp.  The knitting stretches so it isn't necessary to get an exact fit.  When the yarn is knitted, the long fibers get caught up in the stitches.  It helps to use a wig brush to lightly brush the wig to put the fibers free.  I used size 10 needles because that's what I had.  I imagine other sizes would work as well.  Smaller needles would make smaller stitches and that would make the long fibers thicker on the wig.  Sewing the rectangle in place was simple to do. 

Lucy Landry in La.

This picture below shows the different methods I've used on the hair ~

The hair on the right I scrunched and let it dry more loosely. The middle hair I bought white, then dyed it with koolaid. It came out too bright so I haven't used it. Anyway... I ironed this hair to make it straight. The hair on the left is the wavy hair that I ordered from pearl moon and this is what is looks like fresh from the package. This is one bunch of the 3-4 that come in a package. Sometimes I don't do anything to the hair and just use it like this. =)

Angela Drake - Artist, Emily's Fairies - One of a Kind Sculptures

More Working with Mohair

What I usually do is take a hank of mohair twice as long as I want the doll's hair to be and then I measure the doll's head from where her hairline should begin to where it should end in the back. Picture parting a little girl's hair in order to make pigtails, that is how long your scrap of body fabric will be. Lay the mohair centered over the scrap and put the unit under your presser foot and sew the hair to the scrap.

Use tiny stitches, after all, you want it to look like a natural part in her hair and not sewn stitches. Trim away the sides of your scrap and tack the "wig" to your doll's head. You will want to do this after you have done your needle sculpting on the face. As you arrange the hair, you may need to use more tacking stitches.
Of course, you may choose to use glue for attaching the hair, but for the purist, stitching is always preferred. Sometimes I just hold the mohair over the doll's head and use tiny hand stitches to attach it directly.

Bettsi McComb, Tender Arts

A real good tip for hair and beards etc.:

I take a chunk of mohair and snip it into itty bitty pieces. The finer the
better for a clean beard look and a tiny bit longer pieces for a ragged
look. Then I put glue, (Fabri-Tac) on my dolls face and roll and gently pat
the hair down. It's kinda like the way the old GI Joe dolls hair was...

Have A Great Hair Day!
Becci Renfro

A tip for use with the felting needles:

I was taught that poking your wool fiber into a head that's stuffed with polyfill is pretty much self-defeating. The poly expands outward while you're punching inwards and will over time tend to push the "rooted" hair back out. So for best results, stuff the head with wool and then the two fibers mix and tangle much better and the hair will stay implanted. I know that some people DO attach hair with a felting needle into a polyester-stuffed head, and say that they have no trouble, but the insurance of wool into wool seems better. I have never used any of the synthetic fibers as hair, so I can't say how they work, but the polyfill still will continually expand outwards regardless due to its physical properties.

Nancy Gibbs
Jericho Mountain Folkart

Clay or Sculpey Tip:

This is a tip for those of you who use clay or sculpey, etc., in molds. If you want your piece to have a flat back and have trouble cutting the excess off with a knife. While the piece of work is still in the mold, cut a piece of thread (approx. 30cm/12 inches long) and holding each end, run the middle of the thread horizontally through the clay to slice the excess off (starting at one side of the mold where the clay sticks above the edge of the mold, drag the thread through). This will slice off any excess above the lip of the mold. Because the thread is so thin it creates no drag and just slices straight through the clay. This technique with the thread can also be used very successfully to cut a cake in half so it can be sandwiched back together with jam & cream - YUM!!! Thanks to my Mum who showed me this trick with the thread and a cake many years ago.
Kelsey Perth, Western Australia

Gathered Skirt

When doing a gathered skirt for a doll, zigzag over a strong length of cotton (upholstery thread or doubled quilting thread) being careful not to catch the thread. Then place the skirt on the doll and pull up the cotton that's enclosed in the zigzag stitch and tie off. Adjust the gathers around the waist and stitch the skirt to the doll. (This is instead of the usual double stitched line of gathering stitches.) I also use this same technique to do the gathered bits on the top and bottom of gathered sleeves. Another way is instead of using strong cotton, I cut a 1cm wide piece of nylon lycra (swimsuit fabric) in a matching or contrasting color to the skirt material, pull it so it rolls in on itself (like a thin rouleau strap) and zigzag over this. When you pull this up you can tie it in a bow and make the skirt removable as you can undo it and take it off if you want.

Kelsey Perth, Western Australia

Doll Display

I have been making dolls I would guess you would say Professionally (selling, doing shows, wholesaling etc..) since I was 21 and I'm 55 now... so having gone full circle from Porcelain to Cloth and all around again... I learned a long time ago that display was as important as the doll!

So in this discussion I could write a small novel but I'll open it up and maybe some others will jump in with there methods.

My least favorite is the metal ones!! YOU know the ones I am talking about but if that is the only thing around at least cover the base to match your dolls dress, padded with a little batting or stuffing and a simple sleeve of fabric on the rod in the back. It makes a huge difference..TRY IT!!

My favorite is to take one or two squares of wood ( I use up to three depending on weight and size of doll!!) Ok so say you have two squares of wood ( ex for a 18-20" doll I would use about a 5 or 6" square of 1/2 wood) take a ruler and find center , draw a "X" with a pencil. Now about two thirds or behind that "X" drill a hole to the size of a dowel rod ( 1/2" is about average). now wood glue these two boards together allow to dry overnight. If you are displaying a light cloth doll then you only have to glue a dowel rod into this hole, put if doll is porcelain or a heavy cloth doll then use about a 1-1/2" sheet metal screw and predrill a hole into your hole thru the second ( bottom piece) and insert screw from bottom into the dowel rod with glue and this will hold up any doll.

NOW to decorate I use a staple gun and fabric cut larger than my square and a little batting ( cutting small X to go over the dowel) and work over and staple on bottom , then pressing a bottom piece or you can use a piece of self adhesive felt to cover the bottom, then make a simple tube of the same fabric and slide that over your dowel rod which should be cut to about shoulder blade height of your doll. now slip this rod up the back of the doll and I use one or two pieces of elastic tied around doll and rod ( this is under the clothes) and walla....done doll is secure and all coordinated .

Sue Nance - Glittering Threads