how to make doll hair with embroidery floss
Crewel Yarn or Wool. It will match with the doll's appearance and will be easier to stick on the doll's head. If the doll will have a short-skirted costume or shorts, you may need to paint the legs. You can find the How to Use Suri Alpaca for Doll Hair tutorial in my Etsy store. Use a pencil or fabric marker to draw a line to the inside of the pins. These should keep the hair secure. nurturing creativity and imaginative play, How to make a weft with Suri Alpaca, mini tutorial. Synthetic hair may be slightly harder to find, however, so you may have to order it online. "Wensleydale locks" and you will be rewarded with tons of storefronts where fibre-folk share their wares with you. This way I am not sewing directly to the head, which is very hard on your hands and you might still see chunks of skin peeking through the wefts, which I personally dislike. You should receive an email from me shortly, please MAKE SURE to click on Manage your Preferences where you can opt-in for Stitchy Notes, and click on receiving Emails. Embroidery Floss Set, 24/48/72/120Colors Cross Stitch Embroidery Thread with Bobbins and storage box, Matches DMC Floss-4/8 Meters 1 Skein AlisaHandicrafts (1,528) $7.90 CROCHET PATTERN : Fairy Floss Doll Dress for Ladies Yommycrochetlogy (20) $7.46 More colors Metallic Glitter Thread 1mm Shiny Embroidery Decorative Sewing Craft 8 Metres If you're struggling to remove the tissue paper, try trimming some of it off with a small pair of scissors. Tousle the layers just a bit to get the light and dark intermingling and then do one final comb through. Some categories might say Mohair wig but upon closer inspection it reads synthetic mohair. The doll is made with woven cloth, which is a different material than the one we normally use for our "Waldorf" style of dolls but like I said, Agnes at Lalindadoes embroidered hair like this and it works wonders. A non-slippery floss that stays on the needle well making it nice for children to use. If you would like to see how I sew the mohair weft to a wool mohair cap, you can check out my VIDEO TUTORIAL on my YouTube channel. Look in your fabric stash and think outside the box regarding doll hair: Inter-cal Mohair Supplies.Kamrins Poppenaterlier, Steiff Schulte.Christie Bears, long pile mohair.Mohair Bear Making Supplies, South African Mohair. Such an extremely natural hairstyle requires very considerate care and shouldn't be handled extensively. To secure the starting piece, leave a little tail, and wrap over it a few times with your yarn. July 2016 Not only do the yarns have the longest staple I've seen, but the hair colours they provide are beautiful and very grounding. For a brilliant way of embroidering the hair on your doll, you can check out this tutorial by Carley Biblin on her Little Red Riding Hood doll (pattern included in Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor). This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. She wears a blue, non-removable dress, a paisley shawl, and a simple white apron. You will have a loop, slide that loop onto the floral wire, all the way to the end where it's folded in half. Sew The Right Side of the Center Part Step 5. I have used draped linen, and also repurposed cashmere, lambswool, merino, etc. June 2014 The head and neck might need painting, depending on the skin tone you wish. Cut the loops after each row. I like the last method the best, but I find it so bulky on the doll's head with the yarn and the weft together, so lately I have been sewing the weft down by hand. For quick and easy clothespin dolls, especially those made by children, or those with costumes that cover the arms, pipe cleaners make easy arms. Once again, this may be difficult to do on your own. So there you have it, I think I have touched upon the most common methods to create hair style on dolls, and have mostly recommended using natural fibers for such purpose. Bear in mind that the longer the fibre, the more you will need, as you need to cover the dolls head based on the total length of the weft you will be making. Sew the fold on the top, and pull the elastic through. 1. For resources on animal fibre locks, I would highly recommend doing a search on Etsy by the type of fibre you are looking for, i.e. Arms for the dolls can be made from chenille pipe cleaners, or from 18/20 gauge paper or fabric wrapped wire, covered with embroidery floss to suit the doll's skin tone or costume. Can this doll go through a washing machine? Mini Babushka plushie. Stitch another row of hair 1/4"-1/2" above the previous one. Use a pair of pliers to bend the wire back on itself so the end of the wire is just slightly on the hand side of the start of your embroidery floss wrap. ** Fairy making just got easier! The alpaca is my least favourite, and the Wensleydale locks my most favourite, but the dolls are always requesting Suri Alpaca, of course! The easiest way to paint the parts is to set the pins in a base and paint the heads while they are held loosely on a pin as shown above. With one hand shaped and the arm wrapped up to the wrist of the other hand, it is time to fit the clothespin doll arm wire through the armhole. The price includes shipping. Even though I don't see this style used as often, it is one of my favourites. One idea is that you can needle-felt a base of similar colour roving to the doll's head, and then needle-felt the locks to this woolly base. Find it here: https://www.patreon.com/faerieringsRoboskater by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: http://audionautix.com/ For my review of DollyMo and Wild Brushable yarns, and the different ways you can use it, please head over here:Mohair Yarns for Dollmaking. 3.Sun ray flowers. Enjoy! Cut your embroidery floss so you have a sufficient length (at least 4 to 6 inches/10 to 15 centimeters) to finish wrapping the arm and second hand. (Use a big needle!) Try adding another layer of flower petals on top! Place pins where you want the hairline to be. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. These are completely one of a kind dolls. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. If for example, you are using a doll body pattern for a baby (curved limbs) and you sculpt the face with young child proportions (chubby cheeks, quite round, etc), the doll would look very odd if you give it long hair. This is the type of hair that you will find commonly used on most commercially produced dolls: yarn hair sewn-down in strips. I hope you'll join me in Making It Up As I Sew Along. Crochet doll: The easy way to make hair for your doll - hair for crochet doll with Crochet Studio App In this tutorial, I am going to show the the easy way to make hair for your doll. 2. Follow the eye line and keep stitching over and over until you fill the whole region. you can create another larger wig and secure it in the center of the doll's head so it overlaps with the existing hair. Tibetan lambskin means that what you are basically using is the hide of the animal with the "fur" or fibre still attached. When they were thoroughly dry we used a permanent pen to add tiny eyes and a mouth. Open the seam allowances once finished, so they lay down better once you place the cap on your doll. This technique works for doll hair on several other stockings. You can find mohair wigs and fake mohair wigs so pay attention to what you are actually buying. I have seen it used when it has been needle-felted into the doll's head marking a middle line, and then the lose ends turned into pigtails or buns and is quite adorable. Grab the embroidery floss that you want to use for the hair, remove packaging- but leave the floss in tact. Hop on over and grab the tutorial now! If you're making a Rapunzel doll, for example, you'll want your doll to have very long hair. If your doll is not for a small child, let's consider an age appropriateness of 7+, then I feel you have a bit more leeway in regards to style and most importantly length. Then, you stitch up and down with both ends on the top side of your fabric. 4. This method gives you the same accessibility as the previous one, meaning you can get very creative in regards to the colours you use on your doll's hair and which yarns to use with the added bonus that is also very playful. The skirt shown here was edged with embroidery floss to finish the edge, but you could also use lace, or simply finish your fabric circle with fray check or a thin line of PVA glue. We're huge fans of this rag doll design to look like Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas and we're thankful to Instructables for laying out how she's made in such simple steps. Sincethe ribbon is too stiff to bend back on the doll for sleeves, a bit of satin ribbon was used to extend the neckline. First sew two arms. These parts produce a doll that is slightly smaller thanthe standard dollhouse (1:12) scale, but which can be used with many standard dolls house accessories and clothes. If you are savvy with a needle you can sew them together manually. The simple clothespin dolls shown in this tutorial use basic wooden clothes peg bodies and wooden ring stands, along with wooden bead heads. Remember, wind the yarn around the DVD case, secure the smooth edges with tape, and then cut the yarn by tucking your scissors under the notch in the case. In order to secure the strands to the sides, you can sew them down around the head in a circular fashion, creating the hairline. 3. July 2014 The parts are available online or from many craft supply stores. If you can still see a lot of the doll's scalp at this point, consider adding another layer of hair. It may be helpful to go over the seam twice. January 2015 Monster Dolls Natural materials for doll hair behave so much better and they will give your doll a nicer appearance, so I will always recommend them best. March 2015 Beautiful work. Undergoes a felting process, giving it a fuzzy texture. Wool locks have tiny little hooks that all go down the same way, starting at the root. Lift one side of the hair up at the part and apply a thin line of glue, spreading it around the side of the head. Cut several lengths of your main embroidery floss color. Stitch several rows on either side of the head, angling them toward the center line of the head until they are perpendicular to the original rows. Martha Stewart suggests using embroidery floss and a needle to track your progress across the map, stitching from place to place in a colour that stands out well from the map in the background. The light strands add highlights and allow light to bounce off, creating a glowing effect. Just a tiny bit of glue is enough. Creating a Forward Knot Hair Wrap. Otherwise, you can use a sewing machine to sew a straight line through them. Prepare Your Yarn Step 2. To form the body of the doll, start stitching at the bottom leg, at the outer edge. For suitable mohair yarn, please abstain from using mohair meant for knitting. Fasten The Hair Around The Face Step 6. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Cut several lengths of your main embroidery floss color. You would go from the forefront of the head to what would be the base of the skull. June 2015 Do not glue the ribbon to the doll's arms. If you find that your rows are getting uneven, place pins at symmetrical intervals to help you even them out. sew the strands of yarn to the paper strip with your sewing machine. Tie off thread. Word of caution: do not FOLD locks halfway and then attach them to the dolls cap that way. Six stranded embroidery floss needs to be separated before use; typically, you will use 1-2 strands at a time, but this depends on your pattern, fabric count, and personal preference. After writing this tutorial, I found an even better method to make curly hair. While there are art dolls created as an "object" to be admired and appreciated, the dolls we are talking about here are dolls that can be and will be manipulated by their owners. It may be hard to hold the hair with one hand and maneuver the glue with the other. Embroidery But the constant thread (if you'll excuse the pun) throughout my weeks is needle arts. Stitch the legs' inner edges. Every doll begins with a blank piece of fabric and I sketch their faces freehand with embroidery thread. Think about the type of doll you're making, or the doll whose hair you're replacing. In which I show you how to add straight hair to your crochet dolls. Pin in place. You would backstitch front to back over the layered strands across the width of the head. You should have a long line of strands of yarn with the tissue resting on the halfway point between the strands. Do this by wrapping the thread around the hair, then taking the string on the left and crossing it over the string on the right and make a 4. For a simple tutorial to understand the basics of the method, please visit Meg at Mama Liberated and her tutorial on the Little Amigo doll. Measure the doll's head from the hairline above the forehead to the back of the head all the way down where you want the hair length to end on the doll. The tissue paper represents where the doll's part will be located. There are several US and Canada suppliers as well: Bear Dance Crafts, The Olive Sparrow and Weir Crafts. Hi. As the last style, I want to suggest to you the embroidered variety. 3. The first several rows can and should be very short. If your doll will be wearing a head covering (like the Gele on the Nigerian Doll), you may not need to paint hair. Some things to consider: I am not entirely sure you can wash a doll with this type of hair, as I don't know how the hide will react with being entirely wet and the slow-drying process of the wool stuffing used in your doll. If you're using yarn hair on a plastic doll, you will want to use tacky glue instead of hot glue. Making doll hair for natural fiber art dolls, via Fig and Me. As a Jane-of all-crafts so to speak, I enjoy sewing, writing, cooking, drawing, photographing. From Tips+Tricks, to suppliers, blogs and more For daily tidbits, follow me on Instagram @figandme. Sew the body, taking care with where the arms are pinned. Sew the first row of hair just outside the pencil line at the nape of the neck. Fold wire in half. If you want to make a clothespin doll baby and mother for shower decorations or a cake topper for a new mother, it is easy to make a newborn baby doll to fit in her arms. Discussing doll hair: fabric cap on a Cloth Fig doll, via Fig and me. If you've been following the Six Weeks of Love for Softies contest, you may already know that neither. Cutting only from the wrong side of the hide, to avoid or minimize the damage to the furry side of your hide. You can of course go the purchased route and buy a pre-made wig and sew it down. [10] If glue is not holding the hair in place and your doll is fabric, you can sew the hair to the doll's head. My doll head is all stuffed firmly and already stained. You don't have to brush it with a wire comb (if that freaks you out), and in my humble opinion this method creates the fluffier wigs ever. Press the center strip of the hair (where your needle was) to this line of glue so the strip looks like the part in the hair. Since you will be sewing it down, what you need to know is its total length. Sew lace along the bottom of the front and back. A very simple hair style for your waldorf inspired doll (via Fig and me). Leave your floss wrapper on one end and find your thread end. Use a color suitable for your doll's costume or skin tone. Keep winding the yarn until you've moved 3 to 3.5 inches across the DVD. They are mostly to fill out the underside and create a proper hairline. Their hair played with, styled, and possibly washed. NEW Embroidery Floss 139 - NEW Embroidery Floss 140 - Craft Accessories Lot . Another more time-consuming method is to crochet/knit each stitch and pull as much of the mohair fiber to the other side of your cap as you go along. For the first few lines of stitching, you only need to use your mid-tone (cone) color. Yarn hair is more often used for medium to long lengths but is sometimes used for short hair. Make friendship bracelets, hair wraps and more. I then sew this cap to the doll's head and hand-sew the weft to the cap. One will be a full coat, the other a touch-up coat. November 2014 You can find that pattern in my store. Trim or thin out the hair as needed. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Find my curly doll hair. The baby was wrapped in a scrap of soft fabric and laid in the arms of the clothespin mom. You will go through it fast, so it speeds up the process if you have a lot cut and set out. You can also use Mohair or Alpaca fabric, which has the added bonus of already looking a bit "furry" so that your doll will have a bit more wisps of fibre. When you choose to work with mohair, there are two considerations: whether to use the long-staple mohair that creates the fluffy cap or use the boucl mohair that gives you a more curly look.. For my review of DollyMo and Wild Brushable yarns, and the different ways you can use it, please head over here: Mohair Yarns for Dollmaking. To sew down the cap to your doll's head, first prepare the cap by shaving off a little bit of the underside along the circumference of the cap, the area where you will actually sew it to the dolls head. Check out the following suppliers:Kemper Doll WigsCRS CraftsMonique TradingMohair Wig. The staple is just not long enough to cover the doll's head properly, so stick to mohair yarn specifically created for doll making. You can find them online over here: Little Oke Dolls and Kamrins Poppenatelier. Discussing Doll Hair methods via Fig and me. And make sure you read them as over time people have added their particular way of using one of these techniques, for all of us to learn a tip or two together. If all else fails, head to Dollmaker's Journey where they have a very wide selection of hair materials for your doll. You can also do the same method and attach it instead to a felt cap, using your sewing machine. To learn how to make synthetic doll hair, keep reading! I recently started writing patterns. Recipes & Food September 2014 Most needle-felted table dolls have chunks of roving or locks styled into hair, and they fare rather well, so it really depends on the style of doll you are making. It does take forever but the result is so worth it. % of people told us that this article helped them. I don't like making felt caps, I like the feel of the crochet ones and I also use the stitches as guide sometimes of where to attach the weft. The whole six strands will make a full enough fringe. Celebrations Since you can't really pin the pattern pieces together, use small binder clips to hold the pieces in place as you sew them. March 2017 Making Doll Hair using Mohair yarn. It may be helpful to have a friend hold the hair in place as you slide the needle out. Sew the ends of the elastic and put it on the doll. Just be careful not to snip any of the yarn by mistake. They will become treasured and loved all the more. Roving can be found on Etsy as well, as it is mostly used for needle-felting or wet felting. I have to say, this is also the easiest to create so it has the shortest entry barrier when you start creating doll hair. Also, use a thinner thread on top of the white stitches for the shadow layer. Some variation is okay, but the hair should not have a severe angle. Thanks. I think that would help to attach them more securely, than just having the locks attached to the wool with the skin cotton in between. The doll on the left of the photo has the facial features penciled in to check the spacing. This friendship bracelet pattern uses three colors of embroidery floss to make a simple braid. Discussing doll hair: a crocheted wool cap with added strands of same yarn (via fig and me). April 2015 Synthetic hair can sometimes be difficult to cut, as it's often unwieldy to handle. Clothespin or clothes peg dolls with wooden bead heads are easy to customize and dress. It is an extremely playful style and one suitable both for children and collectors. Cut about a two foot length of each and use two strands of each to create a six strand length of mixed colored floss. However, keep in mind synthetic hair tends to look better on plastic dolls. Keep a pack in your sewing basket for felt sewing projects, applique, cross stitch and embroidery. Now, the question will arise, how much fibre to buy? Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Thread the floss through the tapestry needle, and tie a knot at the end. Fill in the space with stitches working from the back of the head to the front. Fold the floss in half and thread it through the needle. Pinterest. If damp, dry them indoors overnight before cutting them into 1- 2 pieces. Take the paper off the 2 hanks of embroidery floss and lay flat. My dear friend Agnes at Lalinda does a marvellous job in this tutorial on her large and small dolls with this kind of hair, and I have seen it used extensively by Eastern European doll makers, so perhaps it is the technique of choice taught there. This will be used for the doll's arms and legs. Use caution when using a hot glue gun. For the dolls, we used a length 4 1/4 inches/11 centimeters and turned the ends back into loops to make hands that can hold accessories. Leave about 1/8" space bare. When we wash dolls with wool stuffing we want to encourage good air flow. May 2015 Lesley is also a professional museum model maker. Online you can buy the doll pins and stands from Dick Blick. When you're done, secure the strands with tissue paper and sew down the center. Either way, your doll is going to need a set of locks to complete the look. But before you go considering what source of fiber or hair style to adopt, there are several considerations to take in mind. Discussing doll hair: the options and methods most widely used when creating a hair style for your handmade doll. If glue is not holding the hair in place and your doll is fabric, you can sew the hair to the doll's head. Check to make sure the hair is the same length on either side of the head. August 2014 If you have difficulty keeping the yarn in place with your fingers alone, you can tape down the end of the yarn with a piece of scotch tape. Make each successive row of hair a little longer until you have reached the length you want. The ring supports are 1 1/8 inches/3 centimeters wide. Then turn the arms inside out. When you fold the locks, some of the hooks are going up and some are going down, which will cause them to felt just by mere play and handling. You should be using sewing scissors rather than normal craft scissors. Fold under excess ends of spine to hide ends. This will be method one. Learn more One of the main features of making your own doll is making their hair. I am able to manipulate the direction of the hair more accurately than crocheting in semi-concentric circles and therefore the hair falls down in a more natural way. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Learning and healing through the wonderful art of doll making. Remove the pins. For this process you will need locks that are a decent length (like at least 4 to 6 inches long) so that you have plenty of material to work with when attaching them securely to your doll. Thank you kindly!. If you want your doll to have bangs, add them before you get too far on the side rows. To make the baby shown here, we glued a round wooden bead to the top of a vase-shaped wooden bead. via Fig and Me. Make sure there is as little fibre caught in the seam as possible. Felted wool yarn - Best used for couching in embroidery. Step 1: Baste each arm and leg onto doll body front. But the constant thread (if you'll excuse the pun) throughout my weeks is needle arts. Bring the needle 1/2 inch up from the edge (at 1). As with the other steps, you can ask a friend for help here. After every few rows, use the eye end of the needle or a plastic comb to carefully separate the strands of floss. I mailed away for this kit when I was a kid and I still have the pamphlet! This style was quite popular a few years ago and is still a very suitable type of hair for your doll. You can also grasp the general idea by checking out Beth's old Flickr tutorial. The Japanese doll and the doll in the Saree were left anatural wood, while the contemporary doll was painted with acrylic paints. A NOTE here: Please remember that the fact that the doll ages in appearance as time goes by is one of the most wonderful aspects of creating this style of dolls. Take the thread back from the wire end to the main wire, wrapping over the wire to cover the end of the loop so all of the wire is covered with floss. When you unwrap the yarn, it should be curly. Sew The First Stitch Step 3. I did the same on the other side, and that made the bonnet. This is truly a world of wonder because you can select any kind of locks, turn them into a weft by sewing them into long strips, and then attach this to the doll via your preferred method. Let me know in the comments how you fare. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). A baby doll may have shorter hair than a doll that's supposed to be an older age. Present Moment I added two strands of dark for each length of six strands of my main color. I brought the two dotted lines together on one side of the mushroom stem and lower cap and whip stitched along the seam, with the right side of the fabric together (so I was whip stitching the piece inside out). I can give you a general guideline, based in my experience for a doll with a 13" head circumference, in locks about 8" to 10" long, I would buy about 6 to 8 ounces of fibre. And here let me stress this point: the age/personality of your doll. Making doll hair using wool locks, sewing your own wefts for your natural fiber art dolls. Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter. Using wefts to make doll hair, via Fig and Me.