About the Author
Di McDonald
Di is well known in the doll world for her vibrant creations, her wonderful website and her support of other dollmakers. Check out her work
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Let me help you get started making your own cloth dolls. I will help you find the best resources and fill you in on some of the techniques that you will need to know.
I really love character dolls, these dolls are usually stuffed quite hard and often embellished with beading and machine embroidery and stamping and whatever else the designer decides to do. Some of these character dolls can be quite difficult to make, the patterns can be very complicated and just far too hard for a beginner. Most of the designers mention on the back of the pattern if it is more suited for beginner doll makers or experienced dollmakers.
Country dolls on the other hand, are usually much more simple in construction. If you like the muted colours and are into the country look, then maybe this is a really good place to start your doll making. If you type country dolls into your search engine on the Internet I guarantee you will come up with hundreds of web sites to explore and hundreds of doll patterns to choose from. If on the other hand, you really don't like country dolls then hunt out the much easier character doll patterns that are actually made for beginners, you will find many of them.
I have quite a few really easy to make designs on my web site. http://www.clothdollpatterns.com.au
When I first started making cloth dolls years ago although I had years of experience as a clothing designer and manufacturer, this seemed different. And I don’t just mean because everything was smaller. The rules were completely different. Templates??? I had no clue to what these were and probably neither do you! I intend to help you so you can shortcut your way to making fabulous dolls and feel like you really understand the rules. Read on.
When you make your first doll choose your pattern very carefully. You may like to start with a free pattern that you find on the Internet. most web sites have a free pattern or two available for new doll makers.
You will also learn a great deal from other doll makers, most of them are very friendly and lovely people who are happy to share their knowledge with you. There is a very fine line with designers and teachers as to how much information they should give you for free. It's quite difficult for designers and teachers to actually work out where this boundary is……….. after all they try their hardest to make their livings from doll making. I have always found that most designers are extremely generous with information they have. I believe in karma, what you give out you get back ! I think it's quite okay to e-mail a designer, if you are making that pattern up, and having any problems. I love hearing what people think about my designs. I always welcome any new doll makers and am thrilled when they asked me questions.
I think I'm actually getting off the beaten track right now, only to come back and say that as a beginner one of the best things you can do is to meet up with other doll makers. This is really easy on the Internet , what I would is this……………… type yahoogroups on your search engine and join up with some of the doll groups you find under hand made crafts. This is just the best way to learn so much. People are more than happy to answer your questions and encourage you and your doll making skills, especially if you send in pictures of your work and tell them you are just a beginner.
Template sewing & cutting out
When we look in the dictionary to see the meaning of the word “template”, we find that it is a pattern, mould or the like, usually made from thin wood or metal used for transferring a design onto a work surface. However, when sewing cloth dolls or using doll patterns another meaning comes into play. When you have transferred the design (pattern pieces) onto the fabric, before you cut anything at all………. you need to sew around them, “right on the edge line”.
When you have finished sewing, you then leave a small edge or seam and cut the body piece out. It’s a bit different from the usual cut out around the pattern piece then sew inside the edge leaving a seam~ I figure it is done this way because the pattern pieces are so small it makes them much easier to sew and to handle. I had never heard of this before I started doll making and I must admit it came as a bit of a surprise On the other hand I had heard of using a template to draw around before, just not to sew on the actual line or edge!
Some patterns will have the pattern pieces marked “Template” on them
On other patterns this may be noted in the notes or somewhere in the instructions. You will find that some pattern pieces will usually be “Templates” and others will be cut and sewn the usual way..ie cut out first then sew inside the edge. It is very important that you check for this before you start work .
The very best way to accomplish both these tasks is to use “Freezer Paper”…..!! This is sold in grocery shops in USA ( no not in Australia) and used to be used to wrap meat in for the freezer. One side is like normal paper but the other side has a more glossy surface and I believe is waxed. There are a number of places in Australia to buy this by the metre. Most quilting shops stock it and some of the more doll supply oriented Australian websites also sell it by the metre. You will pay between $1 -$1.50 per metre in Australia the last time I looked at it. I tend to buy a couple roles each time I am in USA or if I have an American friend coming over I sometimes ask them to bring me a role. Unfortunately they are very heavy…but so cheap in USA …around $4 I think..for 75 yards!!!
If I had to buy it in Australia I would, as I think its magic for making dolls and can be used over and over again.
Trace your pattern pieces off the actual pattern…..in pencil onto the freezer paper (I hate to cut the actual pattern). Carefully and accurately cut around the body parts on the lines! If you cut outside the lines the doll will be bigger than she is supposed to be and the clothes may not fit! Next, lay out your body fabric doubled. Place your freezer paper cutouts onto the fabric, WAX SIDE DOWN, making sure the grain lines are in the correct place and that the pieces have space all around them. Now Iron them on to the fabric Remember! after you have sewn around them on the edge of the freezer paper you are then going to cut them out leaving a seam of around 1/8 all around
If you catch the edge of the freezer paper with your sewing machine, it will be Ok, the paper will ease away with out ruining the work.
I keep the freezer paper pattern pieces in a clear plastic folder, labeled with the dolls name, along with the actual pattern. This way it is always easy to find and you can reuse the freezer paper over and over.
TIP: I am told that the outside layer from the Reflex copy paper works just like freezer paper and may be a cheap or no cost alternative while you are learning.
NOTE: You can choose not to use freezer paper and just go with the cardboard template, draw onto the fabric method if you like…but the lines often show through and this is a much slower and less efficient method. I would recommend at least giving the freezer paper method a go for a while:-)
The long way I used........................... when I was beginning!!LOL
I think right now might be good time to tell you how I used to do this when I first started doll making. First of all I traced the pattern on to some tracing paper, I then cut out carefully around the edge of the tracing paper, then I traced it on to cardboard and cut out the cardboard pattern. I bought one of those purple or blue pens the ink was supposed to disappear when you wet the fabric. One of the drawbacks of these pens, that I found, was when you needed to dry the fabric in a hurry and placed the fabric in the sun, then the drawing or writing would come back on the fabric and be colour fast. I remember the days when I had little lines, well clothes lines , strung up across my office with fabric pegged on them waiting to dry so that I could cut around the sewing and actually start to put the doll together. ( I would first sew on the purple or blue lines of course) I hope my instructions here make it much easier for you than I made it for myself in those days. I must admit it really makes the laugh thinking back now.
Ok thats it for today, I will bring you more getting started help soon.
Published by Di McDonald on October 7, 2005 11:16 PM
