Making your own dolls is a creative and extremely fun process. For a needlewoman, making a doll herself is not particularly difficult, it is enough to show imagination and use the available materials at hand.
Determine the size of the doll. Think about what size the future doll will be, whether it will sit or stand.
Make the main frame of the toy. Twist the doll's "skeleton" out of thick wire. Give it the desired position, remove excess parts with pliers.
Shape the doll's body. Cover the wire cage with a soft, dense material. As a winding, you can use pieces of padding polyester, cotton wool, soft cloth, etc. Secure the doll filler with a strong thread or fishing line.
Tighten your body. Use a flesh-colored nylon stocking to make the doll tight. One single piece of nylon can be used to tighten the torso, arms and legs. Use a fishing line to mark the transition of arms to hands, legs to feet, head to torso, etc. Do not forget to shape the doll's face - tighten the fishing line on the nose and cheeks. Form your fingers and toes.
Create the doll's face. There are several options for face design: appliqué, embroidery and drawing. You can paint your face with special textile markers - such lines will not fade and will retain their color for a long time. Individual details can be marked with embroidery - bright threads will give the doll a cheerful and perky look. The neat appliqués of colored patches can be fixed with glue.
Give your doll a hairstyle. The hairstyle should reflect the theme of the toy - a braid made of artificial hair is suitable for a Russian lady, a playful tails can be formed for a child doll, a little one can make a bang. As a material for making hair, you can use threads, yarn, artificial fibers.
Dress up the doll. The DIY doll costume can be sewn from small pieces of material or knitted. Decorative elements in the form of details made of beads, bright ribbons, embroidery, large buttons or pockets will give the doll an appropriate look. Plan your outfit ahead of time. It's not enough just to make the doll yourself, you need to give it individuality. Only then will the homemade toy take on a life of its own and delight its owner.
