Hello my lovely loves!
We’re back making our Tiny Human dolls a little bit early this week! I've got a medical appointment tomorrow which will likely leave me wiped for a bit, so I thought it better to post this sooner rather than later!
Let’s get cracking. We’ve done the limbs, so it’s time to work on the torso.
27. Pin the front of your doll to the back. Hold the arms against the body of the doll and mark where the posts of the joints will enter the torso.
I like that as these pictures progress, they slowly get less terrifying.
28. Using blanket stitch, sew around the edge of your doll, from one arm mark, along the sides, across where the legs meet the body and up the other side to the other arm mark. There's another handy video tutorial here on how to blanket stitch around awkward objects.
Stuff the bottom portion of your doll’s torso.
If you’ve created flat sole-based feet and given the legs wires, your doll will most likely be able to stand up and stare at you creepily. Aren’t you glad you started this project?
I spoke to soon on the whole "less terrifying" thing.
29. Insert the arm joint into the body to measure the width of the gap necessary. Mark this with pins.
Red: width of gap needed for arm joint post.
White: Pin placement.
30. Sew from neck to ear on each side of your doll, using blanket stitch.
31. Attach the arms to the body, by pushing the arm joint post through the gap you have left on each side. Add the washer and the clip provided on the inside of the torso and push down until you hear several clicks.
This helpful video shows you how to do it.
(32. If you want magnets in your dolls temples and haven’t already sewn them in, do so now.)
33. Using blanket stitch, sew from ear to ear, around the rest of the doll’s head, and stuff as you go.
(BTW Mum's hand is in a bag in the background because she'd burned it quite badly.
It's fine now, but ice was needed.)
BALD HUMAN COMPLETE!
YOU NOW HAVE YOUR BASIC DOLL! HOORAY!
Adding Hair
34. Take the felt you’ve bought to use for your hair. Using the original pattern as a guide, cut out two head shapes from the hair felt. Don’t forget to add the seam allowance.
35. Take one of these shapes and pin it to the back of your dolls head. This will create the basis for your hair and give you a hairline.
If you know a way to draw a naked doll, face down,
having something sewn to the back of it's head
without making it horrifying, please let me know.
I really wish I'd photographed this stage.
36. Take the second hair piece and cut it into a hairline for the front of your doll. This can be a simple crescent shape, or you can get creative and add a widow’s peak, or side burns. If you have a beard you can use this method to create some facial hair.
Here’s my hairline.
I added some wiggles at the sides where I have little curl frizzies.
37. Sew along the edge of the hairline to attach it to the doll. Sew along the top of the head to join the two hair pieces. You now have a basis from which to create your hair. If you have a shaved head, or very, very short hair, you don’t need to do anymore.
Blanket stitch is my favourite of all the stitches.
38. Take the remaining hair felt and decide how you want your hair to look. If you want separate strands of hair, or a more sculpted look. Have a look at felt dolls online for inspiration.
Here are some options I tried out on TH...
Somehow simultaneously flat, and too "thank you for the country music award". Rejected.
Better, but still flat. I need VOLUME, DAMMIT!
I looked online at the dolls made by Miss Coffee (who I bought the doll pattern I altered from, and who, unfortunately, doesn't appear to sell patterns anymore), and decided to base TH's hair on the doll she made of Poison Ivy. Search "Miss coffee felt doll" on goggle images for other inspiration.
All credit to Miss Coffee. Please start selling doll patterns again.
Since I decided I wanted individual strands of waves, but had no instructions, I created layers of waves, and built them up, a bit like a long set of hair extensions.
I don’t have photos for this step so here’s a sketch of the layers and how they were built up.
I hope these weird brown tentacles make sense to you.
Once the main part of the hair was created I then cut out individual waves pieces. I used these to create my fringe.
To create a swoop of hair I stitched the fringe pieces on so they were pointed up like this…
The classic "got-too-friendly-with-a-plug-socket" look.
Also how I look every morning.
and then folded them back over and secured the fringe with a couple of small hidden stitches.
Hairdressers will recognise this as something you do to real hair to give it volume. You blow dry it the opposite way to your intended direction, and then flip it.
Because you're worth it, my tiny doppelgänger.
I then did the same on the other side.
At this point I started to get irritated that TH has better hair than me.
Finally I added some extra individual wave pieces to give the front part of the head it’s own hair strands, and to hide the stitching at the top of the head.
I used a little fabric glue to secure an remaining strands in the right place that couldn’t be stitched easily.
Dem tresses.
When using fabric glue, dab on with a brush or a cocktail stick to make sure you don’t soak the felt. Too much glue can leave the felt stiff and stained.
Your doll is now almost ready. Next time we’ll see how to start making clothes.
