Archive for the ‘sewing lessons’ Category

19
Nov

Tutorial – How to Make a Cute Sock Doll Part 1

Posted under Cloth Dollmaking, Crafts, Quick Gifts to Make, sewing lessons, Sewing Projects No Comments

 

Finished Sock Doll

Easy to Make Sock Doll

I have been a doll maker for 20+ years and know that it can be quite a challenge when you are a beginner. Making a doll out of a pair of socks simplifies the process in that you don’t have to cut out a million little pieces and sew them together. You do have to do a very minimal amount of sewing which is a big time saver.

In this sample I have used long over the knee white tube socks, but you can use any socks you have. If  the socks have a defined heel that will become the dolls bottom. Tube sock dolls have no defined bottom. You can tea dye the socks to give the dolls some color, or you can buy already colored socks for about $3.00 on Amazon.com. I usually make ethnic dolls and was excited to find brown socks on this site. This sample is a little pale because I was in a hurry to make it and share with you all and didn’t take the time to do the tea dye or Rit dye for more color options.

One sock will be the body and the other will be the arms. First, I cut off the ribbing because this is such a long pair of socks, but if yours is shorter you can leave the ribbing on for the legs. Next step is to mark for the legs and head. Use a marker that disappears after a few days or one that needs water to make it go away. I marked 3 inches down for the head  but again this measurement depends n the size of the socks. Use your best judgment for this. Then I divided the rest of the sock in half to define the legs and body.

Her you see the marked doll with the legs cut and read to sew.
sock doll arms and legs marked, legs cut
arms and leg marked, legs cut

The arms are about the same length as  the body minus the head. Measurements are approximate because you have a little wiggle room when making dolls. Proportions don’t have to be accurate, it’s all in how you the designer want your finished doll to look. Now it’s time to do a little sewing. Round off the corners of the leg and hands, sew the legs up to the crotch leaving about 2 inches open for stuffing. Sew the arms all the way up.

Stuffed doll

Stuffed Doll

When stuffing the doll pack it as tight as you can get it. It will soften up later. Pack the crotch with as much stuffing as you can get in. Use a high quality stuffing; I used Joanne’s premium. Cheaper stuffing will make a lumpy unattractive doll. Leave a little space at the top of the arms, don’t stuff too tightly there because you need some movement in the arms. If they are too tight they will stick straight out from the body when sewn on. Now hand sew the crotch closed with a ladder stitch adding more stuffing as you go. Close the top of the arms closed with a ladder stitch also. Use carpet or quilting or some kind of strong thread, and do a running stitch around the neck where you marked earlier. Pull as tight as you can and then wrap the the thread around the neck 2 or 3 times. Take a few stitches in the body, run the thread inside and come out at any point and cut the thread. Sew the arms on about 1/2 inch below the neck so you will have some shoulder but not too much. I always go around the arms 2 times for strength when sewing them on. If you want the hands defined sew a running stitch and wrap like you did for the neck. You can define the feet by folding them up and sewing in place with a ladder stitch or you can leave them as is. 
marked face
Marked Face

 See the finished doll body below. The doll body picture should be before the marked face but due to technical difficulties – it isn’t. My sewing skills are much better than my computer skills.

Finnished Doll Body

Finished Doll Body

Whew! That was easy wasn’t it? Now it’s time for the fun part; giving your doll her (or his) personality. Take your disappearing marking pen and mark your face. The eyes should be about half way down the face. You can embroider the eyes or use buttons, but not for children under 3. You can paint the face also if you prefer. I used 2 strands of dmc embroidery thread, and I always make a very basic face, because face making in not my forte. You can make a very cute doll without making a complex face. The disappearing marker- or you can use one that washes away with a little water- is your best friend for marking the face.

embroidered face

Embroidered Face

Look at your dolls face and decide where you want the hairline. Mark it in the usual way. There are many ways to make hair. I prefer worsted weight acrylic yarn wound on a loom.  You can use broomstick lace tool or make your own loom. You can also wind hair around a book and cut it and sew it down the middle on your machine. Then sew or glue that seam down the middle of the head and pull together on each side of the head to make 2 nice ponytails. I put a stabilizer on the bottom and top of the seam before sewing when using this method.  Another method is to wind yarn around your fingers a few times, then wrap these loops in the middle with the same yarn. Make lots of these and then sew or hot glue the curls in place on the head in a pleasing arrangement.

hair stitched and wrapped

Hair wrapped and stitched

This hair has been stitched on the far end, but it can be cut off the loom and stitched down the middle to make the 2 pony tails described earlier. This hair is ready to be stitched or hot glued around the perimeter of the face. This tool is called “Quick Crafter” and I bought it so long ago that I don’t remember where it came from, but there are other ways of accomplishing the same thing.

 

Doll Hair in 1 ponytail

Doll hair stitched on Head and pulled back into a ponytail

Here is the doll with the hair stitched on with embroidery thread and pulled back into 1 ponytail (the loops are cut). Doll is now finished and ready to be dressed.  This whole process can be accomplished in just a few hours is you’re fast.
The next lesson will be how to design easy clothing for your doll.

 

30
Jul

Information for Sewing Beginners

Posted under easy patterns, sewing lessons, Sewing Projects No Comments

I have been strangely silent on the net for a long time. I am active on facebook though and you can always find me there talking about my latest sewing, knitting, or crochet projects. To catch up on what has been going on in my life, I am happy to say 2 of my daughters have become interested in sewing. It’s something I thought I would never see.  Many years ago when they were pre-teens I gave them sewing lessons with their cousins, but they are just now learning to appriciate the art of sewing.

While surfing the net for looking for fun and interesting sewing sites, I have noticed that there are many people who are just begiining to sew and seem a little lost. I found a free beinners sewing e-book that might be of interest to some of you. It has free projects to practice with, too. I have not read it so I don’t know all of it’s content, but hey! It’s free! Here is the link:

Sewing for Beginners - a free downloadable e-book with 20 different free sewing patterns from super-simple to intermediate, including pillows, clothing and bags. Because every sewer needs a pincushion or two, we start off this collection with three unique pincushion crafts. Pincushions are a great way to use up scrap fabric and add a little color to your sewing room.

In the future I hope to be sharing some great sewing tutorials about pattern making and tailoring. Please join my face book sewing page  to be notified about new posts. In the meantime Happy Sewing and Crafting Everybody!

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