DIY ragdolls: photos, patterns, interesting ideas and a guide for making

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Unlike plastic dolls, textile beauties are usually not meant to be played with. Their goal is to decorate the house and bring good luck to their owner, who turned the house into a cozy and beautiful place. These dolls have gained popularity all over the world.

In the article we will offer a master class on making a do-it-yourself textile rag doll from a pattern to a finished product.

What are textile dolls?

There are many different types of textile dolls, each with their own special features that can vary dramatically. But they are all sewn from fabric in accordance with established patterns. There are dolls such as tilda, snowball, pumpkin head, Waldorf doll, Russian folk doll, amulet, hugging doll, Korean rag doll and others. Having studied the differences between them, you can independently make for yourself the author's individual and unique masterpiece and decorate your home with it.

What is neededhave to work?

Doll making workshops are not uncommon on the websites of needlewomen. It is easy to find many themed videos and step by step photos from different sources. Having considered all the material proposed by the masters, you will understand that there is no difficulty in sewing a rag textile doll. They are made very simply. What do you need to have to start working on making an Asian doll, which Russian needlewomen call “rag Barbie” or rag doll?

• Fabric.
• Sintepon or microfiber.
• Sewing kit (needles, threads, scissors and other sewing accessories and tools).
• Acrylic paints and thin brushes.
• Threads for embroidery.

Where to start?

The work of creating a doll begins with an idea that has arisen in my head that I want to bring to life, that is, an image that needs to be created in reality. To make a doll, you need a pattern, and the right one, reflecting the character of the doll. Note that the trappie doll has an elegant physique.

You need to sketch a sketch that will make it clear how she holds her hands, sits or stands. The assumption that as soon as you create a wire frame, the doll will be able to take the pose you want is wrong. There are no frames at all in textile rag dolls. It is thanks to the correct pattern that the arm raised up or bent at the elbow holds the position.

Cutting and sewing the body of the doll

All workshops on creating textile dollsstart with sample preparation. You can draw and print it, find it in special print media or on the Internet. The photo shows a life-size trappie doll pattern.

The blank is done. Now you need to cut out the patterns for work. You should pay attention to the number of necessary details of each pattern. So you need 4 arms and legs, two parts for the head, one piece for each part.

Make a pattern of the head, arms and legs. The material is folded in half and we circle the details on it according to the patterns. It turns out two parts of the face, arms and legs. To prevent the material from slipping, in the middle of the pattern it is chopped off with pins or needles. Further, without cutting, we sew everything on a sewing machine with a small stitch, on one. The margin of this part can be cut out.

In the places where the arms and legs will be sewn with the body, you need to carefully make small cuts in order, firstly, to turn the product on the front side, and secondly, to fill the synthetic winterizer through this hole. We do not sew the head of the doll in the neck area.

Making a pattern for the front of a doll from fabric. These are three parts: the top of the front, the petal of the chest and the bottom of the front. Details are cut out of the fabric with a margin of 1-1.5 cm for the seams. It is desirable to sweep them away, and then stitch them. Similarly, a pattern is made according to the patterns of the back of the doll. It consists of two parts.

The back and front are ground on a sewing machine, except for the places where the legs will be sewn. The edges of the fabric can be trimmed with zigzag scissors to avoidthe turned-out details were bumped along the seam (see photo above). The product is turned inside out on the front side with a wooden stick or a knitting needle with a blunt end. This is necessary so as not to tear the fabric.

Filling and assembly parts

The second step of the trappie doll master class is the filling of each part with the prepared filler. They can be microfiber or synthetic winterizer (in rare cases, cotton wool). It is pushed into every detail in small portions. You can use a knitting needle, a hook or a Japanese wooden stick. All details must be tight. The filled parts of the doll are carefully sewn by hand into place.

Doll face

Interesting, the third part of the workshop on creating a rag doll (photos are presented in the article) is drawing a face. Usually, true Korean rags have only a hint of eyes - these are covered eyelids and eyelashes, or just two strokes that express the mood of the doll. Drawn from different angles, they convey a range of emotions. The nose and lips of the doll do not represent. But do not forget that you are making your own doll, so if you own a brush, make a face for the doll, if you have no experience with paints, it is better not to experiment on your brainchild so as not to spoil it. If you know how to embroider, it is better to embroider the eyes, nose and lips. At this stage, you can say that you put your soul into it, supplying facial expressions.

Hair and hairstyles

Asian hair is always flawless, and even loose hair lies hair to hair. But most often, the hair of a Korean ragdoll is curled into curls or tucked into a complextiered hairstyle, decorated with bows, flowers, beads or a headdress.

Doll hair can be made from thread, artificial hair or loose satin ribbons. That is, any fiber will do. For each species, its own technique for creating hair on the head of a textile doll can be selected. But any process must be done carefully.

For one of the popular techniques, you need: a simple pencil, strands of artificial hair and a crochet hook 0, 9-1, 0. The length of the hair, that is, the threads, is selected to the required length. On the head of the doll from the crown we draw circles, through a centimeter. Circles should only be on the part of the head that will be covered with hair.

The process of hair extensions is as follows. Fold the thread in half, crocheting the fabric of the head on the line of circles, grab the strand and pull it 2-3 cm. Pull the threads into the loop and pull the loop. Stepping back 0.5 cm along the circle line, repeat the operation with the next strand. And so repeat until all the hair on the head of the rag doll is sewn on. After that, you can start doing the hairstyle.

Doll outfits

Korean dolls are luxuriously dressed. They always have underwear and shoes. Sometimes needlewomen dress them in outerwear and demi-season shoes. There are practically no dolls in national Asian clothes. The robes usually belong to the European periods of Baroque, Empire or Classicism. The material of the dresses is silk, brocade and chiffon. Embellishments are embroidery, lace, braid and beads.

Since these dolls are works of art, thenquite a lot of time is spent on their clothes. It can be said that most of the time is spent not on the pattern of a rag doll and the creation of a calf, but on tailoring her clothes and accessories: an umbrella, a handbag, shoes, etc.

How to sew shoes?

Many needlewomen think that sewing shoes for textile dolls is an impossible task. In fact, this turns out to be quite easy. You can even sew shoes without special patterns.

For example, you need to sew shoes for a doll. It is necessary to take a slightly stretchy material, fold it in half and carefully circle the doll's leg with a marker. Fasten two layers of fabric with tailor's pins and stitch the shoes. We start the line from the heel (we fix the stitch) and sew to the rise (we fix the stitch). If the fabric is thick for a sewing machine, you can sew it by hand with a “back needle” seam with a small stitch. Now you can cut the shoe along the contour, preferably with zigzag scissors. We turn the product inside out and put on the doll's leg.

Trapiens doll accessories

The image of the doll has been created, but without accessories it will still be incomplete. Therefore, umbrellas, handbags, all kinds of baskets, bouquets, books will further emphasize her individuality, especially since this is a doll for the interior.

To make a hat for a doll, you need to take a piece of thick paper, you can use whatman paper, and cut out a circle of 8-10 cm. We make a smaller circle of 2 cm in it. Leave a small circle - this will be the bottom of the hat. Cut off a strip 2 cm long and bend it like the letter Z. Cut the edgesafter 1 cm. Lubricate with PVA glue and glue the upper edge of this strip to the cut out circle (2 cm in diameter), glue the lower edge to the hat brim. Next, we arrange it at our discretion. It can be lace, chiffon, satin ribbons. Beads can also be used as decoration.

To make an umbrella for a doll, you need a cocktail umbrella, lace or guipure and a silicone glue gun. Using a pistol, the prepared material and decorations are attached to the base of the umbrella, as shown in the photo below. If this is an umbrella made of a denser material, in the color of the doll's skirt, which is on the left in the photo, you need to cut the umbrella according to the cocktail umbrella. Lace is sewn at the bottom, which connects the fabric base and the cocktail umbrella.

From the original accessories for a textile doll, you can offer to make a small leatherette bag. To do this, fold the material in half and outline the shape of the handbag. You can scribble on the front side and cut with zigzag scissors. The bag will look original. The handle can be made from a cord that is easy to crochet. A doll with a bouquet of flowers will look original. You can make them yourself, or buy ready-made dolls that are delicate in the color of the outfit.

So much work has been done from the sketch of the doll to getting a beautiful interior doll. If you wanted to make this doll as a gift, it turned out very original and stylish. Today, handicraft is more valuable than ever. Especially if such a gift is made with your own hands, and you breathed into it a piece of yoursouls.

Good luck and bold interesting ideas!