Extraordinary Doll Designers

 

World of Dolls Pattern Bundle D by OchePots on Etsy

I hope noboday faints when they see this post abouts dolls!  With Christmas on our doorstep, I want to share with you several dollmakers and their patterns.  All are made with simple stitches...the details make the difference.  And all the dolls could be Art Dolls, or your child's favorite Holiday gift.

Let's start with the dollmaker that I am currently in love with:  OchePots on Etsy  Her dolls, like the World of Dolls above, are unique in construction with very little sewing.  The above peg dolls are free standing!

The doll below,  Amity, is dressable and you can purchase an extensive wardrobe for her:

Amity, another delightful doll pattern by OchePots on Etsy

If you like mini, then Olka Novytska of Aradiyatoys, is a great choice.  Her patterns are available on both her Etsy shop, Aradiyatoys and on Ravelry.  Below are a couple of her designs I've complete:

Shepardess and her sheep, from the book Mini Kingdom, by Olka Novytska

Nativity set one, by Olka Novytska.  Available on Ravelry

Sandy Nordwall Eggers' patterns are the ones I have made the most dolls from.  Her patterns are available on Ravelry, are very well written, and are a great value.  Making her dolls helped to keep me sane during the worst part of the pandemic.  This is just a sample of all the dolls made from her patterns:

The many, many faces of Sandy Nordwall Eggers' doll designs.

Cute and quick dolls can be found with the designer of Sleepy Sheep Patterns, available on Etsy.  If you want a slender doll that isn't wired, these patterns are for you:

Dolls made and adapted from Harmony the Elf, by SleepySheepPatterns.

For the more fantasy minded,  Fantasy Sprites on both Etsy and Ravelry has some of the most amazing creations.  These dolls are for the most part wired, but it was the easiest wire armature I've ever done.  They are worked in cotton; I used size three Curio from KnitPicks:

Fantasy Sprites, by Lianne Peterson on Etsy.

Two more designers of beautiful dolls are Carla Vigliucci on Ravelry, and Lulu Compotine, on Etsy.

Carla Vigliucci's dolls all come with such sweet wardrobes.

And so do Lulu Compotine's!

The last designer I will mention is Jessica Doerring, of Neogurumi on Ravelry.  Her patterns were some of the first that I made that were crocheted all as one piece, with the arms crocheted into the body.  I hate sewing pieces together!  So, it was love at first site with her Eva doll.  Many of Jessica's patterns are free, and the others are all a great value.  Another pattern that I have made many dolls from:

Many Eva's!

So now is the time to grab your hook, some yarn (wool, cotton, acylic...they all work for dolls), and make something special. 

Enjoy the crochet!

Dollmaking away the New Year

 

What have YOU been doing since the start of the year?  I've been obsessed creating dolls from Sandy Nordwall Eggers' Puddin pattern.  The doll pattern is freely available on Ravelry, and the clothing for this doll is either free or very inexpensive.

The doll is easy to crochet.  And also easy to make minor modifications to.  As you can see, some of these dolls have longer arms and legs...just add rows.  I made several to look like Raggedy Ann and some of her friends...use buttons for eyes (the best size I found was a 3/8 inche button for the iris and a 1/2 inch button for the whites.  Use black crochet cotton to sew to the head and you have the pupil!)

Most of the clothing on these dolls is either Sandy's exact pattern, or modified slightly.

I used size 3 crochet cotton, which is available as Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3 or Knit Picks Curio 3.  100 grams are 280 to 300 yards, so it is like a light dk weight yarn.  With this thread I used a 2.25mm hook (B), and used the same yarn for most of the outfits.  My dolls turned out between 5 1/2 and 6 inches tall.  Knit Picks has a wonderful selection of colors, and Aunt Lydia a great selection of skin tones:  Chocolate, Copper, Natural and Bridal White.  You can sometimes find size 3 crochet cotton at Thread Art...they have a very pale pink that works well for skin tone.

Puddin Pattern on Ravelry

Enjoy looking through Sandy's wonderful collection of dolls, doll clothing, and other delights!

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Doll designs by Carla Vigliucci

 

For the last few weeks I have been making dolls from the patterns of Carla Vigliucci, which can be found on Ravelry, and Etsy.  Each of her patterns include a doll, anywhere from 7 to 11 inches tall, and at least one if not more simple outfits for her to wear, and a beautiful hair design.

Carla has some unique dollmaking techniques, and I always love learning something new.  How to make a sturdy one piece head/torso, how to eliminate that tiny gap under the arms when crocheting arms into the body, how to make a TERRIFIC pair of shoes.  These are just a few techniques.  And if you are like me and do NOT like sewing parts, these are the patterns for you.

The dolls all have very similar builds, so most of the clothing is interchange-able, or will work with just minor tweaking.  I used size 3 crochet cotton (primarily Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3  and Knit PIcks Curio 3), and a B hook (2.25mm) to make the doll, and a B or C hook for the clothing.

Two other tips to 'up' your dollmaking game.  The Yarn Under Single Crochet: this blog post by Earl Grey Crochet explains this better than any I have found on the internet.  Your crochet fabric will be tighter, and little if no fiberfill will show through.  

The other is the Invisible Single Crochet decrease.  This blog post by Planet June explains the invisible decrease, and it really is!

Here are some of the lovely outfits I made for Elinor, above, who is a combination of Carla's Ema patten, for the body, and Alys pattern, for her hair.

As always, enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Sweet Small Dolls by Sleepy Sheep

Great skin colors in size 3 crochet cotton.  From right to left:  Aunt Lydia's Coffee; Nazli Gelen Garden 3  Medium Brown; Aunt Lydia's Copper; Thread Art #16; Thread Art #02. 

All of these dolls were made from the pattern Joy by SleepySheepPatterns.  Using a size 2.25mm hook (size B) she is about six inches tall before wigging.

With such a small and skinny doll, clothing makes up pretty fast, especially if you use size 3 cotton for the clothing as well.  The pattern comes with a cute dress that can be made either long or short sleeve.  I had great fun creating a 'capsule' wardrobe for this doll; inspired by my friend Dawn Smith and the Tiny Rag Doll Nation on Ravelry making capsule wardrobes for their dolls.

This is Jasmyn, wearing a tee-shirt dress and short sleeved knit sweater; red pants and a white tee-shirt; blue tee-shirt and yellow pleated skirt; and blue tee-shirt and pocket shorts.  A cloche and a sunhat cap her ensembles.

And this is Joy, wearing undies, lacy cap sleeve dress with long sleeve knit sweater, pink tee-shirt and blue jeans.  This hair style is the one that comes with the doll, along with the hair band with the rose.   I made the doll's feet without shoes, so I could change them with her outfits.  The pattern for the capsule wardrobe, that includes all of these outfits, is freely available here:

Joy's Wardrobe

There are a lot of other adorable patterns on SleepySheepPatterns Etsy site.  You should check them out!

Dollmaking techniques

Another Puddin' doll, by Sandy Nordwall Eggers on Ravelry.  Her outfit is the Spring Boho dress on Sandy's Ravelry site.  Her hair is also one of Sandy's pattern; Cute Hairstyles.

I love this adorable doll, but I also enjoy a little tweaking.  For example, legs that let the doll sit, and a move-able head.  I want to share with you the techniques I use to do this:

Move-able Head

Refer to the above image along with these instructions:

Puddin's pattern is particularly easy to adapt to a move-able head, and it also results in a very nice round head and no wobbles in the neck.

To make the head separate, begin at the bottom of the head and chain 12; join to form a ring, being careful not to twist the chain. Sc in each ch. This will be round 25 of Puddin's head and torso , just finish the head exactly as written, adding eyes and embroidering features as Sandy illustrates. Yes, you CAN stuff the head through this small opening! Hemostats help, but small pliers, or just your fingers will work.

Stuff the head smooth and round, then take your finger and create a cavity opening into the middle of the head. The neck stub will fit up into this.

Crochet the body exactly as written to round 25, then work five more rounds of 12sc. Decrease to eight sc in the sixth round, then stuff this stub firmly and close the top with four sc decrease stitches. This stub will fit into the cavity you made in the head.

Joint the head to the body using two 30 inch strands of strong craft thread (I use Dual Duty button and craft thread). Thread into a dollmaking needle, double and tie a knot in the end. Thread the needle from the top of the head out of the opening in the bottom of the head, making sure you do not catch any of the crochet stitches. Run the needle through the neck stub from shoulder to shoulder, then back into the head and out the top. Tie off the thread with a tight double knot and bury the ends. Now you have a doll with a head that will move and never wobble

Swing Legs

Refer to the above image with these instructions:

These are what I call 'swing legs,' which is an easy adaptation to let your doll sit.

Make the legs as per Sandy's pattern, but after you finish the last row, on both legs, sc in the next five sc. This will put you at the right side of the leg (as you are looking at the leg with the foot facing you). After both legs are finished and stuffed, pinch the top of the second leg together and crochet it closed with six sc, then (making sure the feet are pointing in the same direction!), pinch the top of the first leg you made and sc it closed with six more sc. Your legs are now connected in a line with 12 sc.

To continue with the torso, turn the doll so you are looking at the back side of the doll and single crochet in the front loops of each sc from one end of the back to the other. Turn the doll so you are now looking at the front, and continue to sc in the remaining loops. You will have 24 sc all around the doll, and this will be round 13 of Puddin's torso. Continue with the pattern as written.

Have a great day, and enjoy the crochet!

Update 2/14/2020:  I've created a .PDF file of the above tutorial that you can download:

Swing legs and move-able heads

Bead and Dowel dolls revisited

About a year and a half ago, Joyce and I collaborated on a doll design that used wooden beads for the head, dowel rods for the limbs, and a very simple crocheted body.  The doll was about 5 1/2 to 6 inches tall, and a nice, slender companion to Hitty.  You can find the pattern here:

Hitty bodied peg doll

Some Facebook inspiration got me interested in making a tinier doll, that could stand on her own.  So now, I have another pattern to share, for this little bead and dowel mite.  She stands (on her own!) right at four inches:

Tiny bead and dowel doll

The pattern includes, hopefully, all the tools you will need to make this doll.  In addition, there are patterns for four different wigs made from fingering weight yarn and a size B crochet hook:

And three different outfit plus a sunhat, made with size 8 perle cotton and a size 6 steel hook:

You can use the nightgown bodice or the camisole to make a sundress, and I have some other ideas for outfits in the making.  Here is a list of what you will need to make the doll.  This list looks long, but these are pretty simple tools and supplies.  Hopefully you can get them at your local hobby shop, or if not, they are available online:

Materials, for the doll: 

-An exacto knife for very minimal shaving of the wood dowel and spools

-Small saw and miter box for sawing the dowel rod pieces

-Pin Vise (tiny hand drill) for drilling the dowels to string the limbs to the body.

-200 grit (fine) sandpaper for minimal sanding

-Black paint for eyes and boots

-Pastels in shades of pink for blush

-Modge Podge to seal wood pieces

-Glue

-Toothpicks for painting eyes.

-20mm (3/4inch) wood bead with at least 3/16 inch hole

-One 12” long ¼” diameter dowel rod for body support, arms and legs (will make one doll)

-Two ½ x ⅝ inch spools for boots

-Strong craft thread for jointing the doll’s limbs

-Four  ¼ inch buttons for jointing the doll’s limbs

-Size 3 crochet cotton to make the body

-Size B crochet hook.

-Embroidery needle that will fit through the holes drilled in the dowel rods.

-Craft or carpet thread.

I'll end this post with my favorite picture. I love making dainty undies!

Calm the mind; make a doll

Time to return to what I love, and love to share!  Raggedy Anns have always been a favorite of mine...I made several cloth Raggedy's several years ago.  But my true love is crochet, and I found a wonderful pattern to use as a base for all of these Raggedy girls!  The pattern for the basic doll is freely available on Ravelry here:

Kelli Newcome's JJ Doll

JJ is about 8 to 9 inches tall, and Kelli has lots and LOTS of patterns for outfits for this doll.  She also has two other free basic doll patterns, Pookie and Petey.  Each one is incrementally larger than the next.  These dolls make up easy, as they are made in worsted weight yarn.   I turned them into Raggedy's by using button eyes (glossy, dark colored buttons work best), and Raggedy smiles.  If you are feeling adventurous, darken the area around the eye with a colored pencil dipped in water, then rubbed into the yarn with a clean cotton cloth:

That is what I did with this girl above.  You can find tons of Raggedy inspiration from Pinterest (of course!)

I also have a couple of patterns to share, that will fit Kelli's JJ doll.

JJ's Knit Sweater,  knit with worsted cotton yarn and size 4 needles.  The short sleeve version just needs straight needles.  If you want long sleeves, you'll need a set of dpn's.

And JJ's Crochet Undies,   Crocheted with worsted cotton and a size D hook.

A link to all of Kelli Newcome's patterns can be found here:

Kelli's Kreations

Make a doll, and make the world a bit better.

Cloth Doll Re-boot

The Hitty's Knitty group I belong to had a sew-along the month of February, making tiny cloth dolls.  I had forgotten how addictive and fun these tiny dolls are!  There are several patterns available to make tiny cloth dolls; most of the members used Ann Wood's Tiny Rag Doll.  She is a wonderful little five inch doll with a growing wardrobe.  Check out the link to Ann's pattern.  I've made this doll (many times!), here are a few of them:

Edith Flack Ackley made several patterns for doll house dolls in the 1930's.  Pattern replications are available on Etsy, or you can do a Google search and possibly find one for free.

Another way to make a tiny cloth doll is to reduce a simple rag doll pattern to the size you want.  I did this with my Prairie Flowers cloth doll and copy machine!  If your doll pattern makes a 10 inch doll, and you want a 5 inch doll, reduce the pattern by 50%.  Play around with the percent reduction to find just what you want.

To sew such a tiny doll, either by machine or hand, it is easiest to make sewing templates.  Using double sided tape, tape your reduced pattern to cereal box cardboard (a great way to re-use!) and cut out the pattern ON THE SEWING LINE.  Place the pattern on your doubled fabric, and use a heat disappearing pen to mark the sewing line all around the pattern (I like Frixon erasable markers by Pilot).  Since these dolls are so tiny, don't cut out the fabric, simple put it in your machine and sew around the line you've drawn, then cut out leaving a 1/8 inch seam allowance.  With this seam allowance, you won't have to clip curves either!

I made a couple of different cloth doll patterns by modifying a tiny Edith Flack Ackley pattern.  For one, I left the bottom of the torso open and made the head round (by tracing around a bottle cap), and for both of them I made separate arms to attach after the body is stuffed.

Something to keep in mind:  woven fabric (like broadcloth, muslin, calico) does have a bit of stretch in one direction. Pull your fabric along the grain in each direction to see which direction has the most stretch (don't confuse this with the BIAS stretch).  Depending on how you lay your doll out, she will be taller and thinner (stretch running the length of the torso) or shorter and plumper (stretch running the width of the torso).  Look at the two doll bodies below:

The very same pattern was used for both.  The doll on the left was placed with the stretch grain running side to side, and the one on the right the stretch grain runs the length of the body.  There is almost one inch difference in the height of the dolls!

Simple dresses can be made by cutting a waistband to fit around the doll; cut a skirt to gather to the waband, then sew a button and buttonhole loop to the back.  She doesn't even need straps to hold up this simple dress.

I made some knit and crochet patterns for these tiny dolls, that should fit Ann Wood's Tiny Rag Doll, and slender bodied Hitty dolls as well:

Tiny Crochet for Cloth Dolls

Tiny Knits for Tiny Cloth Dolls

Enjoy the day!

Update 10/14/2019:  Here is another crochet pattern for this tiny cloth doll:

Tiny cloth doll nightgown, shoes, dress, hat

Here is a picture of most of these items

Feel Better Friends

My test doll for the Feel Better Friends Volunteer-in-training

I have joined a group called Feel Better Friends.  Their mission, in their own words: "Feel Better Friends are handmade dolls stuffed with love and well wishes, crafted by volunteers and donated to children battling cancer and other illnesses."  

A perfect fit for someone who enjoys making dolls and seeing them in the hands of children.   To join, you must create a test doll from the Feel Better Friends pattern available on Ravelry and submit it to the Facebook group Feel Better Friends Volunteer-in-training for approval.  Once approved, you become a member of the Feel Better Friends Dollmakers.

For my test doll, I created a new type of wig cap, working in a semicircle in rows instead of a circular cap worked in spiral rounds.  I also created a T-shirt, blue jeans and shoes to fit my doll.  The doll is 12 1/2 inches tall worked in Vanna's Choice worsted yarn and an E hook.  I am happy to share the patterns with you!

Semi-circular wig cap for Feel Better Friends doll

T-shirt, Jeans, shoes for Feel Better Friends doll

I'm about to start on my first doll for a child, a young boy of two battling brain cancer.  It is my believe that  a doll is a tangible expression of love and hope.  May they bring comfort where it is needed most.

Sweet Ami

Sweet Ami's...sweet friends.  I want to share with you a new doll pattern.  She is worked in worsted weight yarn with a size D hook.  The crochet is seamless, with the legs crocheted together into the torso, and the arms crocheted to the body at the shoulders.  The head is separate and jointed to a neck stub that will let you move your doll's head around.

Sweet Ami has embroidered eyes, using a simple technique that give you something of a Manga look.

Sweet Ami stands 9 1/2 inches tall, and has a simple to make wig cap that can be modified by your imagination into just about any hairstyle; and use just about any yarn, once you see how the wig is constructed.

Sweet Ami also has some simple wardrobe pieces, based on a simply constructed camisole:

So without further ado, here is the pattern for  Sweet Ami's.

Make a sweet friend for yourself, or someone special in your life, and enjoy the crochet!

Crochet Magic

Yesterday, I wasn't feeling very well.  Summer stomach flu, or something like that.  So I dug around for some simple yarn (Knit Picks Brava Worsted), and pulled out one of my favorite patterns:  Jessica Doering's Eva Pattern , freely available on Ravelry.  By the end of the day, I had a new friend!

Meet Lillian.  Fortunately, I had a dress left over from making these dolls last fall that fit her perfectly, and the color was perfect as well!

There is something magical about turning a string and a hook into a new friend.  Turning strings into things is my superpower...what is yours?

Whoever welcomes a child like this...

"Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me...And whoever shall cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it were better for him that an ass' millstone were hanged on his neck and that he were thrown into the sea." Mark 9:36-37, 42.

In an effort to channel my anger and frustration regarding the treatment of immigrant families and their children at our border, I reworked a previous pattern of mine; changing the body shape, making the head a bit smaller, and creating a new wardrobe.  The pattern, Whoever Welcomes a Child Like This  is freely available here on my blog.

If you make one of these dolls, please keep in mind that all children are deserving of our love and protection.

puffed sleeve dress, ropers, brimmed sunhat and cat hat

undies!

dolls in many colors :-)

These dolls measure 3 1/2 inches when worked in size 10 crochet cotton and a size 6 steel hook.  The clothing is worked in size 20 crochet cotton and a size 9 steel hook.  If this seems a bit tiny and daunting, try working the doll in sportweight yarn and a size B hook, and the clothing in size 10 cotton and a size 6 steel hook.  Full disclosure:  I haven't tried this yet, but am pretty sure it would work :-)

Update 7-6-2018!

I have an additonal pattern of four more outfits for Whoever Welcomes a Child!

Whoever Welcomes a Child Additional clothing

Enjoy making your own child, for a special child in your life :-)