New Pattern by Jill Maas

 Dennis the Donkey by Jill Maas.

https://clothdolls.com/free-patterns/denis-the-donkey/

Yarn Hair Tutorial from Deanna Hogan.....

 https://blueherondolls.blogspot.com/2023/04/enigma-yarn-hair.html

Bleeding Heart Zombies.......Free Pattern

 New free pattern by Cyndy Sieving...Bleeding Heart Zombies 

Image from Dollmakers Journey

Take care 😀

How to Use a Facial Template with a Needle Sculpted Doll Head by Marla L...

p.s. This isn't a plug for her template. I got mine when I bought one of her patterns. I'm just posting it here for future reference :) 

Free Needle Sculpting the Nose by Marla L Niederer

 

The paper face template is glued to a plastic lid. When I use the template I scotch tape the back of the doll's head to the plastic lid. That way it doesn't move. Works for me :)

Take care :) 

Cloth Doll Hair Tutorial by Skercraft Dolls....

 

Freebie...........

Here is a sweet free pattern from Gingermelon.

http://gingermelondolls.blogspot.ca/.../free-tutorial...

Source: Gingermellon

Take care :)

  

 

 

Freebie............

Two free patterns from Jill Maas :)

Here's the link......https://dollmakersjourney.com/maas.html#free

This one is very funny and if you gave it a red nose it would look really cute at Christmas. It's called "Fabric Taxidermy".

 

Source: Dollmaker's Journey

And, the adorable "Lucky Lucy" :)

Source: Dollmaker's Journey

Recycling Googly Eyes...........

When my kids were young I used to buy googly eyes for craft projects. Now I know what to do with all the left overs. I'd not be making yellow eyes of course...maybe blue or green.

 

 

Historical Fashion..............

If you like to make dolls wearing historical fashion this is an interesting reference. Dolls dressed in fashions from 1715 to 1906.

https://fiveminutehistory.com/french-handmade-dolls/ 

 

 

Antique Lilac Tutorials.........

I was looking for a wig pattern that I had used some years ago and went back to one of my favourite blogs. If you are looking for some fabulous ideas for costuming Antique Lilac is a perfect blog to visit. Martha Boers is an amazing doll artist. She has some free tutorials on her site here........http://www.antiquelilac.com/tutorials.html

Take care :)

Dragon tutorial..........

Look at this amazing dragon tutorial at Antique Lilac blog. Love it. 

Dragon Tutorial

Take care :)

Wig Making Technique....................

 Videos by Unniedolls,

 

DIY Doll Hair Out of Yarn......

 

Tilda Doll Patterns....free........

 

If you like Tilda style dolls there are a few free patterns here at Tildas World. 

 

I really like the Kitschy Friends.

 

https://www.tildasworld.com/free-patterns/

 

Take care and keep safe:) 

Fluffmonger....free patterns.....

I was looking for ideas for Christmas ornaments and found this page called Fluffmonger. These are such cute stuffed animals and the patterns are free. There are also cute face masks for children or maybe adults with a sense of humour. I personally want one with teeth LOL 

http://fluffmonger.net/fluffmonger-free-pattern-library/ 

Take care and keep safe:) 

Dia De Los Muertos Sugar Skull Face........

Free tutorial from Marla Niederer at Orsini's Angels blog showing how she coloured a cloth doll Dia De Los Muertos Sugar Skull face.

Link to her blog to see what she eventually made with it....Orsini's Angels

 

Drawing Female Faces.....

 How to draw a female face.

How to crochet a wig with weft mohair .......

Doesn't look too hard. Even me with my minimal crochet skills could do this I think. 

How to crochet a wig with weft mohair 

And another one  

Take care:) 

How to dye fleece/wool locks for doll hair in the microwave......

From "Adventures In Thread".

Fleece Dying Technique 

Take Care:)

Needle Sculpting Tutorial by Marla Niederer

 From her blog " Orsini's Angels".

Free simple needle sculpting tutorial 

Take Care:)

Sculpting a cloth doll face by Sharon Mitchell in three parts........

 From her blog "SFM Cloth Dolls With Attitude".

Part 1:

Part 2: 

Part 3:

Take care:)

Inserting a separate thumb in a hand by Susie McMahon.....

How to insert a separate thumb to a cloth doll hand. 

Hands

Take care:) 

Invisible Jointing Video by Judy Ward......

Tutorials and free patterns at Antique Lilac......

 Martha Boers' costuming is awesome. Here is a link to some free tutorials.

Tutorials

Take care:) 

Arley Berryhill ...How to Sculpt the Evil Queen Face

 I thought I'd post these links here so that I can find them again or even remember about them.

DOLL FACE TUTORIAL, part 1  

DOLL FACE TUTORIAL, part 2  

Take care :)

Making Dolls Again......

I was looking for something to do and saw an idea in Ray Slater's Book "Clothdolls for Textile Artists" that looked easy and quick. 

Basically it's a stick figure body made from wire, covered in quilt batting and then covered in knit fabric. Instead of using the head pattern from the book I decided to cheat a bit. Like most doll makers I have a collection of body parts discarded for various and sundry reasons. I found a finished head that I didn't like when I originally made it but it was perfect for this project.

After you make up the doll you can embellish it any way you want...fibres, lace, ribbon, beads, embroidery, sequins, paint, glitter...no rules. Total creative freedom.

So here she is. She sort of evolved from what I had in my stash of stuff. 

Lots of fun.

Take care and keep safe:)

Making a new doll called "Penny Dreadful".....

I'm making a new doll using a pattern by Arley Berryhill called "Penny Dreadful".  I started making the head first. To me this is always the hardest part.

This is the same pattern cut exactly the same way. The first head is deer suede and the second Kona cotton. The pattern suggests suede cloth primarily so I used it first and got this very strangely shaped head. A very elongated skull. However just out of curiosity I made the head in cotton and it looks more like a normal shaped doll head.

I decided to experiment and made another head out of deer suede not taking the directions about the stretch of the fabric quite so literally. I cut the back of the head on the straight and not on the stretch and the face front not quite on the direction of the fabric's stretch. Hope that makes sense.

Here is the result.....better I think but ? The face is too far forward and looks more masculine.

After all that I decided to take some of the stuffing out of the first head I made. Then I rolled it around in my hands and squished it to try and get it to look something like the head I made in cloth.

Squishing is a very important technical term :) Here's the result. I think this looks more like it. 

The swearing done while I tried to get a decent looking nose. Well!!!

I gave up after three attempts. It is what it is.

Take care:)