Felt toys are quite popular. They are made using high-quality material that can easily take the desired shape. It is worth learning how to make felt dolls at home with your own hands and, perhaps, find a new profession. Children will be delighted with this activity.
Benefits of Felt
Felt is a type of felt. Animal down is used for its production. The material ready for sewing is obtained by felting. Synthetic fibers are added to the composition to increase strength. Cheap low-grade felt is made entirely of artificial materials. Both synthetic and natural felt are used to make various crafts - flowers, brooches, boxes and even dolls. It is in constant demand among needlewomen. The advantages of using felt include:
- no differences between the front and back sides of the material;
- non-fraying edges (no need to process or fold);
- maintaining the shape of the finished product, an example of this is hats;
- variety of colors;
- plastic;
- softness.
Felt is pleasant to the touch, even children who are too young to learn how to use scissors and beginner craftsmen can work with it. A felt doll leaves no one indifferent, it is fluffy, soft and gentle.
What is needed to create a doll
To sew a felt doll you will need:
- sheets of felt of a suitable color and size (preferably flesh-colored material);
- threads for sewing and embroidery, if required by the pattern and sewing instructions;
- reinforced threads for face tightening;
- material for filling the toy - synthetic padding, synthetic fluff, cotton wool, pieces of felt left over from other crafts;
- tailor's pins;
- a few coins;
- scissors;
- buttons or cotter pins;
- face painting pencil;
- hair threads;
- chalk or a simple pencil;
- plastic eyes or beads.
Important! To create a doll dress you may need cotton fabric, beads and lace for decoration.
General recommendations for sewing toys
Working with felt is not difficult, the main thing is to follow simple rules:
- the doll's parts must be sewn together using a thin needle that does not leave holes in the fabric;
- You can stitch from both the inside and the front edge, using different types of seams;
- If the seam is laid on the wrong side, it is necessary to leave an allowance. In this case, the seam will not come apart even if the toy is handled carelessly;
- The threads are matched to the tone of the felt, but sometimes a play of contrasts is allowed.
If you have a sewing machine, you can stitch individual seams on it. But even without this unit, if you act carefully and attentively, you will get a beautiful toy. Felt is easy to stitch by hand, a slight curvature of the seam will not be noticeable on the fabric.
Doll templates, rules for transferring patterns to fabric
The pattern can be made manually or on a computer. The simplest drawing program is Paint. The finished drawing is cut out or printed. Many dolls are made using universal patterns. In this case, you need to follow the general rules for transferring them to a fabric base. To do this:
- the paper pattern should be applied to a sheet of felt of a suitable size;
- for convenience, fasten everything with tailor's pins, trying to place them in strategically important places, not allowing the paper to move even 1 mm;
- trace the pattern along the contour with a pencil or chalk once, stepping back another 1-1.5 cm, draw a second line (seam allowance);
- transfer the pattern to paired or symmetrical pieces;
- cut out the fabric and transfer all important marks onto it.
Important! On the front side of the fabric, you need to mark the position of the parts that will be placed on top of the base. These are arms and legs, buttons, eyes and eyebrows, mouth and nose.
To outline a paper pattern, use small soap scraps. But it is better to buy special tailor's chalk for this purpose, traces of which are easy to remove. If it is not possible to transfer the contours from paper to fabric while maintaining an accurate drawing, copy wheels with chalk, pencils and even markers are used. All this can be purchased at a store in a store selling fabrics. Felt for crafts can also be bought there.
Doll sewing technology step by step
To sew a 30 cm doll according to the step-by-step instructions, you will need a sheet of felt of the appropriate size. On the sheet of paper, you need to draw stencils:
- a round face and a similar occipital part of the head of the future toy;
- body – 2 parts;
- arms and legs - 2 parts of each piece (the ends of the arms and legs in places where the fingers should be located are made wide and blunt);
- ears – 2 parts.
Next:
- Transfer the pattern from paper to fabric.
- Cut out the details.
- Sew the paired parts together, except for the ears, leaving an opening for pushing the filling inside.
The resulting holes can be sewn using a blind stitch. Individual parts are fastened together using hidden buttons or cotter pins (a metal fastener in the form of a rod or semicircle with an eye). In the latter case:
- you will need coins with holes in them (made using a drill);
- loop cotter pins.
The coin should be put on the sharp end of the cotter pin. If there are no suitable coins available, the disks can be made of plywood, wood or plastic. The prepared fastening is placed on the back side of the part that needs fastening. You will need 2 cotter pins. Their round heads are fastened together. One disk remains inside, for example, the doll's hand, and the second is placed in its body. The heads remain between the hand and the body. To avoid this, it is better to use cotter pins with a tip in the shape of the letter "T".
Fingers are made on the hands. To do this, the ends of the doll's felt handles are processed after stitching along the seams with scissors in such a way as to obtain zigzag protrusions. A needle and thread should be placed in the recesses and the fingers should be tightened using small stitches. The same should be done with the toes, but larger stitches should be used.
At the bottom of the head, the hole left after pushing the stuffing inside is not sewn up. The doll's neck is inserted into it. The parts are connected with a blind stitch.
Important! The doll should be assembled after all the finishing procedures have been completed – drawing the face, highlighting the fingers and toes.
How to Make a Felt Doll an Expressive Face
The doll's face can be formed using special reinforced threads. The head should be positioned so that the central seam runs exactly in the middle between the eyes and along the line of the nose, crossing the mouth:
- The nostrils are pulled into the crown. A needle and thread must be threaded into each of them in the place where the marks transferred from the pattern are preserved. Pull the needle through the entire head and bring it out from the back of the head, secure the end of the thread with a knot. Indentations should form in the place of the nostrils, and a slightly convex and wrinkled nose should be formed at the top.
- The eyes and mouth are pulled towards the neck. The tightening method is the same, the main thing is not to overdo it.
If done correctly, the facial features will appear very clearly on the felt.
Important! Once you have completed the formation of the face, you need to take sandpaper and carefully, trying not to damage the material, sand the central seam.
Eyebrows, nose and mouth are painted with pastel shades of pencils. You can use a pencil for eyebrows and lips, blush. Eyes are embroidered or drawn. You can also buy ready-made plastic eyes or sew beads instead. After giving the doll "life", ears and hair are attached to the head. Ears are sewn on, and hair is felted with felting needles. The resulting strands should be curled into curls using a simple pencil, replacing curlers. Instead of curls, you can braid pigtails or tie a lush ponytail. The choice of hairstyle depends on the toy's clothes, her facial expression and hair color.
Clothes for dolls
The finished doll needs to be dressed. Clothes can be sewn or knitted. Toy baby girls are dressed in:
- stylish dresses;
- tutu skirts and warm knitted sweaters;
- tracksuits;
- coat;
- shorts and a T-shirt.
Depending on the rest of the clothes, the doll's head can be decorated with a hat with a brooch or a cap with a pom-pom, a light silk or knitted scarf can be tied around the neck. If the doll is dressed for winter, do not forget about a coat, boots or low shoes, warm gloves or mittens. Only in this case can the image be considered complete.
The toy is dressed as follows:
- princess;
- the bride;
- angel;
- schoolgirl;
- a girl from some fairy tale.
Clothes are sewn from simple fabrics, decorated with beads or guipure. To sew a dress for a small doll up to 20 cm in height, you need very little fabric. Material of suitable quality and color can be purchased at a store without much expense. Shoes are sewn from leather or from felt scraps.
To create a festive, for example, wedding dress for a doll, you need tools and white cotton fabric. The toy's measurements are taken and the outfit is sewn according to them. The skirt can be made on an elastic band, gathering the maximum number of folds. The bodice should be sewn in the form of a T-shirt with sleeves decorated with guipure and beads. It is advisable to make a lush tulle petticoat, and do not forget about the veil.
Important! The hem of the dress should not cover the shoes. A long dress visually makes the figure smaller.
Felt dolls can be a great gift for a little girl or a collector. It is not difficult to make such a toy yourself, and felt is sold in all craft stores, it can also be purchased in a fabric shop. No special skills or abilities are needed for sewing. The main thing is to master the basics of sewing techniques.
