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"Cloth dolls"
Last year, I began making sock dolls. I was inspired by the book Stray Sock Sewing.
Here’s how I made my sock dolls for the Wild Art Dolls swap in July 2010.
Supplies
You will need one sock, some batting or stuffing, Fray-Check, and your basic sewing supplies. [...]
A sock doll swap is an exchange of dolls made from socks.
In this Wild Art Dolls exchange, the dolls had to be made from socks and three of them had to fit inside a flat-rate Priority Mail envelope.
Three of us participated. Here are some of the dolls:
[...]
The first rule of cloth doll making is: BREAK THE RULES!
Nobody said the skin fabric has to be pink. Or muslin. Or brown. Or whatever.
Your doll’s skin can be purple. Or green. Or paisley. Or white lace over silver lame that you’ve fused to muslin.
Nobody said that your dolls’ legs and arms [...]
Not sure how to choose the right cloth doll stuffing?
Here’s the punch line: Buy the best doll stuffing (ex: fiberfill, polyfill, batting, cotton wool) that you can afford.
The cheap stuff may look the same in the bag. It may even feel the same if you squeeze it.
You may think, “I’ll bet this [...]
Should you preshrink fabrics (or prewash them) before making a cloth doll?
Yes… and no. It depends upon what’s important to you.
Why not to prewash or preshrink fabrics
Fabrics, especially cottons, never look quite so “fresh” after prewashing.
The sizing* and surface finish wash off, so the fabric doesn’t look as smooth. In [...]
