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Apr 14, 2016

Max Fabric Stretch for Doll & Softie Making? Which one is right?

I'm often asked about Fabric Stretch .. do I line my dolls or softies - answer - nope - even with super stretchy fleece - Nope -  however I'm always aware of fabric stretch ... are you?

Amazing the different look you'll get if you cut your pattern out with the Max Stretch one way rather than the other - is one right or wrong?! Which do you prefer - Owl A .. or Owl B?

Here's a quick Fabric...
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Sep 18, 2015

My Top 12 Doll Making Tutorials


My Top 10 Sewing Doll Making Tutorials 


big list of free doll making tips and tricks

how to ladder stitch

What fabric where when making a doll









How to cut a doll pattern out of fabric

Hemostats for doll making

embroidery faces doll

how to make doll cheeks

cutting out felt how to 1

Cotton  Appliqués

Customize Your Creations

My Top 2 ITH Doll Making Tutorials

Bunny Rabbit Embroidery Machine ITH Sewing Pattern

 Happy Sewing from Sarah
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Feb 25, 2014

Embroidery Machine In The Hoop Toy Patterns FAQ

Bunny Rabbit Embroidery Machine ITH Sewing Pattern

Fabrics I LOVE for my ITH Softies

Body
I love Rose (or sometimes it's called Swirl) Minky! Super soft and snugly!
... you can also use low pile fleece, terry cloth and cotton.
If your machine is good with multi layers of thickness you can also use a low pile faux fur.

Inner ears
Always use cotton unless you know your machine does well with multi layers of fabric.

Limbs
Cotton or fleece

Face
Wool Felt...
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Oct 18, 2013

Free Charity Easy Girl & Boy Rag Doll Sewing Pattern

 

I love knowing a dolly is in the hands of a child in need, a little one who needs an extra hug, a best friend, someone to tell their secrets too.  My Doll Making Journey all began with my charity blog called: Dolly Donations!  The Earthquake in Haiti had just hit (2010) and I had just had my daughter.  I wanted to help in some small way so I created a free doll pattern and popped it online.

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Jul 27, 2013

I LOVE Hemostats for Doll & Softie Making!

love these

Hemostats look like big tweezers with the handle ends of scissors attached to them.  They are not sharp .. or used for cutting, they are used for gripping .. and they even have a lock on the handle so you can wiggle and pull without worrying that you'll let go of your fabric.  


Hemostats turning dolls softies limbs tutorial 

I love them for doll making.

1) They are brilliant for turning little limbs - well they are brilliant and fast for turning...
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May 28, 2013

How to make Doll Cheeks - Free Tutorial

How to make doll cheeks
Want to know how to get that soft cheek look for your dolls and softies? Well look no further, I'm about to show you!  I'm always being asked how to do this via e-mail and facebook I thought it was about time I wrote it up for the blog! Hooray!

You can achieve this look using either one of these 3 methods:

.... with all of these methods I suggest you do a test cheek or two on some scrap first! 

1)...
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Apr 23, 2013

How to Cut a Doll Sewing Pattern Out

fabric photo 1 copy
In general as long as you lay all your doll pattern pieces along the grain ... with the grain of your fabric running up and down the length and side from side you will be golden.  Hang on what's grain? If you look closely at your fabric you can see it looks like a basket weave.  Cool huh!
So Lengthwise is the side that runs down the  selvage/selvedge ..... Clockwise is 90 degrees to this and your B...
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Apr 08, 2013

What Fabric to Use in Doll Making - The Anatomy of a Doll


Let's talk about the Anatomy of a Doll.
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Nov 06, 2012

Curly Felt and Fleece Doll Hair

fleece doll pdf sewing pattern dolls and daydreams kawaii cute

I've had many questions (and discussion with felt gurus) about how to create a cork screw curl for felt doll hair!  I did have a lot of fun creating curls with fleece on my FeeFee Dolly but alas nothing as of yet with felt. With all of my testing of different methods over the past 2 years I have not found one that is reproducible and thus have not included this hair style in my felt/cotton doll...
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Oct 15, 2012

How to Remove Wrinkles from Cloth Doll's Faces

how to get the wrinkles lines out of a dolls face when stuffing  copy
There's nothing worse then when you turn your dolly sandwich the right way only to find that her beautiful face is all wrinkled up like an old paper bag!!! On no .. now what?!!  
Do you iron it? That can mess up your embroidery stitches ... or painted face design  ......
Do you cross your fingersand hope that when you stuff her the majority of the wrinkles and lines will come out? If the wrinkles...
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Aug 21, 2012

Disappearing Quilters Pen for Doll and Softie Faces

I use a disappearing quilters pen for my faces, when I'm embroidering or painting them.  

Simply sketch out your face design out with a disappearing quilters pen then if you make a mistake you can always re-draw :)  Either using your pattern as a guide - see tutorial included in your pattern - or why not try a new face from your imagination!


I use this pen and have never had a problem with the ink -...
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Aug 15, 2012

Pirate Doll for my Son using Crayola Fabric Markers

pirate boy first mate

I had a ton of fun with my daughter making this super cute Pirate for my son using Crayola Fabric Markers. As you know I made an art dolly for my daughter using them not too long ago and I couldn't help but make a First Mate for my little man!

These fabric markers are the best for relaxing in front of the TV after the kiddies have gone down ... or having them help you color in simple shapes and...
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Jul 08, 2012

Free Wrist and Ring Doll Pin Cushions Sewing Patterns

Wrist and Ring Pincushion Sewing Pattern

I adore my New Wrist and Ring dolly daydream pin cushions and use them every day! These two kawaii cute girls not only helped me use up some of my favorite scrap material … but I got to recycle plastic bottle caps as well!

This month marks the SECOND ANNIVERSARY of my Dolls and Daydreams one-of-a-kind doll and softie sewing patterns. Hooray! So what better way for you to join in the celebrations...
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Jun 06, 2012

Crayola Fabric Markers - Make your own Art Doll!

Princess Crown Doll Hand Painted Fabric Markers Crayola 
I brought a pack of Crayola Fabric Markers for  my daughter to play with, but after I started doodling a face on a prototype dolly one day & knew I had to have my own set too!!  
  Pocket Princess Doll Hand Painted Fabric Markers Crayola 2 
Here's my Pocket Princess Art DollI made for my daughters 3rd birthday ♥ She was so much fun and there wasn't any bleeding of color which was nice! I lost all track of time as I made her one evening .... Here's how...
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May 24, 2012

Why I Love Fray Check for Doll And Softie Making

My Pocket Princess Sewing Pattern has a Cotton Hair Applique Tutorial included in it!
Fray Check or Fray Stopper is heaven in a little bottle! Such a simple idea but with amazing potential to us dolly makers.

Brilliant for small doll pattern pieces. Seriously saves on time .. no more fiddly pattern pieces to serge (over-lock) .. and you don’t run the risk of fraying your cotton (especially vintage...
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Apr 01, 2012

Dress Up Clothes - How to Reduce My Doll Clothes Sewing Patterns

Precious Little Poppets 6a
I've been getting a lot of e-mails about removable clothes for my Little Sister & Flower Fairy Sewing patterns. If you reduce the pattern size by 50% for my 18"+ Dress Up Doll/Softie Clothes ... have a little dolly fitting session .... 'tweak' them a little .. ta-da one dress up mini dolly.
2 quick methods for reducing a sewing pattern
1)Print the pattern out full size and reduce it on the...
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Sep 16, 2011

Selling at Craft Markets and Fairs: How to Set Up Your Stall for Success!


Kristen (USA) from What the Pup?! Makes unique polymer clay pet tags and jewelry that are just fabulous for any pampered pet.  She’s also very savvy when it comes to selling at Craft Fairs and has written this fab guest post fro us all!

All the photos I comment on are of Sarah’s fabulous stall from Cotton Kiwi (NZ). She’s a pro when it comes to setting up her table … plus she runs Devonport Craft...
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Sep 02, 2011

How to Use Cotton Appliqués Instead of Felt, A Doll And Softie Making Tutorial

Want to create a different look for your Dolls and Softies? Why not try cotton appliqués instead of felt ones.

“But Sarah, cotton frays!!!” I hear you cry … this is true, but there are a number of ways around this.

Here are my Top 3 Methods. Best of all, they are fast and really easy!
My Pocket Princess Sewing Pattern has a Cotton Hair Applique Tutorial included in it!


1) Add a Seam Allowance.

Take...
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Aug 30, 2011

How to Whip Stitch - fab for felt!


The whip stitch is ever so easy and fast. Some people close there softie with a whip stitch but I don’t recommend it for that as it makes the softie look unfinished and a tad ugly if I say so myself … I always choose the invisible Ladder Stitch to close.



However, the whip stitch is lovely and secure (so good when making toys for kiddies under 3), and is great for closing fabrics with multiple...
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Jul 09, 2011

Pricing & Selling your Dolls and Softies


As you all know I allow for everyone that purchases my sewing patterns to sell items made from them in limited quantities and I’m often asked what price someone should be selling them at. How is it that one person sells a doll at $30 and another at $40 when they are using the same pattern?

Well here’s how I price my finished dolls:




I take into account my Material Cost.

How much was my cotton, felt,...
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Jul 04, 2011

How to print your own Fabric Labels using a Hand Carved Logo Stamp


I’ve had the pleasure of peeking through the ever so talented Chantal’s, from Chantal Vincents Art (Au) online blog portfolio for some time now. I adore her hand carved stamps and all the creative ways in which she uses them!

Flying Fish hand carved stamp in her Etsy Shop
From original cards,
...... to cute everyday fun stamps ....
.... To beautiful note books, there’s so many uses for stamps!

So when...
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Jun 08, 2011

How to Wash Dolls and Softies made from Felt and Cotton Fabrics

Janet from Felt on the Fly is back with a fabulous tutorial on how to care for your doll and softies made from felt and cotton fabrics.
As you know from her last Guest Post, cotton fabric is easily washed, and pre-washing cotton fabric ensures that the colors are color-fast, and that shrinkage occurs before assembling your project. Janet's wool felt does not require pre-washing and is color-fast.
J...
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Apr 14, 2011

Embroidery Stitches for Doll and Softie Faces - Easy Beginner Tutorial


I love hand embroidery! It's ever so relaxing and the results are fab!  Don't be intimidated, it doesn't have to be perfect, that is the beauty of handmade, each doll is unique!  In this tutorial I'll be showing you Step by Step how to Hand Embroider my Top 6 Favorite Embroidery Stitches for Doll and Soft Toy Plushie Faces
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Apr 11, 2011

Cutting Out Felt Shapes Using Tape - Free Tutorial


I stumbled across this brilliant felt tutorial by Kimara from WeeFolkArt and thought I’d give it a go.

Since writing my Tutorial on Cutting Out Felt Shapes Using Freezer PaperI’ve heard from a lot of my lovely Daydream blog friends that Freezer Paper is either super expensive in your neck of the woods, or pretty much non-existent. And as I have no idea what the equivalent product would be called in...
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Apr 07, 2011

How to Customize Handmade Dolls and Softies


I wanted to share with you some very simple tricks to customize your handmade dolls and softies. By altering just a few details to one pattern you can make lots of variations of that doll or softie.

Faces.
All of my patterns come with very easy embroidery, painting and felt applique face templates for you to follow but you can easily customize your doll and softies faces.

Mouths.
As you can see from...
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Mar 22, 2011

Free Doll & Toy Making Tips, Tricks, Techniques & Troubleshooting

Here's a little summery of my Doll & Softie Toy making Tips, Tricks, Techniques & Troubleshooting that I've complied and I thought I'd share with you all. I'll be adding to the list as I think of more to include!  Enjoy!  All tool links are to items I use.



Sewing Machine



Get to know your own machine, play around with it and have fun.

Change your needles regularly and always have the same thread on...
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Feb 28, 2011

How To Use Freezer Paper to Cut Out Doll and Toy Sewing Patterns

The joys of working with Freezer Paper never cease to amaze me! A while ago I used freezer paper in my fabric tutorial printing method, since then I have discovered that you can not only use it on cotton fabric but also on felt. Yes felt!
You can always pick up a small pack like this, Reynolds Freezer Paper or buy it in pre cut sheets to print on, Quilter's Freezer Paper Sheets 8-1/2x11 Inch (A4)o...
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Feb 07, 2011

Quick and Easy Felt Flower for your Doll’s Hair

Don't you just love felt?!  I do :) I love making dolls hair, shoes and clothes out of it. 



But I always end up with so much scrap. I save the pink for cheeks (too cute!), but what to do with all the other colors?!  Not to be one to waste anything, I think I have OCD when it comes to recycling , I decided to come up with a very easy and cute simple flower for your Dolly’s hair!
It’s quick and so...
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Jan 31, 2011

Pre Washing Vintage and Modern Fabric



Don’t you just hate it when you wash your fabric before a big project and the edges fray so much they get tangled up in your machine?  Or around themselves for that matter!!  Well I do! One thing I learnt quickly when it comes to pre washing my fabric was to use my pinking shears.


Trim down both raw edge sides before you pop it into the washing machine. Add detergent (without fabric softener)and...
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Nov 29, 2010

How to Paint a Dolls Face - Free Tutorial


So you only paint by numbers, or at least, you did back in high school! Well don’t worry, I have broken down how to paint a Dolly Face in to 3 easy steps. … but there are 4 videos you cry ….. yes, that’s because my naughty little doggies decided to start barking very loudly right in the middle of the last tutorial video!!!



Simply trace your face on to your fabric and paint it in before you sew, or...
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Nov 29, 2010

Ladder Stitch Tutorial - How to Close Dolls and Softies the Right Way!



In this video tutorial I will be teaching you how to close your cloth dolls and plush toy Sewing and ITH Patterns the correct way using the Ladder Stitch.
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Sep 01, 2010

Fabric Label Tutorial: Made from Things in Your Pantry!

This tutorial is not only for fabric labels but for printing on fabric for any project from your home printer and all from things that you probably already have in your pantry!!

I’ve wanted to get some fabric labels made for a while now … but of course I’ve run out of time. So I did a bit of experimenting today and whipped some up and you can too.

What you’ll need:
  • Computer/inkjet printer
  • Freezer...
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