Cloth Doll Making - Fun For All Ages
It may seem strange to you, but in my family both the boys and the girls loved cloth dolls. You see, my mother
was an expert in the art of making a cloth doll, and pretty much knew exactly how to go about it. She could make a rag doll, a well-dressed china
doll, or handmade wooden ones - you name it and she could put it together. She could also make the perfect handmade doll clothes for an American
girl doll, dressing them up in such fancy outfits that anyone would envy them. None of my friends had the same cloth doll hobby that I
did, and sometimes made fun of me over it. Nonetheless, I have grown to treasure my toy dolls. To this day, I sew handmade
doll clothes in my spare time, and still collect cloth dolls as well.
One of my favorite parts of my cloth doll hobby is
making clothes for my dolls. I love sewing clothes for 18 inch dolls. Like many other folks, I love making clothes, but making adult
sized versions can often be an involved and time-consuming process. The great thing about learning how to make doll clothes is that it is
such an easy way to create mock ups of full-size clothing. Although a cloth doll won't show you how the outfit will look on you, necessarily, it
will provide you a way to cheaply and easily play with your imagination and find out what types of clothing might be worth further
investigation.
My first exposure as a kid was learning to make Barbie clothing. You see, our cloth dolls were precious.
We were very careful with them, and did not want anything to happen to them. After all, our mother made them for us, and we deeply loved the work
she did. These days I still maintain that same level of respect for my cloth dolls. My Madame Alexander dolls, for example,
never leave their display cases. They are too valuable, too perfectly made, and too fragile. Whenever I play with one a cloth doll, I make sure
to choose one of a much coarser grade of workmanship. Nonetheless, I love them all.
If you have ever wanted to learn to make a cloth doll, you really should try it out. It is much easier than you
might think. Check out your local craft store or search the web. There are all kinds of do-it-yourself guides and kits available, so you can
easily find out the information that you need. Even if your first few cloth dolls do not look very good, don't give up! Like anything else that
you set out to learn, it can take some practice to get it right. And, after all, the whole point is to have fun!
Cloth Doll
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