THE DOLL HOUSE FAMILY

The most attractive little dolls can be made for your doll house. Crepe paper, absorbent cotton, and pipe-stem cleaners are the things you’ll need besides scissors, paste, thread, and needle.

The charming thing about these dolls is that they can be bent into all sorts of natural poses without any difficulty whatsoever. Their crepe paper clothes, for the most part, are put together with paste. Only occasionally do you have to sew anything. Of course, you can use other kinds of paper, too, for costumes and trimmings. As you work along with them, all sorts of interesting ideas will occur to you. Sheer fine fabrics can be used on these dolls and, since the dolls are so very small, the tiniest scraps that cannot be used elsewhere will do nicely here.

How TO MAKE DOLL HOUSE DOLLS

Pipe-stem cleaners are used to make a frame or skeleton for the doll. Six regular-size cleaners are needed for the
full-size dolls; four for the child-size. The method of twisting the cleaners is shown in Figures 1,2, and 3 of the diagram. One cleaner is looped and twisted to make the head and body. The second cleaner makes the arms and hands. Two cleaners, twisted together, are used for each leg. Follow the drawings step by step.

When the frame is done, place a small wad of absorbent cotton in the head loop. Then cover the entire head with a very thin layer of cotton and bind it to the neck by winding thread around it tightly. Place small wads in the loops of the hands and feet. Cover the head, hands, and feet with peach-colored crepe paper. Bind each part at neck, wrists, and ankles with sewing thread. The frame should look like Figure 4.

Pad the shoulders and chest with thin strips of cotton. The shoulder strips should be about 1/2 in. wide and 2 in. long. Lay them across the shoulders, having the ends come down to the waist. Tie them there with a binding of thread. The chest strip, 1/2 in. wide and 3 in. long, is wrapped around the body and held on with a binding of thread.

Cover the legs and arms with crepe paper cut into strips 1/4 in. wide. Starting at the ankles and wrists, bind the strips spirally up each leg and arm. Tie at the top with sewing thread. Cover the body the same way, using a strip 1/2 in. wide. The doll should look like Figure 5.

The child-size doll is made exactly the same way, but should be about 1  1/2 inch shorter than the grown-up doll. The diagram and dress pattern in the later post on dressing the child doll will guide you.

This basic doll can be made into many characters by means of different hairdos and clothes.

A favorite pair is a bride and groom. Let’s make the bride first.