The doll’s face should be put on next, because it is much easier to do this before the doll is stuffed than afterward. There are several ways in which this can be done: with crayon, with embroidery stitches, with textile paints, or with tiny beads.

Embroidered features last the longest. They are not hard to do and are very pretty. Crayon and paint are fairly permanent. Bead features, though extremely gay and attractive looking, will break off unless the doll is handled carefully. In making any face that requires sewing (embroidery or bead work), be sure that the needle does not go through and sew the back of the head to the front. In order to avoid this, hold the first two fingers of your left hand inside the head to keep the front and back separated while you are working.

Different kinds of faces are shown above. Trace and transfer them to the cloth face, using a sharp-pointed hard pencil. The features are colored in the style you choose. When embroidering, use outline stitch for the thin line; satin stitch for the eyes and lips. The way to make these stitches is illustrated with the face drawings. Short single stitches are used for making eyelashes.

Stuffing

In stuffing the doll, begin with the legs and arms. Tear off small pieces of cotton, polyester or wool and push them down into the legs. Use the eraser end of a pencil to poke the pieces down. Keep the stuffing as smooth and firm as possible. When the leg is stuffed to the top (the dotted line shown on the pattern), sew across from seam to seam. The same kind of seams are needed at the tops of the arms. These seams make it possible to move the arms and legs back and forth.

Stuff the head three-quarters full. Push a lollipop stick or wooden meat skewer halfway into the head stuffing and halfway into the chest. This makes the “neck” and will keep the head from wobbling back and forth as it would if it had no support. Fit the rest of the stuffing firmly around the stick, filling out the neck and shoulders. Stuff the body, keeping it smooth and quite firm. When you have finished stuffing, draw the side opening together and sew with small, closely set stitches.

In the drawing, you will see a dotted diamond across the front of each foot. This indicates where a tuck must be taken to make the foot bend forward in a natural position. Take a tiny stitch on the top line, another stitch on the bottom line and pull the thread tight to draw the lines together. Do this right across each foot, then knot the thread securely.

Wigs

Hair for the doll can be made of several different materials. A wig made of wool or cotton jersey, or the leg part of cotton socks, is very nice looking. The pattern above (click to enlarge and print) can be worked out for bangs, no bangs, pigtails, long or short bob. If you choose to have bangs, cut the narrow strip marked A, make fine vertical slashes along the bottom, then sew the piece across the top of the head as shown in Figure 1.

Cut large wig pattern and place center arrow at center top of forehead. Stitch across front of head, along dotted line, as shown in Figure 2. Lap the fabric back, like Figure 3, and sew down flat.

Cut the hair to the desired length and make fine vertical slashings all around. The ends of the jersey wig may be curled by dampening them and rolling them up on straight pins. Secure the rolls with extra pins and allow the fabric to dry before removing them. Trim the bangs.

If you want pigtails, cut wig 2 in. longer than pattern. Make six evenly spaced slashes from the bottom of the wig up to the neck. This gives three pieces on each side which can be braided. Tie the ends of the braids with little pieces of colored wool to look like hair ribbons.

Rug yarn or heavy knitting wool can also be used for effective-looking hair. Each strand must be sewn on in-dividually. The bottom layer of strands, each 6 in. long, is put on first. The top layer of 8-in. strands is sewn from forehead to back of head. Use enough strands to entirely cover cloth head. Trim to length desired. Leave it long if you are going to braid it.