Keepsake Crafts

Welcome back to the final day of our Topsy-Turvy doll directions.  For the previous days, see:  part 1, part 2, part 3.

Today we’ll make the yarn hair for our doll.  I used Red Heart brand in worsted weight, but you can use whatever you like or have on hand.  You’ll need to find a book (or a rigid object) that is 14″ across.  Wrap the yarn around this object 80-100 times.  (I got a little overenthusiastic and wrapped mine 130 times!  As a result, my doll’s hairs is a bit thicker than strictly necessary. Ah well.)  If you have thinner yarn make more wraps, or use less wraps for thicker yarn.

Once your book is all wrapped, find the center of this bundle of yarn.  To hold the yarns in place for sewing, place a piece of painter’s tape slightly to one side of center and another to the other side of center, leaving a 1/2″ gap.  Do this on both sides of the book.

Now, gently slide your yarn off the book.  (This is the tricky part, just take your time.  Don’t worry if it gets a little messed up while sliding.)  Your yarn bundle should look something like this:

Lengthen the stitch on your sewing machine and sew down the middle of your bundle of yarn, right between the two pieces of tape.  To keep the yarns from getting caught on the presser foot and feed dogs, sandwich your bundle between two pieces of waxed paper while sewing.  Make sure to backstitch to secure both ends.  Gently remove the tape and waxed paper.

Hand stitch the seam to your doll’s head.  This seam becomes the center part of her hair.  Since mine was so thick, and difficult to sew, I also lifted up the hair on either side of the part and applied a line of glue to further secure it.

Repeat this wig-making process to make hair for the other side of the doll.

You can now style your doll’s hair as desired.  If you want to trim the yarn loops, that’s fine.  I left in the loops because this doll is going to a two-year old and I don’t want her to be able to pull out single strands of yarn.  My day doll’s hair is pulled back and the night doll’s hair is in ponytails.

If desired, hand sew the nightcap to the sleeping doll’s head.  Now is the time to add whatever other trimmings you like.  I gave the day doll a ribbon rose and sash for her dress and flowers for her hair.

The sleeping doll got  a ribbon rose on her bodice, ribbons on her pigtails and a teddy bear.  I had to carefully position the bear so that it didn’t show as a big lump under the day dress.

And here she is, once again.  Hope my granddaughter loves her!

If you decide to make a topsy turvy doll of your own, please send me pictures.  I’d love to see what you’ve done!

Welcome to part 2 of our Topsy-Turvy doll.  If you’re jumping into the middle, you can find part 1 here.

This is what we’re making:

At this point your doll faces should be complete, the bodies and arms should be sewn, stuffed and handstitched closed.  Now you need to bring the arms to the sewing machine and stitch three lines on each hand to make the finger divisions.  As long as you stuffed this lightly, you shouldn’t have any problems.  Start sewing at the edge of each hand and stitch up towards the shoulder, then backstitch on the same line all the way back to your starting point.  If your machine balks at stitching through all the thickness, you can hand sew these lines or skip this step altogether.

To sew the arms to the bodies, use very heavy thread and a long needle, like a doll needle.  The thread I like to use is labeled “Extra Strong for Buttons, Carpets and Crafts.”  Use doubled thread to go through the dots on the arm, then through the shoulder and back.  Go around 3-4 times.  Bury the knot in the doll. (In this photo I have the thread loose to show the path it needs to take.  You’ll have to pull it tight as you sew.)

To make the clothing:

With right sides together, sew lace to necklines of both bodices.  Match the raw edge of bodice to the gathered edge of the lace.  If you wish, press seam toward bodice and topstitch to hold in place.

In the same manner sew lace to the edges of the nightgown sleeves and the nightcap.

Finish sleeve edges of day dress.  Fold on line and stitch to make a casing.

Use 4 4.5″ pieces of 1/4″ elastic.  Use a zigzag stitch to sew one to each nightgown sleeve 1 1/2″ from finished edge of lace.  (Tip:  Leave the elastic long and mark at 4.5″.  This gives you something to hold on to while sewing.)

Insert the remaing 2 pieces of elastic into sleeve casings on day dress, tacking in place in seam allowance.

Cut a 13″ piece of 1/4″ elastic.  Zigzag stitch this to the nightcap, 2″ in from finished edge of lace.

Sew all sleeve and underarm seams.

Well, that’s plenty for today.  Phew!  Tomorrow we’ll decorate the skirts and get our dolly dressed.

Click here to go directly to Part 3.