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How to Make Your Own Plush Doll

Plush dolls, or soft, pliable dolls most often used as toys for young children, are a popular project among crafters and traditional artists alike. Crafters enjoy creating unique designs that translate well into gifts for children or adult doll collectors, while artists often use dollmaking as another medium for the exploration of shape and form. You can create your own plush dolls for either purpose, and can even apply the knowledge to other related projects, such as puppet-making and prosthetic creature costume design. Begin with this basic plush doll project, which covers the creation of the body and some simple extras.

Things You'll Need

Tracing paper
Paper and pencil
Sewing machine
Measuring tape
Scissors
Fabric pencil
Safety pins
Embroidery needles
Standard thread
Quilter's thread
Heavy woven cotton fabric
Polyester fiberfill stuffing
Felting needle
Yarn
Pencil and eraser
Brown pen
Textile paints
Paintbrushes
Colored pencils

Instructions

- 1
  Draft your plush doll pattern on a sheet of paper, or use a doll pattern that you like. To draft a pattern, draw out a to-scale representation of the doll you want to make. Draw only the overall shape of the limbs, torso and head, positioning the doll as if it is standing, facing you with its limbs outstretched. Lay a sheet of tracing paper over each body part, and copy them separately so that you have a drawing of a leg, arm, torso and head.
- 2
  Add seam allowances to your pattern. Draw an outline around each body part, 1/2 inch away from the original lines. Cut along the outside lines, then pin the pattern pieces to a double layer of your fabric. Cut once for the torso and head, and twice for the leg and arm.
- 3
  Pin the left arm pieces together, right sides together, and stitch around the outside 1/2 inch away from the edges on your sewing machine. Leave the shoulder edge of the arm open. Do the same to the right arm pieces, then turn both arms right side out. Stuff them with polyester fiberfill, leaving some space at the open edge.
- 4
  Stitch and assemble the leg pieces the same way you made the arm pieces. Also stitch the head pieces together, leaving the neck edge open.
- 5
  Lay the torso pieces together and mark the openings for the neck edge, armholes and leg holes with a fabric pencil. Stitch around the remaining torso edges, leaving these openings free. Before turning the torso right side out, insert the limb pieces into their respective holes so that the raw edges of the limbs line up with the raw edges of the torso. Stitch these holes closed, encasing the raw edges of the limbs. Turn the torso and limbs right side out through the neckhole.
- 6
  Insert the neck of the head into the neck of the torso. Fold the raw edge of the torso neck hole under and hand stitch the neck together with the strong quilter's thread, using a slipstitch to hide the stitching lines.
- 7
  Insert the hair into the head. Using a felting needle, lay the hair over the top of the head and press the needle down into it, taking some of the hairs or yarn with it. Pull the needle back out to secure the hair. Insert hair all over the head, moving outward from the crown in a circular pattern.
- 8
  Draw the face onto the doll's head, using a pencil. Go over your pencil outlines with a brown pen, then erase the pencil marks. Fill in the color with colored pencil for the softer effects and textile paint for the bolder effects.

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