Friday 27 January 2012

Tutorial - Yarn Doll


    Today's tutorial is all about doll making - old school. When I was a little girl I was briefly in the Brownies. My most favourite part of being in Brownies was the craft sessions. I probably would have stayed in Brownies if that was all we did. One thing I remember making was a yarn doll. And I decided to recreate this doll, loosely based on my recollections of this childhood project.

What will you need?
  • Yarn
  • Book
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Scrap felt

1. Tie yarn around a book and continue winding 100 times.

2. After 100 winds tie the yarn up near one end of the book,
with a spare piece of yarn, pulling it tight.

3. Slide the yarn off the book and tie another piece of yarn a little
further down from the first tie. This makes the head of the doll.

4. Cut the looping yarn on the lower edge.

5. Separate the hanging yarn into three sections. The side pieces must be
thinner than the middle because these will be the arms.

6. Plait one of the side sections and tie off the end with a spare piece of yarn.

7. Plait the second arm, tie off, as per step 6.
Trim the edges [hands] to make them neat and tidy.

8. Tie a spare piece of yarn a bit further down from the arms.
This creates a waist for body.

9. Just as was done with the arms we now plait legs. To do so
split the remainder yarn in two and begin plaiting one half,
and tie off the end with a spare piece of yarn.

10. Repeat step 9 with the second leg, by plaiting and tying it
off at the end.

11. Trim the ends of the legs to make neat and tidy feet.


12. As a final measure cut out and glue mouth and eyes onto the face.
You can use some scrap felt to make the facial features.