How to Make a Handmade Fabric Dollhouse Doll

Create a charming handmade fabric doll using fabric scraps, pipe cleaners and wool stuffing. Follow these simple steps to make the doll’s head and body, add a face and hair, and sew on some clothes.

What You Need

• 2 pipe cleaners (200 mm long each)
• 3 strips of stretchy fabric (30 mm wide and slightly longer than the pipe cleaners)
• Sewing thread
• Wool for stuffing the head and body
• Coloured thread for the eyes and mouth
• Wool or faux fur for the hair
• A needle
• Scissors

Fold over one end of a fabric strip and sew it closed. Sew along the length of the strip to form a tube, leaving the final third open for inserting the pipe cleaner.

Slide a pipe cleaner into the fabric tube, pushing it in as far as the end of the sewn section.

Trim away the excess fabric, leaving enough at the open end to fold the edges inwards. Sew the end closed to secure the pipe cleaner inside.
Repeat these steps with the second fabric strip and pipe cleaner to make two matching pieces.

Bend the two fabric-covered pipe cleaners and cross them over in the middle. Sew them securely together at the centre to form the doll’s arms and body frame.

Fold the third strip of fabric in half. Near the folded end, mark the outline of the doll’s head.
Sew along the marked line, leaving a small opening so you can turn the fabric right side out.

Carefully turn the fabric right side out. The sewn section will form the doll’s head, while the remaining fabric will become the body.
Gently fill the head with wool stuffing until it is firm and nicely shaped.

Position the head above the centre of the arms and sew it firmly in place.

Stretch the remaining fabric down over the centre of the pipe cleaners. Sew it securely around the middle to hold the body in place.

Stuff the body with wool, gently shaping it to give the doll a nice, even form.

Sew around the neck area to define the neck and separate the head from the body.

Sew the eyes and mouth onto the doll’s face using coloured thread.
Attach wool or faux fur to the top of the head to make the hair. Trim and style the hair as desired.

Use fabric scraps to make clothes for the doll. Sew the clothing in place and add small details to complete the outfit.