We talked about when Laura received a rag doll for Christmas. She was so happy to have a real doll like Mary had (instead of the corn cob doll she wrapped in a hankerchif).
Supplies Needed:
Muslin material (1 yard for 6 dolls)
Cotton fiberfil stuffing
Unsharpened pencil
Brown yarn
Ribbon
Sissors
Ruler
Sewing machine
The first 3 steps are for the host mom to do the night before.
1.Make doll patern (about 12 inches tall). Cut 2 out of material.
2.Sew 2 together, leaving an opening for the stuffing (I left the top of the head open, since we would cover that with hair later).
3.Make small slits around curves, corners, or points. (be sure not to cut stitching.)
4.The girls start by turning the material inside out (so the seams are on the inside). As you can see, it is a challenging step. (The moms had to help a bit).
5. Fill doll with stuffing. Use the pencil to push the cotton all the way into the legs and arms.
6. Hand stitch the head close. The older girls did this! (The moms started and stopped the double thick thread.)
7.Cut yarn (11 inches long). Group them together in 3-4 pieces.
8.Moms, hand stitch the yarn on for the hair. Put 3-4 pieces of yarn on the needle at a time to stitch to the head. I put about 6 pieces of yarn in front of the middle seam.
9. Moms, continue stiching the yarn all the way down the middle of the back of the head. While the moms are working on this, we gave paper to the girls to draw pictures or write about what they received for Christmas (since this rag doll was Laura's favorite Christmas gift).
10.You can leave the hair loose.
11.Or tie ribbons in the yarn to give the doll pig tails.
The girls had a good time! This project took 90 minutes instead of our normal 60 minute craft.
Next time, we will add faces and make dresses for our rag dolls.