Rhythm of the Home baby doll tutorial…

With hopes that you will make one of these for (or with) your own little one, we are so happy to share our instructions for making this doll with you.  They are soft and sweet with legs and arms jointed at the torso, they will be sure to receive many hugs and kisses.  With the ability to personalize them to your preferences, each doll can be as different as real babies.  They are ideal to play with, to love and to cuddle.

In this tutorial we include COMPLETE instructions for making a baby doll without hair like Emelia above… If you are interested in making a doll with hair, please know that I am working on that tutorial and will be sharing instructions for making and attaching a hairpiece to your baby doll on Thursday.

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Step one~ Making the head and torso

Supplies

~Wool roving

~1 ladies nylon trouser sock measuring at least 3 inches wide by 12 inches long. (I used a size 4-10 ladies)

~2 flesh colored or white cotton socks measuring at least 3 inches wide by 12 inches long. (I used a size 4-10 ladies)

NOTE ( all sock measurements are for the size of the sock as it is measured when unfolded and un-stretched, laying on a table) as with most socks they do stretch considerably…making them the perfect fabric for the ROTH baby.

~Embroidery floss in assorted colors.

~Sewing machine.

Insert a ball of roving about 6-8 inches in diameter into the toe of the nylon.

Press it all the way down into the tip to form a uniform round firm ball.

Insert another larger ball of roving into the nylon as well.

Form this second ball into a more oblong shape to resemble a torso, just as firm as the head.

Push the head and torso together until they are touching.

Make a tight knot at the base of the torso then snip off the excess nylon.

At this point, the head should be 4 inches high from indent between torso and the head, while the torso should measure approximately 5 1/2 inches long.  Both parts should be approximately 3 1/2 inches in width from the side view.

To make the indent in the face and to construct the nose nub you will tie a piece of yarn around the center of the head.

Cinch it fairly tightly and make a knot at the center of what will be the face.  Make several more knots right over the initial knot until a little nub forms (approximately the size of the tip of your pinkie finger from the nail forwards.) Snip off the excess yarn tails.

There will be two more layers to cover the body and head of the doll.

Layer One

Insert the doll into the cotton sock bottom first.  Tuck the nub of nylon at the base up into the torso stuffing as best as you can so that it doesn’t stick out into of the bottom of the doll too much.  Also, point the nose nub down towards the chin so that it is slightly below the cinched part of the face.

Pull the sock all the way up and over the head of the doll.

Trim all but 2 inches of excess sock from the cuff as shown.

To close off the opening at the top of the sock you will follow these steps.

Fold over the opening towards the back of the head two times as shown in the two top pictures.  Make sure that it lays flat against the top of the dolls head.

To secure the opening you will use standard embroidery floss in a color of your choice.  For the stitch, you can use any stitch that you like.  I happen to like the look of the blanket stitch.

Starting at the left hand side, blanket stitch all the way around the folded flap.  Once you get to the right side, do a few running stitches from the right side of the flap to get back to the left side where you will knot the start and end flosses together three times.  Snip off any excess floss.

Layer Two

For the final layer of the doll you will follow the exact same steps as for the previous layer only this time you will insert the doll into the sock HEAD first and make your closure flap towards the back of the bottom of the torso.

This will leave what looks like a cute little “butt flap” of those old fashioned long johns.

To make the neck of the doll is very simple.

Wrap a two foot length of coordinating embroidery floss around the space between the head and the torso three times.  Cinch as you wrap until you have the desired indentation for the neck.

Make a triple knot in the floss at the back of the neck and trim any excess floss.

Step two~ Making and attaching the legs and arms

Supplies

~One scrap of flesh or white colored fabric measuring at least 3X8 inches

~Two pieces of printed cotton of choice measuring at least 8X8 inches

~Embroidery floss

~Paper

~Sewing machine

~Scissors

~Large needle

Start with two rectangles with the above dimensions.

Draw a half circle at the top of each template as shown.

Cut them out and you will be left with two templates, the one on the left is for the doll arms, the one on the right is for the legs.

Arms

Lay a flesh colored scrap of fabric face down on your desired extremity fabric.

Stitch the two of them together using a straight stitch and a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Flip the flesh colored fabric upward and press with an iron.

Flip the joined fabric face down and fold as shown down the center vertically.

Then fold again down the center vertically.

You will be left with a four layer folded piece of fabric.

Pin your arm template on top of the folded stack of fabric with about 2 inches of the template over the flesh toned fabric to be used for the hand and 4 inches of the template over the printed fabric to be used for the arm.

Cut out all four layers of the fabric for the arms at once.

Separate the 4 pieces and place them in pairs of two right sides together.

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance seam all the way around the perimeter of the arms as shown.  Leave the cuff opening un stitched for stuffing.

Turn the arms right side out and check for any holes in the stitching.

Legs

For the legs you will fold the exact same way as the arms, you just won’t have the flesh colored fabric at the top of the piece.

Fold down the center vertically.

Then fold again down the center vertically.

You will be left with a four layer folded piece of fabric.

Pin your arm template on top of the folded stack of fabric and cut out the 4 pieces of the legs.

Separate the 4 pieces and place them in pairs of two right sides together.  Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance seam all the way around the perimeter of the arms as shown.  Leave the cuff opening un-stitched for stuffing. Turn the legs right side out.

Stuff the legs and arms with wool roving until they are plump but make sure that you do not lose the shape of the extremities, you want them to be uniform in size and not to have any bulges.

Fold over the cuff of each of the legs and arms 1/3 inch towards the center of the opening as shown.

Stitch the opening closed with a sewing machine using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Step three~ Attaching the arms and legs

Pin the arms and legs into place symmetrically on either side of the body.

The arms should be fairly centered and high on the torso right at the spot before the neck begins to cinch in as pictured above.

For the leg positioning you will line them up with the arms as shown.  They will be a bit to the side and a bit  to the front of the torso.

They may butt up against the “butt seam” depending on how far back you made your bottom closure.

Positioning the legs as shown allows for the doll to sit upright.

Once all of the extremities are pinned into place…secure them using the same blanket/running stitch as used for the bottom closure.

Make sure that you secure them well and make a tight triple knot at the end.

Once all of the extremities are stitched into place remove the pins.

Step Four~ Making the face

Making the face of the baby is entirely individual and you have the option to make it as plain or elaborate as you wish.  Some people care for a more limited expression when designing dolls and some like a bit of personality to shine through their creation.

The main idea is to have two eyes spaced about an inch apart and positioned slightly higher than the nose of the baby.  They can be round or slits, oblong or diamond in shape.  It is all up to your preference.  Just make sure that you secure them into place with a tight knot to prevent unraveling.

Now, the mouth is also a personal preference.  You can make a smile, a straight line, a little dot…whatever you like, just make sure that it is secured with a tight knot to prevent unraveling.

And there you have it… your own Rhythm of the Home doll. 

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We hope that you will share your creations with us by adding your photos to our Flickr group.

In addition to showing you how to make and attach hair to your dolls, we will be sharing patterns and tutorials for making dresses, bonnets, hats, aprons and such for your ROTH doll as we complete the tutorials for them.

*Copyright for this ORIGINAL pattern, construction and tutorial is held by Julia Daby at all times. The copyright does not transfer to the reader.   Nor may any part of this pattern or instruction be copied, duplicated or resold. If you have any questions regarding the dolls please feel free to contact us at rhythmofthehomeblog@gmail.com