Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

M A KING IT UP AS I SEW AL ON G

4/13/2015 6 Comments

Continue stitching in rows up the back of the head. If

you �nd that your rows are getting uneven, place pins
at symmetrical intervals to help you even them out.
When your rows reach the back of the head, start
mixing in strands of darker �oss. I added two strands
of dark for each length of six strands of my main
color. This helps to create depth in the hair.

Hi. My name is Carley. I love

to sew, craft, and create. As a
Jane-of all-crafts so to speak,
I enjoy sewing, writing,
cooking, drawing,
photographing. But the
Sew the �rst row of hair just outside the pencil line at
constant thread (if you'll
the nape of the neck. The �rst several rows can and
excuse the pun) throughout
should be very short. They are mostly to �ll out the
my weeks is needle arts.
underside and create a proper hairline. Cut the loops.
I hope you'll join me in
Making It Up As I Sew Along.
Note: You may want to wait until after stitching the
Learn More...
hair to attach limbs. As you can see in the next image,
I removed my doll's arms to make it easier.
MY ETSY SHOP

Remove the pins. Cut several lengths of your main

embroidery �oss color. You will go through it fast, so
POWERED BY
Downloads ch 701… ch 701… ch 801… ch 801… end.pdf หวนแค ้… [FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

1 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM
Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

it speeds up the process if you have a lot cut and set

out. For the �rst few lines of stitching, you only need
to use your mid-tone (cone) color.

SUBMIT

Place pins where you want the hairline to be.

Reposition the pins as necessary until both sides of
the hairline are symmetrical. It helps to look at January 2017
pictures to get accurate positioning. December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
If you've been following the Six Weeks of Love for Softies contest, you may already know that neither my doll nor my
February 2016
snake won. I'm still pretty sad about it. I spent a lot of time on both of them and, of course, had my hopes up. After
January 2016
swearing o� any sort of sewing or crafting project, and then realizing that I could never give it up, I decided life would just
December 2015
have to go on. And so it does.
November 2015
October 2015
Let me just say that embroidering long hair on a doll is a lot of work. It takes hours and hours, especially if you want full,
September 2015
thick hair. That being said, it looks fantastic when it's done. As I worked on my Little Red Riding Hood doll, I took process
August 2015
shots along the way to share how I did it. I used turkey stitch (also known as turkey work). If you have never done turkey
July 2015
stitch, here is an illustration on how to do it and here is a video tutorial. I love this stitch because it allows you to create
June 2015
loops that can be cut into fringe. The �oss or yarn stays in place with tacking stitches, so there is no need to worry about
May 2015
it getting pulled out. Follow the simple steps in my tutorial below for your own handmade dolls. And, before you get
April 2015
overwhelmed, I'll just say that it's a fairly simple stitch, even for a beginner. Time-consuming, but simple.
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
Materials:
October 2014
- 1 cone embroidery �oss for main hair color (I used less than half for my doll)
September 2014
- 8 or 10 skeins of a darker shade of �oss
August 2014
- 2 or 3 skeins of a lighter shade of �oss
July 2014
- embroidery needle that can accommodate 6-8 strands of �oss
June 2014
- plastic comb with wide teeth and narrow teeth
May 2014

Instructions:

Stitch another row of hair 1/4"-1/2" above the All

previous one. The closer your rows are, the thicker Arts & Crafting
the hair will
P O be.
W E RIfEyour
D B Ydoll has a hood or hat, make Books & Music
Downloads ch 701… ch 701… ch 801… ch 801… end.pdf หวนแค ้… [FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

2 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM
Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

sure you don't make the hair so thick that the Celebrations
accessory no longer �ts. Make each successive row of Embroidery
hair a little longer until you have reached the length Family Photos
you want. Create a realistic e�ect by varying the Fixing
length of each loop slightly. Cut the loops after each Guest Posting
row. Inspiration
Kids & Family
My Week
Parenting
Photo Tour
Present Moment
Recap And Goals
Recipes & Food
Use a pencil or fabric marker to draw a line to the Reviews
inside of the pins. Your stitches will cover this line. Sewing
Shop Update
Swaps
Tips And Techniques
Travel
Tutorials

After every few rows, use the eye end of the needle or
a plastic comb to carefully separate the strands of
�oss. This will help them spread out and �u� up.
Check to make sure the hair is the same length on
either side of the head. Some variation is okay, but
the hair should not have a severe angle.

Comb through the hair gently to make sure all the

loops are cut. Trim or thin out the hair as needed.
Tousle the layers just a bit to get the light and dark
intermingling and then do one �nal comb through.

If you want your doll to have bangs, add them before

you get too far on the side rows. Make one or more
rows along
P Othe
W Eforehead
R E D B Y line, starting at the marked
Downloads ch 701… ch 701… ch 801… ch 801… end.pdf หวนแค ้… [FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

3 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM
Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

line and working towards the back of the head. The

rows need to be very close together to hide the
stitches of the previous row(s). Cut the loops and give
them a downward tug to help them lay �at.

Continue stitching the side rows until they touch the

pins. Leave about 1/8" space bare.

Remove the pins. Fill in the space with stitches

working from the back of the head to the front. Make
the stitches about 1/8" apart or less to make sure
each previous stitch is hidden by the �oss.

Mark the center of the head with pins and continue

adding rows about 1/4" apart until they are about an
inch away from the center. Start adding strands of
lighter �oss instead of darker �oss. Again, I used two
strands per six of my main color. The light strands
add highlights and allow light to bounce o�, creating a
glowing e�ect.

Follow the steps exactly or use them to create di�erent hairstyles. Either way, I'd love to see what you make. Send me an
POWERED BY
email, tag me on ch
Downloads Instagram,
701… orchtweet
701…me your blog post.chAnd
ch 801… let me know
801… end.pdfif you have any
หวนแค ้… questions.
[FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

4 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM
Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

Continue in straight rows until you get to the ears (or

the side of the head where the ears would be).

Stitch several rows on either side of the head, angling

them toward the center line of the head until they are
perpendicular to the original rows. Continue to �ll in
rows at the back of the head as well until they are
about 2" from the front hairline. At this point, you
should start shortening the length of the hair to
create layers.

Note: Please ignore the random arrangement of pins

in the head. My toddler was, er, helping me.

6 Comments

Karen 4/14/2015 12:23:44 pm

Beautiful work. I have several dolls from childhood made this way and now I can appreciate them even more seeing the
time and detail that is involved.

Reply

Carley Biblin 4/14/2015 12:58:17 pm

Thanks. I'm sure the dolls will mean more and more as they are passed down in your family. They will become
treasured and loved all the more.

Reply

Sally 4/15/2015 07:36:39 pm

Wow, what amazing hair, and you have incredible patience!

Reply

Kathy lindsay 12/12/2017 02:32:49 pm

Can this doll go through a washing machine?

Reply
POWERED BY
Downloads ch 701… ch 701… ch 801… ch 801… end.pdf หวนแค ้… [FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

5 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM
Embroidered Doll Hair Tutorial - Making It Up as I Sew Along http://makingitupasisewalong.weebly.com/blog/embroidered-doll...

Natasha 4/18/2019 01:38:54 am

Hi... if I want to use only 1 shade of colour, how many skeins would you reccommend I use?

Reply

Rose M Salzmann 1/28/2023 11:17:48 am

This will help me out with a few other patterns that I have for dolls

Reply

Name (required)

Email (not published)

Website

Comments (required)

Notify me of new comments to this post by email Submit

POWERED BY
Downloads ch 701… ch 701… ch 801… ch 801… end.pdf หวนแค ้… [FHD1… [FHD1… [FHD1… pelo co… 100% Clear

6 of 6 11/11/2023, 9:03 PM