Attaching Hair and Eyes

Tips

and Techniques

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Hair

There are many ways to give your felted toy the look of hair. The easiest method is to embroider the hair directly onto the head. You can use a series of backstitches for straight or curved lines or you could use daisy stitches to give the look of little curls. Take a look at Frankie, JT and Cowboy Bob on the Simple Dolls page. Their hair "styles" were all embroidery stitches.

You can also get curls by wrapping yarn around your finger, a pencil or a larger cylinder (depending on how big you want the curls) ... then, cut the yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread the tail through the center of the curls (like the center of a wave!) and sew this entire piece to your doll's head. I used this method with Grandpa from my Simple Dolls pattern. Here is a look from behind.

If you want yarn hair that you can cut and style, you will need to spend a little more time. The techniques used in attaching yarn hair are similar, but they have their little variations. The styling of the hair once it's attached; however, is almost as limitless as your imagination!

The first step is usually the same. Measure your doll's head. Many techniques start with looping the yarn strand and then knotting it onto the doll's head. When I've knit dolls before, I have often used this method. The knitting provides natural holes for the hair "knots" to go. Using the same method as latching yarn into a rug canvas, I loop a strand of yarn, then put a crochet hook through one of the stitches on the doll's head, and pull the loop partially through the hole. I grab the loop and take the two ends of yarn from the end of the loop and put them both inside the loop, then tighten.

I tried this same method on my felted dolls, only the space in the knitting is no longer there. To make this space, I used an awl first and poked a little hole in the head, then I proceeded in exactly the same way as before.

awl

crochet hook

crochet hook pulling loop of yarn through

I've also knotted the yarn on a separate strand of yarn that's been tied around a water bottle. The bottle was about the same circumference as my doll's head.

Once you have filled every space on the entire circle with knots of yarn, you can slip it off the bottle and sew it onto the doll's head. More often than not, you will need several of these circlets of hair to fill in the entire head of the doll.

I have also used a Knifty Knitter circle loom (the small blue one) and, after wrapping the yarn around it twice to secure it, I've then latched in the strands to each looped peg. Then, I bound it off and removed it from the loom. This makes a much bigger circlet. You can also sew the circlet in half and let the middle (which is the woven center) be the part, allowing the yarn to fall on either side. I used this method for Janice from my Simple Dolls pattern.

These are just a few variations on techniques that I have come across time and again. Here are few valuable websites (in my humble opinion, that is!) that might help you decide what way you'd like to attach your doll's hair.

Creepy Coiffures. This site describes in fine detail how to use a Hairpin Lace Loom to make a yarn wig. A crochet hook is needed, as well.

Susan Kramer. This site shows (with many photos) how to sew loops of yarn to the head of a doll. I believe this could be adapted to form other hairstyles ... not just the loopy Raggedy Ann look. Why not make your loops long enough so that you could cut the loops and have them hang like long hair or a short bob?

Bella Online. This site is similar to the Susan Kramer site, using basically the same method.

Doku's Open Hobby Base. This site is fabulously detailed. The hair shown is probably better suited to a larger doll than to a tiny one; however.

Here are a few good books with hair-making and styling instructions.

Sew Sweet Hair Style Book from Carolee Creations. This book has a copyright of 1986! The technique shown uses a "hair loom," which seems unavailable at present. Instead, you can substitute a Hairpin Lace Loom and get the same results.

The Sock Doll Workshop by Cindy Crandall-Frazier. This is a great book to have. It illustrates several hair styles for smaller dolls and also has instructions for making a little loom. This loom uses the knotted-yarn method.

The Doll Hair Handbook from the Sisters and Daughters website on dollmaking.

If you discover any of these links do not work, would you mind dropping me a line so I can adjust the sources? Thanks very much!

Whatever method you choose, your doll is certain to be unique and fun!

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