Felt Doll Part 2- Measurements and tips

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my blog post on Part 2 of the Felt Doll. I hope you have checked out both my videos on the felt doll.

Pic 1: Dresses made for the doll

Now as I had mentioned earlier as well, it is not practical for me to make printable templates for the dresses I have shown in my video. This is because they need to be according to the measurement for the doll in hand. Now, there may be some of you who have followed my method to the T. However, there are still chances of variability in the measurements between our dolls because of the way in which the polyfill is stuffed or how much is stuffed.

Due to these reasons, it was more sensible for me to give you all an idea about how to take the measurements while making these dresses and how to make your own templates accordingly. You could choose to work without templates as well and draw these measurements directly on to the cloth you are using to make the dress.

I will like to clarify again that I will also not be giving you specific measurements of the length and width. I would rather be explaining to you as to what areas you should take your own measurements from.

Without further ado, lets move on to the explanations. I will also give you certain tips from my experience as always.

Dress No 1

Pic 2: Measurement summary for Dress 1

The picture above is pretty self-explanatory. These are the measurements that are needed

1. Dark blue line denotes the measurement to be taken across the chest area. You can leave a little gap around the arms. Do not take the measurement end to end. This measurement is noted for the front and back of the doll (can use the same length).
2. The pink semicircle denotes the arc that needs to be drawn below the arms from one side of the blue line in the front to its corresponding side in the back. The depth of this arc can be variable. But make it in a way that the arm fits comfortably into the arc. For the sake of symmetry, use the same arc measurements under both arms.
3. The red line indicates the length of the dress that you would like to make.
4. The blue strip denotes the measurement for the sleeves. You will need two strips of cloth, one for each sleeve. The length of the strip should be such that it is long enough to go over the shoulder from front to back. Add a cm on both sides so the edges can be folded inwards and are not visible. The width of the strips should be a few cms long so that it can be folded in a way that the edges of the cloth are not visible and stitched this way.

 Pic 3: How to fold the cloth for the sleeves

In the picture above, please note that the red/orange edges need to be hidden as they would be frayed. Fold the edges inwards in the sides first (the light green lines). Then fold at the yellow lines and finally at the light blue line. Pin it in this way and stitch it so that edges on all sides are hidden.

Note: The picture in my post here (Pic 2) is different from the template I used. My template was not so symmetrical. I just wanted you all to benefit from my errors. And I am totally honest about making errors. I have always admitted that I am an amateur and taking you through the experience of improving my skills and sharing this at the same time.

Dress No 2

Pic 4: Measurement summary for Dress 2

Moving on to the second dress, steps a, b and d from above are the same. The only variation would be in the length as we would be making it in two parts, the top separately and the skirt separately and then joining the two parts to make it a frock. The red line denotes the length of the top and the orange line denotes the radius of the quarter circle that is drawn.

Pic 5: Screen shot of the error as explained below

Note: I don’t know how many of you would have picked up from my mistake in the video when I was stitching the top and skirt together. So basically what I did was I inverted the top and skirt parts so I could stitch it together without the need to fold in the edges of the skirt. While doing so, I cut out a small line in the skirt near the zip and folded it and pinned it. Now remember the two parts are inside out, so for this fold I had to make sure that the zip came above, which I didn’t do. Thus when I made the dress the right way up after stitching it the zip was on the wrong side near the skirt. I corrected this mistake as shown later in the video.

In short, when you fold the edges near the zip make sure the zip comes up and the fold is below. This way when the dress is made the right way up, the end of the zip will not be visible.

Dress No 3

Pic 6: Measurement summary for Dress 3

I had intended for this dress to be made like overalls, but since my width was not long enough I could not make any stitch in the centre and it became a dress. The measurements are as follows.

1. Dark blue line across the chest area to be measured (same as above)
2. Light blue line at the bottom to be measured for the width. If you have a slightly longer measurement here, you can stitch it in the middle and make it like shorts.
3. Red line indicates the required length of the dress.
4. Pink strip denotes the sleeve. The manner of making is already explained above. However, for this dress I made a single sleeve and made it go around the sides to the back. Therefore, the length needed to be measured accordingly.

Shorts

Pic 7: Measurement summary for shorts

In my video, I have used a same template twice and landed up with too much material on the sides which needed to be folded inwards and stitched. Which is why in this picture I have two different types of templates, one with the sides and one without. Following are the areas where measurements need to be taken.

1. Blue line across the waist area
2. Red lines are the measurement on the sides of the legs
3. Yellow lines indicate the measurement across each leg

Note: Add about half a cm to each measurement (in all the dresses as well) while making the template or drawing on the cloth. This is to account for the edges that need to be folded inwards.

I hope these instructions help you all and you are able to follow the combination of this along with my video to make your own dolls and dresses.

I have in mind a plan to make dresses for standardized dolls as well like the Barbie doll. If I do so, then I will be able to share with you all the standardized templates for the same, since the measurements would not vary. Would you be interested if I do this? Let me know and I can work on it (right from buying a Barbie doll because I am too old to play with one and don’t have any kids yet to play with the dolls either).

If you haven't seen the video fully yet check it out here https://youtu.be/dTHjtdNqku8

Video for part 1 can be accessed at https://youtu.be/O3Ipwel0Qfg

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