PREVIEW: How to Create a Cloth Doll – Part 2 – s02e07

Remember the Christmas dolls I received every year when I was a little girl that I told you about in the last class? Well, it’s time for me to confess my obsession with their hair! There, I’ve said it! I was obsessed and maybe I still am because today when I create a doll, I spend a lot of time on hair.

Each year as I discovered my new doll, one of the first things I did was investigate her hair. Some of the baby dolls had no hair other than a bit of applied color. The year I received my Tiny Tears, however, changed everything and my obsession was born. She had the most beautiful curly brown hair and it was perfect. Even as a small girl I admired the texture, the curls, the color and the smell (which was probably some mildly toxic chemical) and I wanted to keep it in pristine condition.

I usually spent my meager allowance on things for my dolls. I’d wander the aisles of the local dime store and dream of owning all the accessories available for every doll. It was during one of those “shopping” excursions that I made the best doll hair discovery! The clerk had just put out a new supply of doll-sized hair nets. Seriously, hair nets for dolls! Who knew?!

The possibility of keeping my Tiny Tears hairstyle perfect was just the temptation I needed to turn loose of some of my allowance money. I carefully carried my new hair net home and lovingly placed it around my doll’s beautiful hair. Perfect! Sounds neurotic, doesn’t it? 😉

Well, I still have that doll and she still sports her poor old disintegrating hair net! 😉

When I learned to design and create my own cloth dolls, my two biggest challenges were faces and hair. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of hours I spent exploring ways of making faces and materials to create hair. All those dolls and boxes full of experimental heads and hair ideas led me to a step by step process for creating faces and simple, effective hairstyles.

In this class we’ll jump right in to creating Lakshmi’s face and finish up with a fun, easy hairstyle. And, guess what? No hair net needed!