Super Easy Rag Doll Tutorial

I've seen a lot of new people in the Raggedy Ann fandom wanting to make their own rag doll but not being sure how to go about it, so as someone who has made many dolls of my own, here's my tutorial for all of you! Since many people don't have sewing machine, you won't need one for this tutorial. Just a needle and thread and pins. Everything used here is available at Walmart, Bimart, or similar stores.

To be continued! I plan on including how to make a shirt, pants, skirt/apron, and dress!

Doll:

• Sewing needle, pins, scissors, thread in similar colors to your fabric
• Cotton or similar thin, smooth fabric for the base
• Embroidery thread
• Felt
• Yarn for hair
• Sock fabric (optional)
• Shoe fabric (optional)
• Stuffing
• Two rulers (or similar long, thin, and sturdy objects)
• Tape

This Pattern below, printed out on letter (8.5 × 11 inch) paper for the size I am making here, you can adjust however you like.

If you want to make different colored feet, cut the foot off of the leg pattern piece as shown.

Most of your fabrics will have a "right" side, the side that looks good and that you want on the outside, and a "wrong" side. Fold your body fabric in half, with the right sides inward. Lay out your body and arm patterns with at least an inch of space between them, tracing one body and two arms.

For your other pieces, lay out your fabric wrong side up. Once again keeping an inch between each piece, trace two leg pieces, then flip over the pattern to trace two mirrored legs. Repeat with the feet.

Cut out all the fabric, keeping a 1/2 inch of allowance around your drawn lines.

Take your two arm pieces, still together as they were when you cut them out. Following your traced line, sew the two together with a running stitch (YouTube tutorial). You can also speed this up by doing multiple stitches at once.

Once they're sewn together, you want to clip the edges where they curve. This helps the fabric not bunch up when turned. Be careful not to clip through your sewing, clip every inch or so where the curves are tight, and less often where they're more subtle.

Turn the arms right-side out. A chopstick or eraser end of a pencil helps. Stuff them halfway full, up to where you want your "elbow" joint to be. Pinch the sides of the fabric together and pin through both of them straight across. This is where you will sew to create a thin point where the arm can hinge. Sew with a running stitch across where the pin is.

Then stuff the rest of the arm. You can pin or sew this end close to make things easier later on.

Lay out your leg and foot pieces as shown (you can skip this part if you aren't doing separate fabrics for the shoes) right sides up and the toe facing the flat part of the leg. Take each foot pieces and flip it over, resting it on top of the corresponding leg. This is the position you will now pin them in, curving the fabric to match up the sides. Sew along the drawn line for each foot.

Now take each leg and match it up to its mirror image, lining them up with the right sides against each other. Sew just like you did for the hands, and clip around the edges the same way before turning them inside out.

Stuff the legs halfway up to the "knee" joint and pin across. Just like the arms, sew across here to create a joint. Stuff the rest of the legs and pin or sew the ends closed.

Take your two body pieces, still with right sides together like they were cut. Sew from one shoulder corner around the head to the other shoulder. Leave the rest open. Cut slits along the curve of the head and where the neck dips inward. Turn it inside out.

For this face I'm showing off two ways you can make designs, applied fabric and embroidery. Another option is painting, which is more straightforward so I wanted to show some other methods.

For the eyes and nose, cut out your designs from felt or a similar fabric like fleece which won't fray. Pin them in place to test out your design. Using similar colored thread and a whip stitch (YouTube tutorial), sew them in place.

If you're going to embroider, start by using a pencil to draw out your lines. Embroidering is just sewing but visible. This line here was made by doing a running stitch in one direction, then going back in the other direction using the same holes to fill in the in-between gaps. Here are some more good stitches if you'd like a video.

On each side of the torso, fold your fabric 1/2 inch inward, hiding the raw edges on the inside of the doll. Pin in place. Next, take your arm and line it up with the seam, thumb facing up, and pin it to both sides of the torso so it sticks out of the side seam. Sew the arm on with a running stitch, and continue stitching down the length of the doll's body. Do not sew the bottom closed yet!

Repeat this process with the other arm. It's ok if this is a bit messy or you don't hide all your raw edges, you'll hide it with clothes!

Stuff the body to your liking. Just like the sides, fold under 1/2 inch along the bottom of the torso. Insert both legs into the seam and pin in place, then sew along the edge.

Now to make the hair wefts! You COULD sew down each individual piece of yarn, but this is way less time consuming!

The first step is to make your Contraption. Take your two rulers or whatever you have and put something between them on each side (I'm using a ruler and a tape dispenser here). The more distance between them, the longer the hair on the wefts will be. Tape your new invention together.

Wrap yarn around and around this, bunching it up slightly. You want it to be fairly dense, unable to see through, but not thicker than two layers. Once you have it all covered you're going to sew down the middle with a messy backstitch (YouTube tutorial). You want each piece of yarn to get sewn around at least twice, securing it to the pieces on either side of itself. Work your way all the way down the full length, if you have to start a new piece of thread start back a little from the ending spot.

Once you're done, turn it over and cut the yarn right down the middle of the opposite side. When it falls off the Contraption you will now have a row of yarn pieces ready to be attached! You will need to make multiple of these to cover the doll's head how you want.

Ignore that it changes color here, I ran out of the white yarn I was using so I dug out some wefts leftover from a different doll. The process is the same!

Time to sew on the hair! Generally Raggedy Ann dolls will have a line of hair along the side seam of the head, and the rest covering the back. Pin the wefts in place and whipstitch along the side that won't be seen.

Raggedy Ann has a very iconic little topknot, so here's how to make that if you like! You'll need decently long hair for this.

Take a section of hair from the front where the bangs are and section it off. Tie a piece of thread around the end and wrap it around a few times until tight, then fold back the entire bundle so it sits on top of her head. Sew it down to where the weft begins. And you'll get little loops!