How to Make Yarn Hair for Rag Dolls || A Video Tutorial
When making soft rag dolls, there are lots of options for how to make the hair! Some dolls have permanent hair dos that are sewn on, usually out of felt, and other have actual wigs made of yarn. The latter is what I’m sharing a tutorial for today — and I think you’ll be surprised at how easy to it to make yarn hair for rag dolls!
Yarn doll hair can be one of those things that feels like it’s going to be complicated, but I promise it’s really easy! You can even do part of it by sewing machine, though there is still some hand sewing involved in attaching it to the head. While some dolls have their hair sewn on before the body is finished, yarn hair is the last thing stitched on to a rag doll with a yarn wig.
The fun part about yarn hair is that you can make with any kind of yarn, creating some really cool and interesting textures and looks! Also, depending on how you place your yarn wefts, the hair can be styled into all kinds of hair dos, which, if gifting a rag doll to a little friend, will be a favorite feature for sure.
My video tutorial is below and I’m using the Clara Ballerina Rag Doll Pattern as my example, which you can find in my shop! It’s my newest pattern release and she of course comes with all the ballet clothes she needs. The printable instructions come with step by step photos of the entire hair making process and all the other elements, including the parts I’ve already made videos to demonstrate, such as the moveable arms and the embroidered faces.
How to Make Yarn Hair for Rag Dolls
Without further fanfare, enjoy the video tutorial!
My simple method of sewing the wefts of yarn hair only requires some cardboard for wrapping the yarn around, and two pieces of printer paper to sandwich the hair between so you can stitch a center line, sewing all the hair together. It’s a brilliant method and really simplifies the process.
What Kind of Yarn is Best for Doll Hair?
Like I mentioned above, you can use any yarn for doll hair. On two of my ballerina dolls so far, I used a soft worsted weight yarn, but for the video example, I chose a really fun chunky yarn, with flecks of various colors in it. Chunky yarns can be separated into strands after the hair weft is sewn on, giving the hair a curly look, which is very cool!
You do need a good amount of yarn — I almost didn’t have enough of my white chunky yarn. But, if you’re using yarn scraps you have on hand, using two or more colors is also an option and can be a very cool hair effect. It’s also helpful to note that the thicker your yarn, the less you’ll need, and vice versa.
You can see that the options are pretty endless. I’m starting to get pretty excited about designing a mermaid doll in the future, just so I can experiment with different yarn hair and styles!
I hope you’re ready to try making yarn hair for your next rag doll! Be sure and check out the Clara Ballerina Doll if you need a pattern suited for all skill levels!
