Where to Find Skin Tone Fabrics for Doll Making
If you’ve sewn rag dolls, you may have experienced some frustration over finding just the right skin tone fabrics for them. Having designed several rag doll patterns, I have felt this frustration too! It’s been tricky to find (and then refind) the right colors for skin, especially for the lighter skin toned dolls, but I’ve finally found some great go-to skin tone fabrics and wanted to share them with you here, in advance of my upcoming grandparent doll pattern release — keep reading for a sneaky peek!
Finding Skin Tone Fabrics for Doll Sewing
Surprisingly, skin tones are pretty easy to find in knit fabrics. When you Google skin tones fabrics, knits are what come up first and most. There are Etsy shops devoted to knit skin tones for Waldorf style dolls, and even Amazon has a selection of skin tone knits.
Finding wovens is trickier, though. When I first started creating rag doll patterns, I happened to pick up a perfectly pinkish skin tone at the JoAnn where I was living at the time. I used every scrap and when I went back for more, it was gone, and I haven’t been able to find it since. I’ve found a few suitable replacements, though.
My best tip for light, Caucasian skin tone fabrics, is to find some nice cotton with a pink or peach undertone. There are plenty of light fabrics that have yellow undertones, but those are really not the best for dolls — they just look sickly and a little off. Pinkish is the way to go! Here are a few I’ve landed on:
Hobby Lobby has a new cotton fabric literally called “Flesh”. And it’s perfect! It’s the perfect peachy skin tone and it’s the one I used on my white Grandma doll below (pattern coming very, very soon!) I’ve bought other, darker skin tones at Hobby Lobby also. I have darker skin tones in 3 or 4 shades, some from Hobby Lobby and some from Joann.
Kona Cotton Solids cannot be beat in quality or color range for absolutely any project where you need a solid color. While both JoAnn and Hobby Lobby do sell Kona solids, neither carry the entire range and I wasn’t able to find any suitable light skin tones in the stores. BUT, shopping online is really hard when you need a specific undertone because it’s just hard to tell on the screen! But, after some agonizing, I ordered the color “Shell” and it’s actually a pretty great color for skin, so keep that one in mind if you’re ordering online.
Avoid polyesters. I’m including this tip because fabric stores sell a product called broadcloth that looks and feels like cotton at first glance, and comes in solid colors, but it usually has polyester in it. I know from experience that these broadcloths pill over time and just aren’t as nice to work with as cotton.
Linen makes great doll fabric too! Linen can add great texture to rag dolls. I used linens for my bunny doll pattern and think they look so sweet. The same rules apply when shopping for linen skin tones and while it’s easy to find yellower linens, pinkish ones are trickier. This Etsy shop is a great place to start, though. I would start with the “sand” or “dusty pink”. And the “coffee” looks perfect for a brown skin tone!
Think outside the box. When I was creating the ballerina doll pattern, I was really struggling to find more of a nice pink skin tone. I did find a very pale skin tone for one doll, used brown for another, but for my third doll, I used purple! Rag dolls can be made in any color and if you’re sewing for a child, they might want to pick a crazy color for their doll.
For brown skin tones, I have a few great ones. One is lighter and more tan. I have a great milk chocolate color, and I also have a darker brown. When using the darkest one, I make sure I use embroidery colors for the face that will show up against it. I got all these fabrics at JoAnn or Hobby Lobby.
It’s great to keep several skin tones on hand for when you may need them. I’m always happy to already have some when I work on things like the Nativity Playset, for which I like to use a few skin tones and even used the light brown for the camel!
If you’re someone who lives outside the U.S. and have recommendations for your country that aren’t included here, be sure and chime in in the comments! We’d love to know your sources for skin tone fabrics too.
Cheers!
Nikki
