Sewing a Sweet Tilda Doll

Step 1

Sewing a sweet Tilda doll is very easy. You’ll need a pattern, cotton fabric in different colors, stuffing, and artificial hair wefts.

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Step 3

I deliberately don’t give fabric dimensions, so you can scale this pattern to make either a miniature doll or a larger one.

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Step 5

First, cut out the pattern pieces and lay them out on the fabric.

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Step 7

Unbleached linen-colored cotton works best. Cut out the pieces, remembering to add 0.5 cm seam allowances. You should have:
• body with head – 2 pieces;
• arms – 4 pieces;
• legs – 4 pieces;
• feet – 2 pieces.

Baste the pieces together and stitch them on a sewing machine. Remember to leave openings for stuffing.

Illustration 8

Step 9

Stuff the pieces with filling. Hollow fiber works best. The stuffing should be fairly firm so the doll holds its shape well.

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Step 12

When everything is ready, close the openings with an invisible hand stitch.
Next, sew on the legs. Place the legs on either side of the body, align them, and use a thick needle and thread to stitch through all the layers several times. Try to stitch through the same spot each time and do not pull the thread too tight—this will allow the legs to rotate, so the doll can sit.

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Step 14

Next, take the hair wefts and glue or sew them onto the head in two layers using neat stitches. I would still recommend sewing them on; in my experience, glue is not reliable enough for textile projects. There is no need to attach the wefts all over the head. Leave a bare patch at the crown—the hat will cover it.

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Step 17

The arms are sewn on together with the clothing. The doll base is ready. We’ll dress her in [] in the next post.