Lisa Siregar
Toys handmade by Savitri Sidharta for her one-year-old daughter. (Photo: Lisa Siregar, JG)
The Do-It-Yourself Doll Project
A friend of mine, Savitri Sidharta, is fond of making soft toys for her one-year-old daughter. The little one now has a bear, a bunny and a yellow duck in her collection.
Savitri said by making these toys, she not only feels thrifty, but takes pleasure in hunting materials, making patterns and sewing everything herself. So when she started giving toy-making classes at her house, I was among the first to sign up.
For Rp 200,000 ($21), which covered materials, tools, the lesson and lunch, I received a felt-toy kit, including uncut felt pieces and embroidery thread.
“Felt is good for beginners because it doesn’t shred easily when you cut it into pieces,” Savitri said.
Earlier, when I arrived at her house, she was stitching colorful pieces of fabric onto white toweling.
“I am making a doll’s house for my daughter’s birthday,” she said.
She planned to pin the towel inside a carton box, with pockets representing a bed, a bathtub and dinner table, into which the dolls could be inserted. I was impressed. She had kindled my interest in making felt toys.
We sat in the living room, surrounded by a rainbow of felt squares, embroidery thread and needles. The last time I used a needle was when my late grandmother taught me to knit 16 years ago.
The basic tools for making felt toys are assorted sewing needles, sewing scissors, a seam ripper, dressmaker’s chalk or an erasable fabric marker, a tape measure and ruler, pencil, pins, cardstock for making patterns and fiberfill. And felt of course.
Savitri said that there are three grades of felt: acrylic, wool and wool-acrylic blend. We used the acrylic because it is the most readily available. Wool is longer lasting but harder to find, and the wool-acrylic blend is thinner than acrylic.
I picked the bunny pattern, because it seemed the easiest. First, I had to cut the felt into the shape of a rabbit.
Savitri had already copied a pattern for me from her arts and crafts book. I just had to pin the pattern to the felt and start cutting. Doll patterns are easy to find on the Internet.
“You could enlarge the pattern on a photocopier if you wanted,” she said.
I cut out two body shapes in white felt and baby-pink felt for the rabbit’s face and ears, that I would later stitch together with polyester fiberfill. A more environmentally friendly option is to use kapok stuffing — a natural, silky fiber that literally grows on trees in Indonesia.
To make the face, I just had to draw a circle shape on the pink felt using the chalk, and two smaller circles for the bunny’s rosy cheeks in a bolder shade of pink.
The toy measured about seven centimeters wide and 12 centimeters high. Cutting the pieces was the easy bit, it was the stitching that required patience.
My first step was to make the face.
I had to sew the blushing cheeks onto the face and sewed on two black beads for eyes, hoping to achieve a bright-eyed look.
Then, using six strands of cream embroidery cotton, I made satin stitches for the nose, working the stitches closely together to form the shape.
Creating my bunny’s nose was the hardest part for me. I had to rip it apart a couple of times, and still I couldn’t achieve the right shape.
I personally think my bunny’s face looked anything but cute and friendly because of its nose.
Embroidery cotton is a lot harder to sew with than thread. We could have used thread, Savitri said, but the thicker stitches give cloth toys a better finish. She also suggested I use brightly colored cotton to make the stitches stand out even more.
Blanket stitching is a great way to decorate the edge of thick material. But Savitri and I decided to stitch my rabbit together with basic running stitches, which would be less of a challenge. At times, I had to use the surface of the table to push the stubborn needle through. But after a few attempts, it got easier.
We started after lunch and finished by dusk, at which time I was both happy and unsatisfied with my first felt doll. It looked scary, but it was my first handmade one.
I met a friend for dinner that day and enthusiastically showed him the toy. He gave my bunny a dismissive look. I sent a photo to a coworker and she responded: “I love you, but that bunny freaks me out.”
It wasn’t exactly the encouragement I’d hoped for. But I took such pleasure in the project, and am now dreaming up outfits for my felt toys, which may include iridescent sequins and colorful beads.
Meanwhile, I’d better get a nose job for this bunny. Asap!
Stitch by Stitch: How to Make Your Own Felt Doll
The basic tools: Assorted needles, fabric scissors, seam ripper, dressmaker’s chalk or erasable marking pen, tape measure, pencil and straight pins
Stitch by Stitch: How to Make Your Own Felt Doll
1. Using paper patterns, cut two body pieces from white felt, a pair of inner ears from pale pink fabric and a pink round shape for the face.
2. Hand draw facial features and stitch pink circles for cheeks.
3. Add black beads for eyes and shape a nose using embroidery cotton.
4. Attach the inner ears.
5. Join body parts using running stitch, leaving a space to insert stuffing.
6. Stuff doll with polyester filling.
7. The end result may not be picture-perfect, but it will be unique.
