These yarn dolls are something that my sister and I used to make all. the time. My mom had taught us how, and I just remember doing it over and over again for years, perfecting my technique and finding more ways to give them a little more character.
This craft is super easy to follow, requires minimal materials, and is an awesome rainy day project for the kiddos!
Kids Craft: Easy to Make Yarn Dolls
What you’ll need:
- 4 different colors of yarn (or more if you’d like)
- Scissors
- Book- hardcover works best. Size varies based on your preference on how large you’d like your doll to be
- Deck of cards or something similar in size and shape (not pictured)
Step 1:
Begin by wrapping the first color of yarn around the book 20-30 times, or until it’s pretty thick. Cut it on one side. This will become the doll’s body.
Step 2:
Fold the yarn in half and tie another piece of yarn around about an inch under the fold. This forms the doll’s head. There will be a hole on either side, which is okay! These will be needed later. 🙂
Note: The side that you tie the head off on will be the back of the doll’s body, with the two holes being on either side of the head- kind of like ears! 😉
Step 3:
Now for the arms. Pick out five pieces on either side of the head, and tie one piece of yarn about an inch from the body and another about an inch from that. Cut off the excess from the edges to form fingers.
Your doll now has arms!
Step 4:
Take the second color of yarn and tie it off just below the neckline. Be sure to leave a somewhat long tail. Keeping the arms out of the way, begin wrapping the yarn around the main body of the doll. It’s important to have it somewhat tight- but not too much! This creates the doll’s torso.
When you’re satisfied with the length of the torso, cut the yarn and tie it into the tail you left at the neckline (typically on the back of the doll where you tied the knot for the head). You can either leave the excess and make a cute bow or cut it off altogether.
So now your doll’s body is complete!
Step 5:
Hair! Take the deck of cards and the third color of yarn and repeat the process from step 1. This time around, you don’t need to worry about it being as thick.
Cut the yarn and lay it out. Adjust any stray pieces and make sure it’s as even on the ends as possible.
Step 6:
Remember those holes on either side of the head? This is where they come into play! Feed a strand of yarn through both holes. It can be any color you’d like, but I like to match whatever color I used for the dress.
Place the hair on top of the head and position it into place so that it hangs down the back part of the body. The other end that hangs over the face will become the doll’s bangs, so be sure they don’t hang down too low!
Once you have the hair where you want it, use the strand of yarn you threaded through the holes to secure it in place. When you pull it tight, it will close up the holes and help shape the head a little better!
I personally like to leave the excess and create a little hair bow. 🙂
Step 7:
We’re almost done, now! The last part is the eyes. Pick out two strands on the face of your doll where you want the eyes to be. Take your last color of yarn and tie it around the strand two or three times until it’s the size you want. Repeat with the second eye.
Cut off the excess as close as you can. The little pieces that are left kinda end up looking like eyelashes, so it all works out!
And that’s it! The completed doll should look something like this, but you can always find ways to tweak it and personalize it to your own style. 🙂
Again, this is a perfect project for the kids, or for anyone looking for something fun to do in their downtime.
What are some of your favorite childhood crafts? 🙂
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