In this easy-to-follow online class textile artist Mandy Pattullo shows you how to make a folksy, hand stitched rag doll using fabrics and notions. The class leads you through Mandy’s doll making process step by step and contains many insights into her creative approach. 

Making dolls is dear to Mandy’s heart - she still treasures the tiny stitched and knitted garments her grandmother made for her childhood dolls - and she’s made fabric dolls all her adult life, typically out of scraps found lying around her studio.  Charming little dolls are dotted all around her home and studio, nestling on shelves with their skinny limbs protruding, propped against books or even hanging from hooks on the wall as a work of art,  each one individual and with a character all its own.  Happy or sad, grumpy or joyful, Mandy loves them all and relishes their quirks and celebrates their imperfections.  

In this exclusive class with Mandy you have the chance to learn rag doll-making from a leading British textile artist.  The materials you will need for this project are easy to find - rummage through your cupboards to see what you already have.  You’ll need several small pieces of dress fabric including calico or plain fabric for the face and torso. Short lengths of lace, trim and ribbon will all be useful for decoration and you can use perlé or embroidery threads for the facial features and any stitch embellishment you decide to add.  You will probably need to buy a small quantity of toy stuffing and merino wool for the doll’s hair, although fabric, string and sheep’s wool picked up on a country walk would work perfectly.   The downloadable pdfs include the templates for the doll’s body. 

No special sewing skills are needed to complete this fun 90-minute pre-recorded class and you can even leave the edges of your doll’s clothing raw if you prefer.   The dolls are stitched completely by hand using mostly a simple whip stitch and Mandy is on hand with tips and shortcuts when it comes to creating the facial features and applying hair.  You can pause or rewind the video at any point so you won’t miss a thing.  Take your time and enjoy the process of slow hand stitching your rag doll. 

Even if you are unfamiliar with Mandy’s work you will find this class makes doll-making child’s play and you’ll enjoy the process so much that you’ll want to go on and make a whole family of characterful rag dolls.  

Please note that the dolls are designed to be decorative and are not suitable as toys for babies and children.