DIY Dress Up Dolls
Last Updated on March 3, 2022
Did you love playing with dress up dolls when you were a little girl?
I did. I remember having the paper dolls with clothes that attached with tabs {if you don't know what I am talking about, then you are MUCH younger than me}. I wanted to create some fun DIY dress up dolls for my sweet girls, but I wanted to use something other than paper so that they would be more durable. And then it came to me…FELT!
This is an inexpensive and fun project that your little girls will love! With the holidays coming up, this would be a PERFECT gift for any young girls in your life. This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
DIY Dress Up Dolls Tutorial:
Materials Needed for 1 play set:
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- 2 pieces of Sticky Stiff Felt
in a color of your choosing {these will make up the book covers} - 2 pieces of stiff felt in a color that will mimic whatever skin color you want for the doll bodies {I used a peach color}
- 5 or more sheets of regular felt in colors of your choosing {for clothing and accessories}
- 1 piece of felt in yellow, brown or black {for the doll's hair}
- Elmer's Craft Bond Fabric and Paper Glue
- Yarn and Yarn Knitting Needle {to stitch the book together}
- Hole punch {I used aRectangle Hand Punch}
- Scrap fabric
- Ribbon, ric rac, Tiny Pom Pomsand other embellishments that you like
- Doll and clothing templates {I used the awesome templates I found at Smile and Wave}
- A ruler
- A marker
- Scissors and/or a Silhouette CAMEO {pssst–have you seen the brand new Silhouette CAMEO that was just released. I WANT one!}
in a color of your choosing {these will make up the book covers}
{to stitch the book together}
}
and other embellishments that you like
Steps to Make 1 Play Set:
Make your Doll and the Clothes
1) Cut our your doll templates. You can either use your Silhouette CAMEO or Silhouette Portrait with the trace and cut function, or you can use scissors.
2) Next, prepare your doll. First, cut out your doll body, using the stiff felt in whatever color you selected. Then, cut out your doll's hair, using regular felt in whatever color you choose. Since my girls are blonde, we chose blonde. Use your craft glue to glue it in place. You will also want to cut out small lips for your doll and use glue to secure them. Finally, glue small pom pom eyes onto your doll.
4) Cut out your clothes and accessories using regular, soft felt.
5) Glue embellishments onto your clothes. Be creative! There is no right or wrong here, people!
{It helps if you have cute little assistants helping you every step of the way}.
Make the “Book” for your Dress Up Dolls:
1) Grab two pieces of stiff felt, in whatever color you like. Use your ruler to mark 1 inch increments along the edge of both pieces of felt.
2) Now punch holes on each of the marks that you made.
3) Now, thread your yarn through your yarn needle and stitch your book together.
5) Next, you want to make an envelope to store the doll's clothes in when not in use. I used a paper envelope as my template–I traced it and cut it out using some leftover fabric I had from another project. Then I ironed the seams and sewed on little round velcro circles to keep the envelope closed. Next, I labeled the flaps by writing on them with a permanent marker so that my girls could follow the numbers to fold the envelop back all by themselves. It works like a charm! Finally, I used my craft glue to attach it to the inside of the “book.”
Add your child's name to the “book” cover:
1) I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out my girls' names so that I could customize the outside of their books {trust me, with twins, it is sometimes important for them to feel like certain things belong to them}. I started by ironing on my Silhouette Clean Cut Fabric Interfacing
to the back of my fabric.
2) Next, I used my Silhouette Fabric Blade
and my Silhouette Studio software to cut our my girls' names.
3) Finally, I used my craft glue to glue the letters of their name onto the front of the “books.”
That's it! Check out the final product. Talk about the PERFECT Christmas or Hanukkah gift for a little girl!
To say my girls LOVE playing with their dress up doll sets in an UNDERSTATEMENT. My girls have already logged loads of hours on these and they are holding up great. Attley and Avery make up elaborate stories about what their dolls are doing. For example, they often make their doll come home from work, whereupon she quickly changes into her pajamas. I have NO IDEA where they have observed that behavior {that's a lie…I change into my PJs immediately when I get home…at 5:30 pm…don't judge me}.
Tell me the truth… Do you kind of want to play with this yourself? Don't feel bad, I have totally enjoyed playing with these with my girls! Think this is a great idea? I would love for you to share it on Pinterest or Facebook?
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I don’t see the pattern you used to make the clothes and the doll. Did you include it in the post?
Hi Kim! I used a pattern from another blogger. There is a link to her blog in the post. Hope that helps!
SO. CUTE. I had paper dolls when I was younger too and remember having so much fun with them. This is a great durable version!
Oh, these are adorable, Tasha! I used to play with paper dolls when I was little but these look like so much more fun. I love the little books to keep everything organized. So cute!
Thanks so much, Sarah! I LOVE how they turned out and my girls adore them!
These are really cute, Tasha! I bet your girls loved helping you make them, and love playing with them even more!
Thank you! They did have fun when we were making the, Bre! But they definitely prefer playing with them now that they are done :)
No judgement here about wearing pajamas… I do the same thing!!!
Yay, Ange! Glad I am not the only one!