Technique Tuesday: Sewing Doll Heads Onto Bodies

Most cloth doll heads don't move.  I suppose the main reason is that a pivot joint requires time and skill to do well.  My Paisano figure (which is much larger than the dolls described in this post) has such a joint and it took many tries to get the angles correct. He is also a large figure, with an internal armature, which made the process simpler.

This post however, is not about a neck pivot.  I'll save that for the future.  This post is about the basic technique of sewing a cloth head to a cloth neck.  It would seem to be fairly straightforward, but many beginners have difficulty with this step.  The head is attached and all seems well.  Time passes, and the head begins to sag a bit, or turn in a different direction.  What happened?  It all goes back to the beginning...

The first step to having a good head on those shoulders is stuffing the body well. It is absolutely essential that the upper shoulders and neck be packed tightly with a cohesive wad of stuffing.  The best way to do this is counter-intuitive.  Don't add tiny amounts and tuck each one carefully into place.  Get a large handful, shove it into the opening with your favorite stuffing tool, and pack throughout the shoulder area.  The photo shows how much stuffing I needed to create a stable area above the arm - a lot.  The neck should be very firm, almost hard.  You are creating a unified, firm platform, with no internal tucks.  Over time, small voids and inconsistencies become folds, the folds become wrinkles, and this causes the head to droop.  Think you have enough stuffing?  Nope, take some more and pack it in. 


My pattern features a long neck.  After sewing and stuffing, I never trim excess fabric; if necessary it is turned inside and packed down.






I create finished heads that are attached, flush, to an unfinished neck.  I don't sew the opening closed, but depending on your fabrics, this may be a helpful step.  Before attaching the head, place it on the neck and move it around to see if you want it to tilt up or down, or face left or right of center.  I use a long hatpin to secure the head in temporary poses.  Often, I need to lengthen or shorten the neck.  Shortening is easiest - just push the fabric down into the interior of the body and remove a small bit of stuffing.  Lengthening requires pulling some of the "excess" neck up from the inside and adding more stuffing.

My technique requires strong pins.  If you are using medium weight cottons, you can get away with short, glass headed pins (see my Materials section for my favorite pins).  Fabrics heavier than cottons will definitely require T-pins. In the photos, I'm using glass-headed pins for better visibility, but be aware that these will bend in thick wools and cottons.

When you've decided on what looks best, it is time to pin the head to the neck.  The method I use forces the head down onto the neck with a lot of pressure pulling the two apart.  There is so much outward pressure that if you were to remove the pins at once, the head would pop off and fly quite a distance.  It may sound a bit crazy, but this outward pressure is what keeps the head in position over the potentially decades-long life of the doll. To set a pin, 1) insert in the head, facing down;  2) place the point of the pin on the neck catching the fabric; 3) pivot up and turn the pin so that the point is facing upward into the head.  The first pins are the most difficult to set in place and the process requires some dexterity and strength.

Because of the tension on the seam, I use upholstery thread.  Don't use normal weight thread - even doubled, it is not strong enough to held this seam over time, and will likely break while sewing.  Starting at one side and moving across the back, take small slip stitches about 1/8" apart.  Pull them firmly to hold the head onto the neck as you sew.  If you are using wool, these stitches will sink into the fabric and virtually dissappear.  Remove pins as you go. 

When you move to the front of the head, switch to ladder stitches, pulling them tightly as you go around.  Move once more around the perimeter of the neck, taking fewer, but deeper stitches.  Make a tailor's knot, bury the knot in the fabric and trim flush.  Done!

This pinning and sewing technique works well for all types of cloth dolls.  The heads you make may be a different shape from mine, but they still require the support of strong shoulders!  Give the technique a try.

Stay tuned for more...