‎ Niblet & Biscuit Doll Tutorial

Here is a wonderful tutorial I found on Gwenny Penny that I know you will want to try.  This site is full of tutorials and beautiful photographs and I encourage you to visit there, especially if you like this tutorial.

These are the cutest little dolls.  I can see me making several of these in the near future for presents.  Don't you know someone who would simply love to have one?

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Let's get to it...

Materials you will need to make one 7 inch doll (either Niblet or Biscuit):

• Flannel for head, ears, arms, and legs – ¼ yd
• Cotton for body – fat quarter or large scraps
• Felt – small scraps (black for eyes, pink for Niblet's inner ears, tan for Biscuit's inner ears and muzzle)
• Embroidery floss (black, pink, tan)
• Polyfill
• Coordinating thread
• ¼" hole punch
• Optional: ribbon, buttons, fabric scraps, round cord elastic, and ¼" elastic for dressing up

Remember to backstitch every time you start or stop a seam.

Click here to download, save, or print the templates for the dolls.

Part I: Sewing the Head, Ears, Arms, and Legs

Step 1: Print and cut out all templates.

Step 2: Trace templates onto flannel and cut out. You should have 2 head pieces (template A), 8 arm/leg pieces (template B), and 4 ear pieces (template C or E). Trace template D or templates F and G onto felt and cut out. You should have 2 inner ear pieces (template D or F). If you are making Biscuit you should also have one muzzle piece (template G).

Step 3: Place two arm/leg pieces of flannel together. Sew around ¼" from the outside edge. Repeat for the other three arms/legs. Turn all four arms/legs right side out.

Step 4: Take one flannel ear piece and center one felt inner ear piece on top, lining up the bottom edges of both pieces. Hand sew the felt to the flannel using 3 strands of embroidery floss that match your felt. Repeat for the second ear.

Step 5: Match up one blank flannel ear piece with one felt/flannel ear piece. Line them up with right sides together (felt should be in between the two pieces). Sew around ¼" from the outside edge. Repeat for the other ear. Clip your corners. Turn both ears right side out.

Step 6: Now it's time to create the face. Use the face templates provided for placement of eyes, nose, and mouth. For eyes, use a ¼" hole punch to punch two circles out of black felt. My punch didn't go all the way through the felt, so I finished the cut with scissors. Hand sew black felt eyes onto one flannel head piece using 3 strands of black embroidery floss.

• For Niblet, embroider the nose using 3 strands of pink embroidery floss and the mouth using 3 strands of black embroidery floss.
   
• For Biscuit, place the felt muzzle on the flannel face. Attach using 3 strands of black embroidery floss to make three French knots on either side of the muzzle. Embroider the nose and mouth using 3 strands of black embroidery floss.

Step 8: Turn your head right side out. Stuff the head with polyfill. Tuck the raw edges of the gap inside the head. Sew the gap closed. You now have a complete head!

Part III: Finishing the Doll

Step 13: Tightly whipstitch the very base of the head to the very top of the body. Double up your thread when you do this to make sure it's secure. Trust me, we've already had a casualty in our house.

Niblet's Skirt