Hi.
Welcome to my dollmaking journal. I write doll stories, share tips on this creative journey and so much more. Hope you enjoy your visit!.
Welcome to my dollmaking journal. I write doll stories, share tips on this creative journey and so much more. Hope you enjoy your visit!.
I have written several posts about making dolls, you can find them all here for you to reference:
How to start making natural fiber art dolls | discussing the differences between Waldorf dolls, Waldorf-inspired dolls and natural fiber art dolls, while giving you an idea of what you need to learn to make fiber art dolls, where to learn and more.
Starting your dollmaking adventure | why are Waldorf dolls made of all natural materials, why are they called like that, how do you make one, tools and ingredients you need, giving you my best advice to the very beginner doll maker. This is the best article to read if you have never made a doll before.
How to make dolls the Waldorf Inspired way | Going over the techniques you need to create a Waldorf inspired doll.
Doll Body Proportions | If you are designing a new pattern or want to alter one, it helps to know how big to make the head, or how long to make the limbs and how to portray a certain age in your dolls. Here is a video if you rather consume the information that way.
5 Tips to Needle Felt Doll Faces | A blog post with accompanying video, discussing 5 tips to help you in your doll sculpting journey with felting needles and wool.
Sculpting Doll Faces | What is the difference between soft sculpture and needle felting.
Crafting Expressive Doll Lips | How to sculpt a quiet, more downturned mouth on your Waldorf-inspired or natural fiber art doll.
Sculpting a Gentle Smile | How to add more expression to your natural fiber art dolls or Waldorf-inspired dolls, using needle felting techniques.
Making a More Realistic Doll Nose | Using felting techniques to create a little nose with nostrils.
Guide to Doll Skin Fabric for Doll Making | Discussing the different qualities of the specific fabrics I use in my doll making. Here is a video on how I like to work with knit fabric for dolls too.
My Favourite Locks for Doll Hair | 7 beautiful breeds for doll hair: Teeswater, Leicester Longwool, Mohair, Suri Alpaca, Gotland, Wensleydale.
Doll Making Materials and Tools for Natural Fiber Art Dolls | A comprehensive list of most of the materials I regularly use in the making of my dolls, with a list of suppliers. I discuss their properties and which ones I like best for what purposes. Here is also a video where I discuss the materials I use as well as another one with my favourite dollmaking tools.
Mohair Yarns for Doll hair review | the creators of these wonderful lines of mohair yarn gave me the opportunity to write my thoughts in regards to their beautiful products. So happy to use ‘Wild Brushable by Little Oke Dolls’ and ‘DollyMo’ by Kamrin’s Craft Cottage on my dolls.
Wool stuffing, why, how and where to find it | I discuss the wonderful properties of wool, where to buy it, and what tools may become necessary in order to work with it.
My Sewing Machine | I give an overview of the sewing machine I use in Canada, and the presser feet I like to use when I make doll clothes. I recently bought a Bernina and you can see me using it in action in this video.
3 Basic Hand Stitches for Dollmakers | These are the most basic stitches you will need to hand sew arms, legs, necks, attach ears, close seams, etc.
Tips on embroidering doll eyes | I share a detail overview of my process, as well as give you a few tips to create embroidered eyes on wool stuffed dolls.
Making doll hair | I talk about all the methods I have used, with brief explanations on how to achieve each method, links to demonstration videos and tutorials. You can also check out this video if you prefer to consume information that way.
How To Attach Weft to A Doll Head | This is my favourite technique to add the fabulous commercially available wefts on the market, to add curls, longer hair, etc.
Making Baby Doll Hair | My 3 favourite styles when making hair for baby dolls.
How to use Suri Alpaca to make doll hair | a small tutorial where I share the process I am currently under taking to create doll hair with this lovely material.
Achieving sturdy necks | some advice on how to alter your pattern in order to create a little neck for your doll.
How to make a belly on your waldorf doll | I discuss different methods in order to achieve a more protruding belly on your doll.
Don’t forget the shoulders | I share with you my thoughts on why it’s so very important that dolls have shoulders, it will save your sanity when making doll clothes, and steps on how to create them.
How to roll wool to stuff your dolls | a very handy technique that gives you firm and smooth results.
Dollmaking Tips and Tricks, is an ongoing collection of dollmaking articles that I publish on my Patreon channel.
Doll Clothing Patterns and Tutorials | A handy list of many makers and designers creating finished clothing and patterns to dress your waldorf or natural fiber art dolls.
How To Finish Seams for Doll Clothing | Discussing all my favourite ways to finish doll clothes.
Beyond the Basics in Doll Clothing | Adding heirloom details and historical touches to your doll clothing.
How to Sew Doll Underwear | A photo tutorial with the whole thing downloadable as a PDF. It now includes a sped-up video as well.
Sewing a Dress for Anwen | Where I show you how I like to use self bias stripes to finish certain seams in doll clothes.
Sewing a Fox Hooded Cape | Repurposing velvet and angora to make a sweet hooded cape for my Mannikin-style doll.
Smocking with Honeycomb Stitch | Trying to learn new techniques to embellish little doll clothes.
Dressing an Autumn Fairy | Making a little dress for my Fairy doll Pom, which helps me teach others how to make little dolls like her via my online class.
Sewing a Dress for Miss Teacup | Using an embroidered linen table cloth, giving new life to old and discarded textiles trough doll clothing.
Sewing Pyjamas for Poet | I like to make lots of clothes for her because she is my little muse.
Sewing an Heirloom Bunny Bonnet | Sew a beautiful Easter-ready bunny bonnet for your doll, using repurposed cashmere.
Making a Dress for Poet | Using organza for the collar and learning to match plaid and add velvet ribbon.
Sewing the Pumpkin Patch Dress | A sweet dress for Mannikin-style dolls with Peter Pan collar, long sleeves and full skirt. Perfect to go and pick your favourite pumpkin at the patch.
Making Doll Shoes | Patterns, Ideas and Tutorials.
Making Doll Bedding | A lovely patchwork quilt, pillows, mattresses and lots of love.
Making Beautiful Doll Overalls with Embroidery | I sewed this pair for my lovely doll Octavia Rose. Then I made an entire series of a Gardening Outfit for the Dressmaking tier on Patreon.
Make a Cross-Over Doll Dress | For Waldorf Inspired or natural fiber art dolls. With ample room to be worn over a tshirt or a pretty blouse.
Making a Leather Tea Cup Holder | Following inspiration by another creator, I made a little paper clay tea cup and saucer and a leather holder for Henrietta Swan.
Sewing a Double-breasted Doll Coat | Made to fit my fairy online class doll, Pom.
Making a Witchy Doll Hat | Trying to give one of my dolls her most scary witchy vibe.
How to Use Insertion Lace on Doll Clothing | This is one of the many techniques I use to add detail and beauty to my doll’s clothing.
Making a Doll Wool Felt Crown | I love adding head pieces, accessories or hats to my dolls. Wreaths, crowns and headbands are very loved by them.
The Winter Atelier | Making a little pocket doll using a repurposed cashmere sweater and introducing you to beginner sculpting techniques.
You can find my current schedule over here: Workshops and Online Classes with Fig and Me.
A long doll making adventure of mine, here you can find an array of posts where I have documented my explorations:
Exploring a bendable knee without a joint | This method requires a 3-part stuffing system. Only works if you are rolling wool.
Dolls with Moveable Head | A technique I implemented in 2018, one I have continued to evolve and make improvements on.
A Doll with an Inner Wire Armature | While I create my Mannikin dolls with an inner armature, this doll is also entirely needle felted but assembled a completely different way.
Perfecting the Bendable Leg and Knee Movement | Through this exploration I managed to make the leg bend further back than previously achieved, and I added a lot more curves to the leg design with the help of needle felting.
Adding More Movements to Your Dolls | Using simple sewn joints for your natural fiber art dolls.
In 2020 I created a free beginner doll making series, walking you through the creation of a set of dolls, their clothes and carrier, entitled Hansel and Gretel. You can find all the posts here, and each post has a corresponding tutorial video that walks you step-by-step on how to create these cute and simple dolls.
I have shared over the years a few soulful posts on what it is to create dolls for me:
Nurturing Your Creative Soul | 7 Essential tips in 2026 for dollmakers that want to grow, based on my 17-year experience in the fiber art doll world.
My Doll Making Life, a Story in the Making | retelling my story, how I started and slowly grew my skill set, business and passion for doll making. I like to think of this as an inspirational story that is still being developed.
The Journey of a Doll Maker in Natural Fiber Art Dolls | talking a little about some things that I still struggle through, when I was 14 years in as a doll maker.
The 5 Steps I Would Follow If I Was Starting My Doll Making Adventure | A little bit recap of what I did right, what I did wrong and what I would do differently if I was starting out.
Form and Substance in Doll Making | About the thought process of designing my first doll pattern for sale.
The Handmade Doll Business | Where I talk how over time you keep adding things to your pattern, and you delve into other areas of running your business, like social media.
Self-doubt as a creative | After all these years, I still wonder wether someone will like the doll I am making and I speak about originality and having faith in your own process.
On how she found me | Detailing the psychological, emotional and creative process that went on as I decided to create the Petite Fig pattern, through the hands of Poet, my lovely muse doll.
Adventures in Cloth Doll Land | Making dolls and toys for Waldorf-inspired dolls.
How I Organize My Dollmaking Year | Tips and schedules on how I like to organize a year full of exploration and adventure in the dollmaking realm.
This 2019 series hosted via Instagram Live sessions, was later repurposed to my YouTube channel, and also got some blog posts offered so you can download the corresponding PDFs.
For the video series, go here:
How to start selling your handmade dolls and for the post go here.
How to price your handmade dolls and for the post go here.
Marketing your handmade dolls, and for the post go here.
For my doll making e-books, clothing tutorials and knitting patterns, please visit my shop: Fig and Me on Etsy.
I run a monthly membership channel, where I share news from my studio, host a livestream to talk about dollmaking topics, publish one full dressmaking tutorial and have a dollmaking guild that meets at the end of the month to share our creations, offer advice and share our dollmaking journeys.
All members have access to the two chats: Show & Tell and FAQ.
You can sign up and cancel your membership whenever you want. Please feel free to join via the tier that is more suitable to your needs.
We have a lively community of dollmakers from all parts of the world, where we support each other in our making life.
If there are other resources you wish me to share with you, just drop me a line to let me know. Hope you find all this useful to you in your doll making journey.