Creative Upcycling The Ragamuffin Doll Part 4

Welcome back! In this final installment Shari is back to wrap things up with a look at creating a pony tail wig for the Ragamuffin doll using the yarn wefts from the prior tutorial.

 

Follow along to see how it's done: 

 

Waldorf doll hair can be made from yarn or natural hair and there or many different
techniques for attaching these fibers to the doll's head. In keeping with my up-cycling theme, in this tutorial I am going to show you how to make a simple pony tail wig using yarn wefts and a wig cap made from old wool sweater.

I've tried many different ways of making yarn hair for dolls over the years, with varying degrees of success. Yarn wefts, which I will be showing you how to make here, are a great way to make doll hair because they are more durable than the individually stitched tufts and are easier to make than hooking individual strands of hair on rows of yarn stitched to the head.

How To Make Yarn Wefts:

1. Start by securing the end of the yarn along the front edge of a DVD case that serve as the weft board. 
2. Wrap the yarn around the weft board in a single layer by leaving a space between each wrap and then pushing the rows of yarn together until the board is full. Note: If working with shorter lengths of yarn, tie off the ends as you go along the front edge. Keep wrapping and tying off ends until the board is full.
3. To make the wefts, cut a 4” wide strip of tissue paper the length you want your weft to be. Apply a piece of tape over the yarn just below the front edge of the weft board, extending the tape at least 1/2” past the yarn on either side.
4. Cut the yarn along the front edge of the weft board, using the groove in the DVD case as a guide for your scissors.
5. Carefully lift off the taped section of yarn and adhere it to one end of the tissue paper.
6. Add more sections of yarn to the tissue paper to get the length desired for the weft. Wefts are easiest to work with if they are 18” long or less.
7. Cut a 2” wide strip of tulle the length of the weft.
8. Lay the tulle over the top edge of the yarn and pin in place along the tape.
9. Stitch along the edge of the tape, being careful not to stitch through the tape to prevent getting the needle gummy.
10. Carefully remove the tissue paper and trim the yarn ends with the tulle 1/4” from the seam. Carefully remove the tape.
11. Turn the other side of the tulle and yarn ends under along the seamline. Stitch along the edge to secure, straightening and smoothing the yarn as you go.
12. When the stitching line is finished, trim the excess tulle close to the stitching line.

The first weft is complete! Continue making as many wefts as needed for
the wig. This wig will need about 1 yard of weft. 

Wefts can be sewn directly to the dolls head, but they look much nicer if they are attached to a wig cap because the cap masks the spaces between the wefts so your doll doesn't appear to have bald spots.

How To Create A Wig Cap:

1. Cut the wig cap pieces from the same sweater as the yarn.
2. Pin them right sides together, matching the notches and the from and back edges.
3. Stitch.
4. Test fit the wig cap on your doll. It should be a snug fit. If it is too loose, take it in as needed along the seamlines.
5. Starting at the back of the wig cap, pin a weft along the edge with the right sides together. The right side of the weft is the side without the tulle.
6. Overlap the ends of the weft at the back of the wig cap and trim off the excess weft.
7. Stitch 1/4” from the edge by hand or machine.
8. Turn the weft under along the seamline and secure with a running stitch. When the stitching line is finished, don't tie off the thread of running stitch.
9. Test fit the cap on the head again and draw the thread from the running stitch to fit. Tie off the thread to secure when you are satisfied with the fit.

How To Attach The Wefts To The Wig Cap:

1. With the wrong sides together, pin a row of weft just above the seam  allowance of the first weft inside the wig cap.
2. Whip stitch to secure. This is an optional row of weft, that allows for a little extra coverage along the edge of wig and a fringe for bangs or other styling options.
3. Place the wig on the doll's head, aligning the front and back with the front and back of the doll. Arrange the hair around the head, pinning the edge of the cap along the desired hairline.
4. Stitch the wig directly to the head with a running stitch along the edge of the cap.
5. This wig is styled for a pony tail. Before adding more wefts, determine were you would like the pony tail to be and mark the placement with a pin.
6. With the right side up and the hair facing the pony tail mark, pin a row of weft around the head about 1/2” - 1” from the edge of the wig cap. The closer the rows of weft are to each other, the thicker the hair will be.
7. Whip stitch the weft to the wig cap to secure, drawing up the stitches as needed to ease the fit of the cap to the head.
8. Add another row of weft as before. I only used these two rows for this doll wig. For thicker hair, apply more rows of weft that are closer together.
9. To style the pony tail, remove the pin marker and draw up the hair of the inside weft into a pony tail. Tie off the the pony tail with a scrap piece of hair yarn.
10. One by one, draw up each consecutive row of hair around the pony tail and tie off as before. Once all the rows of weft are tied up, add a bit of style to the hairline by pulling down strands of hair and arranging them as desired.
11. Finish the wig by trimming the hair and styling it as desired.

I hope you enjoyed this Upcycled doll project! I am completely enamored with the Waldorf style of doll making. The methods for making these dolls can be used to make very simple cuddly play dolls for kids or very finely designed dolls for collectors. In these tutorial, I showed you how you can make these dolls from upcycled clothing which makes them environmentally and budget friendly, not to mention the memories that can be preserved if you use clothing gleaned from your loved ones. If you have enjoyed your introduction to making Waldorf style dolls and would like to learn more, keep watching as I am working on a complete set of tutorials that will take you deeper into this topic. It will be available to SWC members soon. See you next time!

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