Spool Baby Doll

My daughter loves collecting dolls and has everything from porcelain dolls, to rag dolls, to Barbie dolls. But she always gets a smile on her face when she sees one of the smallest dolls in her collection. I made her a miniature spool doll and she's always cherished it. You'll find it easy to make the same doll for someone you love.

You'll need four wooden spools that are all the same size. The smaller the spools, of course, the smaller the doll will be. You'll also need four wooden balls and they should be slightly smaller in diameter than the ends of the spools. Besides the spools and wooden balls you'll just need some scrap fabric and one wooden ball that's larger than the others.

If you leave the thread on two spools (the other two spools are optional), it will create the appearance of a blouse for the miniature doll. The two spools should have the same color of thread. If the spools are empty, you can wrap a piece of cloth around each one, or you can even paint them.

Lay the two decorated spools, on their sides, end-to-end on a table. Glue the two ends together. Then, glue one ball to each spool, at the end. This will create the arms for the doll; set the arrangement aside for now.

To make the legs, lay two spools on their sides, and set them side-by-side. Glue the two sides together. At one end of the spools, glue on a wooden ball. Leave the spools lying on their sides and set them aside for the moment.

Cut a four-inch circle of fabric and baste around the outer edges. Remove the needle, and pull the thread, to gather the circle into a two-sided disk. One side of the disk will be gathered, and the other side will be flat. Glue the flat side to the leg spools, so that the circle of fabric lays right on top of them. Lay the arrangement in front of you so that the two balls, which are the feet, are facing you.

Apply glue to one side of the arm spool arrangement and lay it, vertically, on the fabric. Glue the large wooden ball to the area where the arm spools meet. Attach a tiny piece of lace or fabric to make a collar. The collar is not only a decorative accent but it serves to conceal the area where the ball is glued to the spools. Cut yarn, twine, or doll hair, and glue it to the hole in the wooden ball on top. Or, just glue on a cotton ball. If you make yarn or twine hair you can additionally cover the hole in the bead by tying a ribbon around the hair, near the bead.

It's fun to make a collection of the dolls by using assorted spool sizes to make a family. When you mix and match hair types and colors, outfits, and spool sizes, you can create a nice assortment of miniature dolls for your collection.