As you venture into your doll making adventure, you will be faced with the most important decision right off the bat.  That decision will depend on a couple of different factors. First, we will discuss issues that will impact your decision before we dive into the different options you have.

Factor #1: Your Doll Pattern

Did you know that the pattern you will be using to make your cloth doll is of huge importance? Allow me to explain.  There are many free and popular doll patterns that are designed to be used with cotton woven fabrics only.  This means the doll pattern hasnt been designed with stretchy fabrics in mind. Using a doll pattern designed for cotton woven fabrics will not work with jersey fabrics you purchase.  Doing so will result in your doll having a different shape that may not resemble anything like what the doll pattern depicts.

It's important when shopping for doll patterns to find out if it's designed with non-stretchy cotton wovens in mind or if it was intended to be made using jersey fabrics. If you don't know, just ask the doll designer whom you purchased the doll pattern from.

Planet Applique's Juno Doll is specifically engineered to be used with our jersey fabrics with 30% stretch.  One obvious sign of this is the shape of Juno's head, looking more egg shaped than round. The egg shape is to counteract the side to side stretch of the jersey so that the end result is a nice round head.

Factor #2: Size of Your Doll

As important as the type of doll pattern you will be using is, the size of the doll you are making is also important. Some jersey fabrics such as Laib Yala Swiss Tricot has a more coarse appearance with larger yarns used, being able to see the grain and texture of the fabric. This can be amplified on a small doll resulting in a knobby chunky looking fabric on the face especially. Having a coarse fabric on the face can make it difficult to stitch the details of the doll's face. It would be more appropriate to use a finer gauge interlock knit on small dolls like our lovely doll jersey fabrics.

Speaking on doll size, we also have to consider the thickness of doll fabrics on small dolls. Laib Yala Swiss Tricot is also heavier weight fabric and on a small doll this can add bulk to seams resulting in a bumpy looking doll.

Conversely, if you are making a very large doll that may stand 26-36" tall, then it would be a better idea to use the Swiss Tricot over a double knit jersey because it would be able to better support the added weight of a larger doll.

Factor #3: Availability of Colors

It goes without saying, color matters. Some fabric don't offer attractive options for darker skin tones for dolls. Therefore, it would make sense to move to a different type of doll fabric to get the flesh tone you desire for your doll. While most doll jersey fabric, and Kona cotton wovens come in a multitude of skin colors, there can still be limitations. Here at Juno Doll, we will be having custom fabric milled in the US to achieve a better range of skin colors especially for the darker colors so that they more accurately match real life ethnic tones.

Now that we have discussed the factors that could influence your decision, let's talk about the options on the market for your handmade cloth Juno Doll, or other doll you will be making.