If you like to make dolls, or if you like to refurbish old dolls, you might want to try your hand at making doll hair using yarn. Making yarn doll hair is a fun and easy way to give a doll a full head of hair. And you can make very long hair that little girls can turn into braids or put up in pony tails. I have made many, many dolls with yarn hair and each doll ends up with its own special look. Making yarn doll hair can quickly become an addiction. If you don’t actually like making dolls, you can add hair to existing dolls. You can also glue yarn hair to plastic dolls. And yarn hair is great for stuffed animals too! Here is a slideshow of dolls with yarn hair to give you an idea of the styles you can make: Yarn Hair Dolls.
If you are wondering what type of yarn you can use to make doll hair, the answer is any yarn! There are so many wonderful yarn out there today. Some can be a bit on the expensive side, so practice with cheap yarn first. Just about any craft store or any Walmart will have cheap skeins of yarn that you can purchase. And don’t think you have to use yarn that is close to real hair color like yellow, red, brown or black. I have made many beautiful dolls with blue hair, pink hair, and multi-colored hair. You can use several colors for one head of hair or you can buy variegated yarn (multiple colors in one skein) so the colors are already mixed up for you!
When you pull out your yarn, you will find that it kinks. Getting the kinks out is very easy. All you need to do is wrap the yarn around card board and warm it in the oven. Cut a piece of cardboard about one inch longer than the length of the hair you want (if you want hair that is 10 inches long cut the cardboard 11 inches long). Then wrap the yarn around the cardboard lengthwise. Pull on the yarn just a bit to make it lay flat, but don’t pull too tight. Try not to overlap the yarn. When you get to the end of the cardboard or when you run out of yarn, cut a slit in the cardboard and tuck the yarn in the slit to hold it in place.
Then lightly spray the yarn with water and preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Turn off the oven and place the cardboard in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the yarn is completely dry. Before you remove the yarn, take a needle and thread and pass a thread through all the yarn on one end of the cardboard. Then cut the other end of the yarn to remove the yarn from the cardboard. You will be left with beautiful, long, straight strands of yarn for hair.
If you want curly hair, you can wrap the yarn around narrow dowels or around the handle of a wooden spoon. Spray the yarn a bit with water then heat in the oven like above. The yarn will keep the shape of the curl. However, making curly hair is really only good for decorative dolls. Dolls that will be played with will end up losing their curl.
To attach hair to a cloth doll, you can glue entire strips of yarn (like the strips you get after cutting them off the cardboard) on cloth doll heads or on plastic doll heads using a hot glue gun. Put the glue on the head then apply the yarn. This is only recommended for adults. You can use Elmer’s glue for a safe (not hot) project for kids, but the glue takes a bit to dry. You can also sew the hair on cloth dolls. You can sew individual strands of yarn to the doll head for a more realistic hair do. Or you can sew clumps of yarn spaced out every inch or sew for a quick hair do.
Always start gluing or sewing the hair at the bottom and work your way up the head. Keep in mind that the higher up you go on the head, the strands of yarn will get uneven on the bottom. You can leave it uneven or you can just trim it when you are done. You can also trim bangs. Just play with it and you will soon be a pro at making doll hair from yarn. And once you get the hang of it, you can try using cord or twine or even ribbon to make very unusual doll hair. You can even use strips of fabric to make eclectic rag dolls. No matter what you use for doll hair, the dolls will look fabulous!
If you like making dolls, you must try making my life size doll pillow. Making a life size doll pillow is a very easy craft project and you don’t even need to know how to sew to make it. You may also like to read my article with tips for making doll arms and doll legs.
