When most people think of doll making, they think of the classic porcelain dolls with perfectly formed faces, long painted eyelashes and rosy cheeks. But there are so many different types of dolls, from soft-bodied baby dolls, to cloth dolls, to rag dolls and more. They come in all shapes and sizes and are made from all different materials, from polymer clay to fabric to wood and more.
To get started with doll making, you’ll need all the basics like paint, brushes, clay shaping tools, and a work surface. But there are so many other accessories that you might not have considered.
Here, your shopping list of the best doll making supplies.
Our Editor’s Best Doll Making Supplies Reviews
- 100% Cotton Interlock Knit Doll Skin Fabric for cloth bodied dolls
- Perfect for doll making, Pill-resistant finish, moderate stretch, stuffs beautifully
- Color: Flesh
- Package Includes: 1 Piece (One yard width by one yard length)
- Extra long darners with long eyes
- For use with yarn or heavy thread
- Great for doll making, mending basting layered fabrics and more
- European Quality
- This package contains 1 each size 4 Long Darners, 2 each size 1 Long Darners and 2 each size 2/0 Long Darners
- 【Add More Flexibility to Toys】Crochet animal joints give toys movement. The joints make crocheting life easy regarding attaching limbs. It'll lessen the amount dreaded sewing you all hate and it looks a lot neater with the joints. A game changer!
- 【20 sets 20mm Plastic Doll Joints】Comes with plastic toy joints and washers in a plastic box making it easy for organizing. Includes 20 disc with a stem, 20 washers, 20 lock washer. Excellent addition to anyone's amigurumi crochet projects!
- 【Neatly Sorted, Clearly Marked】Super easy to use. No tools needed. Plenty of stuffed toy joints for crochet, and the convenient case make using these easy. The washer have their own place in the box.
- 【Backs Fit Well & Securely】The washers fit, and they don’t come off. Once in place, you can't remove them. It's easy to lock in place and stay secure so it's not a choking hazard for children. The washers provided are hard plastic - not flimsy plastic.
- 【Premium Material】No cracks or deformities. Amigurumi arm and leg joints are clean and smooth, with no rough edges. Doll arm joints can really make handcrafted animals come to life with cuteness. A Present for a friend who crochets stuffed animals.
- Sufficient quantity: there are 30 pieces doll eyelashes, including 10 pieces of 200 x 10 mm, 10 pieces of 200 x 8 mm and 10 pieces of 200 x 5 mm cosmetic eyelashes; Three lengths of eyelashes are ideal for you to use as upper eyelashes, lower eyelashes, and different dolls
- Add doll charm: thick curly doll eyelashes make your lovely dolls'eyes look bigger, brighter and more attractive; It's an essential accessory for a doll with big and beautiful eyes, adding a glamour and charm to your doll with these natural eyelashes
- Adjustable length: compared with ordinary eyelashes, the advantage of eyelash strips is that you can cut the eyelash strips into any length, or match with eyelashes of various sizes to enhance the effect
- Nice material: these thick eyelashes are made of plastic, soft and comfortable, not easy to fall off or deform, very natural fiber eyelashes can make your doll's eyes more attractive
- Novelty gift: these make up eyelashes strips are ideal supplies for doll DIY making, toy and craft, also a delicate gift to your sisters, friends, doll lovers and craft lovers, and you can make crafts with them to enjoy DIY fun together
- 5 Sizes: about 14/16/18/20/25mm wide, hole: 6~9mm, 4pcs each size, 20pcs eyelashes totally, Enough to meet your various DIY needs and you can make crafts with them to enjoy DIY fun together.
- Add Doll Charm: Thick curly doll eyelashes make your lovely dolls'eyes look bigger, brighter and more attractive; It's an essential accessory for a doll with big and beautiful eyes, adding a glamour and charm to your doll with these natural eyelashes.
- Material: The doll eyelashes spacers are made of thick plastic, durable material makes them flexible to use and easy to trim, which can be applied as double layer to enhance the effect.
- With Round Ring: Each eyelash has a plastic circle that can be fixed directly to the doll along with the safety eyes and washers, just choose the washer and place it where you want it. The washer will prevents plastic eyelash from falling out.
- Great Gift: These eyelashes are ideal supplies for doll DIY making, and craft, also a delicate gift to your sisters, friends, doll lovers and craft lovers, and you can make crafts with them to enjoy DIY fun together.
- 5-Piece Doll Hand Needle Set: The SINGER Doll Needles Set includes five hand needles in assorted sizes, perfect for a wide range of crafting needs, from doll making to soft sculptures, ensuring you have the ideal tool for any project.
- Easy Threading: Designed with long eyes, these extra-long needles are incredibly easy to thread, accommodating yarns, heavy threads, or doll hair, streamlining your crafting process and saving you time.
- Durable and Long-Lasting: Each needle is made from rust-resistant, nickel-plated steel, offering durability and longevity. Trust in the SINGER quality for needles that maintain their strength and performance project after project.
- Extra Length: The extended length of these needles provides additional reach, making them perfect for stitching through multiple layers or intricate parts of dolls and crafts, enhancing your sewing accuracy and flexibility.
- Professional Results: With the SINGER Extra-Long Doll Needles Set, achieve professional, clean, and precise results in all your hand sewing projects, enhancing the quality and appearance of your crafts with the reliability of a trusted brand.
- IDEAL SIZE: Our Waldorf doll skin fabrics are designed to please. At 30 x 40 inches, each skin colored fabric is an ample amount for making Waldorf dolls.
- INTERLOCK KNIT: Interlock knit jersey is double sided, making it more stable than other knits and it doesn’t curl at the edges, so making dolls with this material is a joy. Moderate stretch, snuggly and stuffs beautifully, it's perfect for your diy doll making.
- 100% COTTON: High-quality skin colored fabric crafted from 100% Cotton. This cotton interlock fabric is super soft to touch and has a good amount of natural stretch without any added spandex or synthetics making it naturally safe for you, your dolls and your loved ones.
- PERFECT COLORS: This cloth doll fabric comes in 3 handpicked tones, Fair (light beige) Tan (sand colored fabric) and Brown fabric (milk chocolate). Snuggly and soft, these cloth doll fabrics are a perfect addition to your Waldorf doll making supplies. (Fair color might be a little lighter than images)
- PREMIUM QUALITY: When we say we don’t settle on quality – we mean it. Soft, natural stretch, and beautifully packaged, we’re all about the details. Our Flesh color fabrics are a quality basic for your Waldorf doll supplies. Valengo, Premium Fabrics at Your Fingertips.
- ✅ Premium Quality Materials: Made from premium grade stainless steel, promising durability, long life span, and anti corrosion properties. Manufactured with a non stick, anti-glare surface and smooth finish.
- ✅ Multipurpose Doll Making / Repairing Tools: These rooting rehair tools are suitable for doll hair rooting, custom doll making, repairing and restringing tasks. Great for hair style design, DIY crafting, making your dolls look charming with beautiful shiny hair.
- ✅ Easy-to-Use Doll Re-rooting Holders: These tools are beginner friendly and easy to use, clean and store. Doll hair root holder tools are small in size and light in weight, which are suitable for home, doll shop, doll DIY shop, etc.
- ✅ Doll Hair Replacement Kit: Ideal toolkit for rehairing barbies and any other dolls breeds. Make your favorite dolls, animals, plush toys more alive using these multi-function needles, tweezers and pliers set.
- PACKAGE CONTENTS: You will receive 2 pieces pink safety eye tools. One is the safety eye spacing tool, and the other is the safety eye installation tool.
- SAFETY EYE SPACING TOOL: There is spacing for 50mm, 75mm, 100mm. This tool can help you figure out where the doll's eyes should be placed, solving the spacing problem of doll eye installation.
- SAFETY EYE INSTALLATION TOOL: Use this safety eye installation tool to help you install doll eyes of sizes 6-50mm. Using this safety eye jig makes installing the safety eye easy and stops the pain on fingers that usually comes with inserting safety eyes.
- NICE MATERIALS: These safety eye tools are made of pink PETG material, which is flexible and durable.
- VERSATILE APPLICATIONS: This tool is applicable for making various kinds of dolls, like stuffed animals, amigurumi dolls, crochet and sewing projects, and other crafts.
- Permanent Glue for Fabric: Fabric glue for clothing is manufactured with an formulated to provide a fast-setting, permanent bond that remains flexible after washing. This sewing glue is machine washable and dryer safe. You can use them with confidence
- What You Get: The package contains with 1 piece of 150ml waterproof cloth glue for fabric, 2 pieces of glue spatulas, The large capacity 5 ounce tube fabric glue with tools helps to fix the hems and repair the cloth easily.
- Strong Fabric Glue: Heavy duty patch glue is a thick glue gel type, not easy run gel formula, and less messy during use. With a spare precision nozzle, ideal for applying rhinestone, sequins, and small cloth jewelry to make your masterpieces.
- Easy to Use: Apply clothing glue for fabric to each surface to be bonded evenly, then press materials firmly together. Allow a minimum of 24 hours for a full cure. Wait a minimum of 3 days before washing or ironing.
- Wide Application: Permanent bond between fabrics and other embellishments, this high strength adhesive dries crystal clear and permanently adheres a wide variety of fabrics, cotton, felt, canvas, buttons, rhinestones, ribbon and more
Best Doll Making Supplies Buying Guide
Before choosing the best doll making supplies you should consider following options:
1. Sculpting Tools: The most important tool you need is some kind of sculpting tool for making the original doll form. You can use clay or wax for this.
Clay is generally the best choice for dollmaking, as it is malleable, easy to get and inexpensive. There are many different types of clay you can use.
The most common types of clay for dollmaking are plastilina and air-dry. Air-dry clay is made of different ratios of clay and wax, and the more wax you add, the longer it takes for the clay to harden.
Plastilina is a type of clay specifically made for dollmaking, and it is softer than other types of clay, which makes it easy to work with.
Another type of clay you can use is oil-based clay. This is a good choice if you plan to create a very detailed face on your doll. However, it is not suitable for children to use, as they may ingest some of the oil.
Waxes are another option for sculpting tools. Wax is a good choice if you want to make a poseable doll. Waxes are generally easier to sculpt with than clays, but they are not suitable for long-term use.
The most common types of wax you can use are plastilina and paraffin. Paraffin is generally cheaper, but it is not suitable for making a detailed face. Plastilina wax is good for sculpting detail, but it is more expensive than paraffin.
2. Cutting Tools: Cutting tools are another essential for dollmaking. You can use an X-Acto knife or rotary cutter for cutting the doll shape out of the clay.
However, you can also buy special tools called cutters specifically for dollmaking. These are a set of interchangeable blades, one of which is a straight cutter.
These cutters come in different sizes and are relatively inexpensive. Another option is a clay cutter, which looks like a pair of scissors.
This instrument is specifically designed to cut a sheet of clay into a doll shape. These cutters are relatively inexpensive and easy to find.
3. Painting Tools: Painting is an important part of the dollmaking process. You can either paint the doll with acrylic paints after it has dried, or you can use a special ink for painting the doll before it dries.
Acrylic paints are the better choice for dollmaking, as they are easy to get and cheaper. You can buy these paints from any art supply store.
Another option for painting is ink, which gives a more realistic effect. There are different types of ink you can use for dollmaking, including India ink, Sumi ink and acrylic ink.
Acrylic ink is the most common type of ink for dollmaking, as it is easy to find and inexpensive. Sumi ink is the best choice for realistic effect, but it is harder to find and more expensive than acrylic ink.
If you are planning to use ink to paint your doll, you will also need some special tools to apply the ink. You can use an inkbrush, a sponge, a cotton swab or cotton balls to apply the ink.
If you choose to paint your doll with acrylic paints, you will need special tools, including a paintbrush, a paint palette, a paint tray and paint thinner.
4. Sewing Supplies: Sewing supplies are another essential for dollmaking. You will need a
What else you should know about doll making supplies
1. What kind of doll making supplies do I need to get started?
The specific supplies you’ll need to get started making dolls will depend on the type of dolls you want to make. However, some general supplies you may need include fabric, stuffing, thread, a needle, and scissors. You may also need a pattern or template to help you create the shape of the doll.
2. What are the best doll making supplies for beginners?
The best doll making supplies for beginners are a doll body, a pattern, and some basic sewing supplies.
3. Where can I find doll making supplies?
There are many places to find doll making supplies. One option is to look for them online. Another option is to check with your local craft store.
4. How do I choose the right doll making supplies for my project?
To choose the right doll making supplies for your project, consider the following:
-The type of doll you are making (e.g. rag doll, plastic doll, etc.)
-The materials you need for the type of doll you are making
-The size of the doll you are making
-Your budget
5. What are the most popular doll making supplies?
There is no definitive answer to this question as different people have different preferences. Some of the most popular doll making supplies include fabric, yarn, stuffing, buttons, and thread.
Conclusion
On the market, there are numerous best doll making supplies. Hopefully, the list of the top ten best doll making supplies will save you time researching and deciding on the best one for you.