Hair for Cloth Dolls
designated "part". If the hairdo is upswept, a bun, ponytails, French twist or banana curls can be add after the main head piece. Again, the method of attaching varies from gluing to sewing or by use of a felting needle.
Felting the hair in place is a fairly recent technique and a special tool called a felting needle is used to force the fibers into the cloth head. It is a quick way to secure many types of hair fibers on to a fabric head that has not been gessoed or painted to make it firm.
Some doll artists have developed a custom felting tool that uses more than one felting needle on a single base or handle. The needle has many little sharp barbs on the side and as it goes into the fabric and stuffing, the barbs push the hair fibers down into head. These needles should be used with caution since they are very sharp and will just as easily go into the doll maker's finger. After the fibers have been felted into the head, they can be pulled out with a bit of a tug. To avoid losing hair, a film of glue can be applied to the head as the felting is being done. It sometimes gums up the needle, so pay careful attention to it's effectiveness as you are working.
As was mentioned above, some cloth dolls have painted hair. This works best on a doll head without many seams such as the pancake style made of a simple front and back.
After the doll is constructed and before a face is added, the entire head or just the hair area is painted with gesso, a white or colored liquid that is used to prepare canvases for painting. The gesso will dry quickly and will be hard. It can be sanded and a second coat applied if desired. After it is thoroughly dry, paint on the hair color in one or more coats and let it dry completely before adding face or clothing.
Adding clothing will be the next article.
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