Rag Doll Baby Tutorial

I teach music at church for the 3-12 year olds. I'm always trying to figure out a way to make it fun. We needed a little baby prop for a song they were learning so I scoured Pinterest of course to see if I could find a little hanky baby tutorial, or something along those lines. NO luck. Then I called my Mom who happens to be a crafting genius. She dug around in her files and sent me a picture of a Rag Doll pattern that she drew long long ago. It is really so cute but a little more involved than I wanted it to be. So I used the same kind a of design and came up with a super simple baby shape.


Okay it also looks like a ghost, but it worked out perfectly for the little kids to rock their tiny babies as they sang the little lullaby they were learning. Just in case you are curious I'm going to show you how to make these little 6 inch rag doll babies.

I started with  a 12 inch square of Minky or "Cuddle" fabric. Of course you could make them larger if you wanted to, just start with a larger square. Pleat the fabric folding it like an accordion about every inch. Minky fabric has a plush side and a smooth side. You'll want to pleat the fabric so the plush side faces to the front.

Fold the pleated strip in half. Tie an 8 inch piece of yarn around it about 1 1/2 inches away from the fold to create the head. If you loop the yarn through twice as you are tying your first knot it will stay cinched better.

Make the arms by taking the outermost fold and tucking the end under the tie inside the fold as shown.

Wrap the tails of the yarn around to the back and under each arm to help hold them in place. You could also use a needle and thread to stitch the arms in place if you want them to be more secure.

Tie the strings into a bow in the front.

You could leave it like this or tie the bottom to finish it off like I did.

And there you have it a little bunch of babies to cuddle and rock.