Fixing Dolls' Faces

Three smiling dolls

     A neighbor came to me with some dolls that someone had made for her daughters.  They were beautifully crafted rag dolls except the person had used long satin stitches for the eyes and nose.  As a result the little girls were getting their fingers caught in the long threads and they started coming undone.

Pulled stitches on the eyes

Broken threads on the nose

     As you can see in the photos, the poor dolls didn't look so friendly any more.  In fact the youngest one was scared of the doll.

Hand stitching the eye in place

     I decided the best solution was to cover over those long satin stitches.  In some cases where the thread was pulled a lot I had to cut the stitches to allow the fabric to relax and eliminate the puckers.  I hand sewed felt pieces in place using a small blanket stitch.  By choosing thread that was an exact match the stitches just disappeared into the felt.

A new smiley face

     A much more friendly face and mom reported three happy girls.