How to sew the dolls

One panel, one afternoon, one doll. You don’t need to be able to sew already. Every Betty doll can be sewn by hand or on a sewing machine, and the steps are on the card in the box too.

Sewing your doll together

Iron the panel. A quick press makes the lines easier to follow.
Cut out the front and back along the dashed line. There’s no stitching line to follow, the 1cm seam allowance is already included.
Put them printed sides together so the pictures face each other, and pin all the way round.
Sew all the way round, 1cm in from the cut edge. Leave a gap between the two small red ticks on the outside of the back leg, so you can turn her. By hand, use small back stitches. On a machine, use a short straight stitch and line the cut edge up with the 1cm mark on the plate.
Snip the curves. Make small snips into the 1cm edge around the head, arms and legs, stopping just before your stitches. Don’t snip by the gap. This stops the doll puckering when you turn her.
Turn her the right way out through the gap in the leg. The blunt end of a pencil helps push out the arms and legs.
Stuff her with small handfuls of toy stuffing. Do the arms and legs first, then the head, then the body.
Close the gap with ladder stitch, folding the 1cm edges in, so the stitches hide inside the seam.

Making one for a little one? Use toy stuffing that meets the UK toy safety standard, and leave off buttons or anything small for babies and children under three.

Hand or machine?

By hand: slower, but calm and easy to do on the sofa. You only need a needle, thread and pins. Good for sewing with a child.
By machine: quicker and stronger seams. Go slowly round the curves and use the hand wheel for tight bits like the neck and hands.
Either way, you’ll close the gap by hand at the end.