How to make Curly Doll Hair

Making doll hair can be one of the most frustrating things, but it is crucial to bring the doll to life. I have found a few ways of making a pony tail that I like, and ringlets just around the face makes a cute doll as well. Curly hair can be a challenge, if you really want it curly and not just short.

The Curly Hair Kids (over cast day so kind of a dark picture, I will try to remember to retake one outside)

Improved pictures of the dolls

This is the best way I have found so far to make curly hair. It is crocheted rather than knit, however. You do not need to be an expert at crochet to do this, as long as you can do a chain stitch, half double crochet and slip stitch, you will have no problems at all. Start by making a hair cap to fit the dolls head.

Basic hair cap ..... magic loop, ch 2, 6 half dbl cr in loop, pull tight. Join. Work in continuous rounds. 2 half dbl cr in each st. All of these hair designs was completed using a 4.5 mm hook. Caron Simply Soft yarn for the lighter tan hair and Waverly for the pink doll hair in a darker beige.

Working increase rounds

No increases, just half double crochet around for the sides of the hair cap

Now, you are worried because this is making a very loose fabric ... that is okay. You are going to be adding lots of curls to it later on. You do NOT want this to be a tight fabric. Keep it loose. You also want some easy loops to be able to join the curls to. So, after you have the base circle started, (12 st), you are going to crochet in the BACK loop only of each stitch for the rest of the hair cap. The front loops will become the joining place for the curls and it is very easy to crochet into them if they are unattached.

Crochet into the back of the loops only

The hair cap is worked in half double crochet stitches.

Next round, crocheting only into the back of the stitches, 1 half dbl cr, inc in next stitch.
Next round, half dbl cr in 2 st, inc in next
Next round, half dbl cr in 3 st, inc in next
Continue this pattern until the hair cap is the right size for the top of the dolls head. You will need to try it on the doll to check periodicall.. Once you have the size you need, stop the increases and just do the half dbl cr in continuous rounds until the hair cap is the right size for the doll.  When you have just one round left, work some decreases. I do 5 dblcr then 1 dec all the way around. This just keeps the hair snug on the head while you sew it on.

Sl st to join once you have the desired size but do not fasten off.

Finished hair cap, ready to start curls!

Curls .... chain 2, then sl st into one of the loops close to the hook. ch 2 slst into another loop diagonal to the first loop you used. ch2 slst into another loop diagonal to the last loop you used.

Circle back to fill in spaces as you work. I don't mind if the curls cross over each other to get to an empty place now and then.

About half done

Continue to do this to work your way randomly around the hair cap. Try not to go in straight lines either across the hair cap or vertically. You want the curls to be random. I work about 3-4 rounds of loops at a time, gradually filling the hair with curls. I don't use a set pattern, but it is ( ch2 slst into hair cap, ch2 slst ) changing rows and directions with each loop on the hair cap. I work about 1/4 of the hair cap at a time then gradually overlap the chains to I am working in a new area. If you notice a patch seems to have fewer curls in it, just work you way back to it and fill in some more, just make sure you don't leave a long straight chain on top to get there.

You can experiment with different length chains if you want longer curls, perhaps a ch 3 or ch4 between the slst.

Once you are happy with the thickness of the curls, slip stitch and fasten off but leave a long tail to sew the hair onto the doll.

Viola! You now have a curly headed doll!

I have used a sc base and the half double crochet base, and I really think the half double crochet base is much easier to work with, and is much lighter than the finished result with a tighter hair cap. The doll with the pink dress at the top was done using a sc for the hair cap, and I found it more difficult to keep the stitches random. As a result, some of her curls are close to being in organized rows. The other 2 dolls were done with the half double hair cap and a very random arrangement of curls. The final result in thickness of curls is the same. The half double method takes considerably less time to make the hair cap as well.

Pink doll, hair cap done in sc. It was hard to get the hook through the stitches in places,

half double crochet hair cap base. Let the curls meander as you create them!