How to Make Time Out Dolls

Draw an 8-inch circle on the lightweight cardboard using the compass. Draw a 4-inch wide by 6-inch long rectangle with a 4-inch side attached to the circle. Extend the 6-inch sides to meet the circle. This is your head and neck pattern for the time-out doll. Cut out the pattern. Draw a 3-inch wide by 8-inch long rectangle on the lightweight cardboard. This is your hands pattern. Cut out the pattern.

Double the muslin and lay it on your work surface. Place the head and neck pattern on the muslin and draw around it with the pencil. Make sure you are at least a 1/2 inch from the edge of the fabric. Place the hands pattern on the fabric and trace around it. Pin the layers together.

Sew around the head and the long side of the neck on the drawn line. Leave the bottom of the neck unstitched. Sew the two long sides of the hands on the line. Leave the short ends unstitched. Cut the shapes out of the muslin a scant 1/4 inch from the stitches. Clip the corners where the head and neck meet. Turn the head and the hands right side out. Note: There is only one hand piece.

Fill the head and halfway down the neck firmly with stuffing. Cut a 12-inch piece of string. Gather the neck closed with your hands and tie it closed with the string. Tie an overhand knot in the center of the hand tube. The knot emulates clasped hands, and the excess on each end is the wrists. Fill the wrists with stuffing. Close the snaps on the baby sleeper pajamas. Insert the stuffing in the sleeper, starting with the feet. Insert the stuffing through the neck opening and stuff it completely. Burrow a hole in the stuffing inside the neck. Apply an abundance of hot glue in the hole. Line up the head so that one side is facing forward and insert the neck deep into the hole. Hold it tight until the glue cools. Apply hot glue to the inside collar edge of the sleeper and press to the side of the head and neck.

Dress the doll. For a boy, dress in a shirt, overalls, socks, and shoes. For a girl, dress in a dress, leggings, socks, and shoes. Glue the shoes on with the hot glue to hold them in place. Apply hot glue to the inside cuffs of the shirt or dress. Insert a wrist part of the hands into each cuff. Allow the hot glue to cool. You now have a time-out doll that is holding its hands together.

Apply hot glue to the inside crown of the straw hat. With the time-out doll facing you, place the hat on the top and back of the head. Hold the head firmly in the hat until the glue has cooled. Cut a half-inch wide by 12-inch long piece of scrap fabric and tie it into a bow. Glue the bow to the back brim of the girl's hat. If making a boy doll, eliminate the bow, but cut an 8-inch square piece of fabric or bandanna and tuck it into the back pockets of the overalls. Set your doll on its knees and face it into a corner.