How to "Make" a Refugee Doll

Making a Refugee Doll involves two steps:

  1. Buy a doll at a store.
  2. Make/buy clothing for the doll.

Buying a Doll at a Store

The following stores have 18-inch doll collections (prices are indicative and subject to change):

  • Michaels = $25.00/The Springfield Collection
  • Wal-Mart = $25-$28/My Life Dolls
  • Target = $30.00/Our Generation Dolls
  • Amazon = $35.00/Journey Girls Collection
  • American Girl = $100.00/American Girl Collection

We recommend not buying a doll with a known history. That way your doll will have her own history. Her own story. For a used doll, you may shop online at eBay or Etsy. Any doll will do as long as it is 18 inches tall.

Clothing Your Doll

If making clothes for a doll from the Islamic World (Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan), we recommend making/buying modest clothing. Clothing that covers the arms and legs. Some doll clothing patterns, such as t-shirts can be lengthened to make a dress. The hijab (head covering) is simply a scarf that is 30" long and 10" wide. It is wound over a skull cap made from stretchy material.

Because most commercial doll clothes are of poor quality, we recommend making your own or using community resources to fabricate them. There are many talented seamstresses around the country who could create appropriate fashions for your doll. Mormon women (who have been charged by their bishops to help refugee communities) may be a source. The refugees themselves may be a source for fabrication of these clothes.

The patterns for doll clothes found below under Clothing Patterns were fabricated by Mrs. Rosalie Croft (a.k.a. "Grammie Rose") of New Brunswick, Canada. She invites one and all to use them.

You may visit Mrs. Croft's online catalogue at https://goo.gl/photos/Rrd1EcKPVd5nNq3v9. You may also email her at grammierose@rogers.com.

I made jewelry for my dolls that replicated designs from their culture. I also bought adult bracelets at The Dollar Store that could be used as necklaces for the dolls. A further source of doll jewelry is borealr@nb.sympatico.ca.

As a final note, it was important for me to have my dolls dressed like school children in the U.S.  I did not want my dolls in full traditional dress, but I did want to embellish their outfits with a color/print/design/hijab that harkened back to their culture.

Clothing Patterns

The following links provide access to Adobe PDF files with clothing patterns.

The patterns must be printed on Legal-size paper (8.5"x14"). Download the files first and then open them in Adobe Reader in order to have full control over the printing. Select Actual size and check Choose paper source by PDF page size (see below).

Printer settings for PDF files.