An articulated paper doll is made in parts. The head, arms, legs and tail are cut out separately and joined to the body with small brads, so the figure can wave, sit and pose. It is an old idea for a toy, and it still works. You need a printer, paper or card, scissors, something to make holes with and about half an hour.
Our paper dolls start as drawings: each character is drawn and coloured by hand on paper, then turned into print files. Every set comes in two versions, a colour page to print and cut, and a black and white line art page to colour yourself first. Below is how we assemble them in the studio.
What you need
- The printed doll file
- White card stock or heavy paper that your printer can take; ordinary printer paper works too
- Sharp scissors or a craft knife
- A small hole punch or an awl
- Small paper brads, also called split pins, as small as you can find: our cats take five per cat, the Mermaid Cat and Unicorn Cat set takes fifteen for two figures
Print at 100 percent
Choose "Actual size" or "100%" in the print window and turn off "Fit to page". If the printer scales the page, the parts still fit together, but the doll comes out smaller than she should be and the brad heads look bigger on her. Our files are laid out landscape; the Two Cats set comes with both A4 and US Letter pages, the other sets are A4, so pick the sheet that matches the paper in your printer. Print on one side of the paper only.
Plain paper or card?
Ordinary printer paper is fine, and the doll will move just as well. Card or heavy paper is better if your printer can take it: the doll stands up straighter, the joints last longer and the holes do not tear so easily. If your printer has a setting for thick paper or card, use it, so the sheet feeds through properly.
If you print the line art and colour it yourself, test wet media such as paint or markers on a corner of the paper first, and let the sheet dry fully before you cut.
Cut out the parts
Cut along the outer line. On curves, turn the paper and keep the scissors still, the line comes out smoother that way. Leave the smallest parts until last, when your hand is warmed up. A craft knife on a cutting mat is quicker for the inside corners, for an adult.
Make the holes
Each part has a small mark where the joint goes. Punch or pierce the hole on the mark, keeping it small so the brad sits firmly. A hole punch gives the cleanest hole in card; an awl works on paper. Punch the moving pieces first, then use each limb hole as the guide for piercing its matching spot on the body.
Join the arms and legs
- Lay the arm or leg on the body with the two holes aligned.
- Push a brad through from the front and open its legs flat at the back.
- Do not press the joint too tight, or it will not move. Check that the arm turns before you do the next one.
- Fit the limbs in the order the assembly guide shows, so overlapping parts sit the right way round.
How big are they?
Assembled, each cat from the Two Cats set is about 15 cm tall and has seven pieces: head, body, two arms, two legs and a tail. The Mermaid Cat is about 21 cm and the Unicorn Cat about 19 cm, with fifteen moving joints between them. The product page of each set lists the pieces and the number of brads.
With children
Children can do the cutting, the colouring and the posing. Scissors, awls and brads need adult supervision: brads have sharp ends and are small enough to swallow, so an adult should make the holes and keep the brads away from little ones.
Questions we get
Can I use the files for a class?
The licence is on each product page. Some sets allow personal use plus one classroom or group; all of them ask you not to share, resell or upload the files.
Can I cut them with a cutting machine?
The sets include SVG vector files alongside the PDF, so the shapes can be loaded into cutting software. Check the size after import against the PDF before you cut card.
Are the drawings printed or hand-drawn?
Hand-drawn and hand-coloured on paper, then turned into print files, so the colour version keeps the look of the original drawing.
All sets are in Articulated Paper Dolls: the Two Cats, the Mermaid Cat and Unicorn Cat, the Three Little Pigs and the Wolf, and the Mermaid, Princess, Bird and Fish.