What has happened to paper dolls? Has Barbie replaced them? I can't understand why paper dolls seem to be unpopular. It's a great toy, cheap and versatile. Even little children can make paper dolls' clothing and draw more dolls, if they like.
I was lucky to have two aunts and four older cousins to introduce me to paper dolls, draw me some and encourage me to make more myself. In my family we have a tradition of dolls portraiting ordinary people. Another habit is to cut the tags off the clothes, as we never held dolls vertically when playing but laid them on the floor and could handle a hundred in time if we wanted. My youngest cousin used blue tack to keep clothes on dolls but I've never liked the method because it leaves ugly spots on handmade dolls.
It's almost impossible to find paper dolls portraiting usual children and adults (in Finland, anyway). Dolls I have lately found in stores are old-fashioned, or represent some specific category like film stars, dancers, costume or fashion review dolls. It's fun to collect dolls of a certain type (I like dancer dolls by Tom Tierney) but for playing normal children dolls are a lot more fun.
So I decided to do my duty and made some dolls, the best type I could think of, modern children in different ages. I've dressed them in fine Italian children's fashion, using designs of clothing companies that have allowed me to. You'll find the name of companies or designers at the bottom of Paperdoll Central and links to their sites from the Link page.
I have drawn tags on clothes because I know many people like that - and especially collectors. I haven't marked the cut-along lines on the shoulders of longhaired girls,You have to do it Yourself. Neither have I added any accessory, it's most likely to go missing right away. I dislike all drawn-on accessory too, because it just limits the use of the dress.
These dolls are free to print for Your personal joy. Any commercial use and publishing these dolls without my permission is forbidden. Click here to view the dolls or read on about making paper dolls. Before printing I recommend preview to make sure the doll will print on one page.

For me, drawing dolls has always been easy, fun and relaxing. The only drawback is the time it takes. I spent days working with the color dolls presented on these sites, but totally enjoyed.
I have two methods. For my own dolls I use thick paper, pencils 2H and 3H and a wide range of different color pencils. My favourites are Faber-Castell Polychromos and Goldfaber, an aquarelle pencil series. I never press the pencil hard but rather colour many layers to create beautiful shades. On top of it all I colour a lightshaded layer that helps to maintain rich colors and prevents dark colours to spread on my hands when handling the item. For most outfits white is best, for earthy shades I use ivory and light grey goes well on cold colours. Just be careful this final layer won't mess up the surface or lighten the colours under it.
For dolls to be published I use watercolours and aquarelle pencils. They'll give an even surface that will look good when doll's handled with computer and printed. Colours should be dark, lines clear and details big. On the first layer I usually add another with aquarelle pencils to make lights and shadows and then colour. For fine details I use pencils. The lightshaded layer gives the finish touch.
For making clothes, I cut the doll off or make a mold of it. I measure clothing before colouring it and then again before cutting it to make sure it fits everywhere. Tags are added on shoulders, about halfway of sleeves and legs and on waist if possible. Of course, this is just my way to do things-Examine different techniques and find one You like!