How to Make a Glove Doll: 2 Easy Crafting Tutorials

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Quick steps to make an adorable doll out of fabric or plastic gloves!

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: January 31, 2026 Fact Checked

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Making the TikTok Viral Glove Doll

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The Glove Doll Trend

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Making a Fabric Glove Doll

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Video

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Things You'll Need

Do you want to try the viral TikTok glove doll trend for yourself? We’ve got you covered! The glove doll trend is all about cleverly crafting simple (but adorable) dolls out of a single disposable glove, which is something you can really easily do in just a few minutes when you’re bored. In this handy guide, we’ll show you how to recreate TikTok’s viral medical glove dolls—plus, if you’re looking for more traditional arts and crafts, how to make a stuffed doll out of fabric gloves. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

TikTok Glove Doll: Quick Tutorial

Blow up a disposable medical glove and tie the end (the wrist hole) closed.
Pinch the glove in half and then twist it, dividing it into two parts.
Wrap the glove’s thumb around the twisted section and then tie it off.
Draw a face on the doll’s head with a permanent marker.
Wrap the loops of a disposable face mask around the doll to give it a hat.
Optionally, tie the doll’s arms around a small object (so it’s holding something).

Section 1 of 3:

Making a Viral (Disposable) Glove Doll

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1
Blow up a disposable glove. Grab a disposable glove—ideally a medical glove made from nitrile. Blow into the glove through the wrist hole, inflating it like a balloon; then, when it’s inflated, tie the wrist hole closed. Once again, you can do this just like you’d do for a balloon, creating a loop around your finger with the glove’s wrist and then pushing the end of the material through the loop and tightening it.^{[1]
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- Once it’s tied off, you should have an inflated glove (and you can start shaping the doll’s features).
2
Twist the glove into two inflated sections. Hold the inflated glove upside-down (with the fingers facing the ground) and pinch the material under your thumb, essentially dividing the glove into two halves. Then, gently twist the top half of the glove a couple of times to create the part of the glove that’ll become your doll’s head!^{[2]
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3
Twist the thumb around the base of the head. To get the doll’s head to stay in place, you’ll need to tie it off using the glove’s thumb. Grab the thumb and pull it around the base of the head a couple of times (while still leaving yourself some material to work with). Then, tie a knot in the rest of the thumb—so it’s tied around the “neck,” keeping the head in place.
- With that, you have the basic shape of the doll complete! The rest of the fingers naturally form the doll’s hands and legs.
- Now, you’re ready to decorate!
4
Draw a face on the doll. Grab a permanent marker (like a Sharpie or something similar) and draw the doll’s face. You can draw the face however you like—whether that’s a happy expression or a different one entirely! Think about what facial features you might want to add, too—like freckles, for example, or eyelashes.^{[3]
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- You could draw the doll’s eyes open or closed.
- You could give the doll an outline of a nose, or just skip the nose altogether.
- If you have them, you could use differently-colored markers to draw the face (or just use a plain black one, if that’s what’s available).
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Use a disposable face mask to give the doll a bonnet. the doll a little bonnet using a face mask. What’s a doll without accessories? These viral medical glove dolls have them, too—and they’re easy to make, just like the dolls themselves! Grab a disposable face mask and pull one of the loops all the way over the doll’s body (so the loop is held in place by the doll’s neck). Then, do the same thing with the mask’s other loop.^{[4]
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- In the end, the mask should basically be wrapped over the doll’s head, so it looks like a cute hat or bonnet.
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Give the doll something to hold, if you like. You can leave the doll as is—or, if you want, find a small object for the doll to “hold” in its arms. Just tie the doll’s arms around the object, so it’s being held securely in place. With that, your adorable disposable glove doll is complete!
- In viral TikToks and other videos, people make dolls holding assorted medical supplies (since they’re being made with medical gloves).
- For instance, the glove dolls in @rapidblues’ TikTok are holding syringes.
- The dolls in @stephbegg’s TikTok are holding medical vials (like the ones used when drawing blood).
- Meanwhile, the glove doll in Jiyon Kim’s YouTube video is holding a toothbrush.

Section 2 of 3:

What is the glove doll trend on TikTok?

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The glove doll trend shows people making cute dolls with medical gloves. It’s a big trend among the medical professionals of TikTok (and Instagram), with people posting videos of themselves quickly crafting inflated dolls from disposable medical gloves. However, there are also some people making dolls out of more traditional knit gloves—and we’ll go over that process below.^{[5]
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- Among medical professionals, the glove dolls are a fun and whimsical activity to do during downtime.
- As far as the fabric glove dolls go, they’re a fun craft for beginners and those who only know the basics of sewing, as they’re relatively easy to make!

Section 3 of 3:

Making a Knit Fabric Glove Doll

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1
Cut and unfold the wrist ribbing on the gloves. Most pairs of knit gloves have ribbing around the wrists made from two layers of fabric (one folded in on the other). If that’s the case for your gloves—and we recommend getting gloves with folded wrist ribbing, since you’ll need the extra fabric—then use a pair of scissors to carefully cut through the sewn threads holding the ribbing in place.
- Don’t cut through both layers, just one. This will let you open up the ribbing and unfold it so there’s just one longer layer of fabric.
- Remember, you’ll need to do this for both gloves. For this tutorial, two gloves are needed to make a single doll.
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Make the doll’s first leg. Take the finger next to the thumb (the index finger) and push it into the middle finger next to it—so, essentially, you’re pushing the index finger from the base until it’s totally encompassed by the middle finger, fitting inside it like an actual finger. By the time you’re done, the glove should look like it only has four fingers: the thumb, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie.^{[6]
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- Once again, do this for both gloves. Then you can go on to the next step!
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Make the doll’s second leg. Repeat the process in the previous step, this time by pushing the little finger (pinkie) all the way inside the middle finger (ring finger) next to it. When you’re done, the gloves should now have three visible fingers—the two middle fingers and the thumb. The two middle fingers will be the doll’s legs!
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Cut arm holes in both gloves. You’ll only need to cut one hole in each glove, directly opposite the thumb (just above the wrist ribbing). The cuts should be delicate and small—only about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) in length. Once that’s done, you’re ready to start assembling the doll.^{[7]
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Fold the two gloves together to form the doll’s arms and body. Put one of the gloves on your hand, so your thumb is in the glove’s thumb, and your two middle fingers are inside the glove’s remaining fingers. Then, pull the second glove onto that same hand so it’s covering the first, and fit your thumb through the second glove’s arm hole (the cut you made). Once both gloves are in place, gently remove your hand.^{[8]
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- Be gentle—you might have to work the glove onto your hand a little (and off of it again).
- Before you take the gloves off, don’t be afraid to adjust them as needed so that your fingers are fully inside each “leg.”
- With the gloves combined and off your hand, you should now have the doll’s full body ready to stuff and sew together!
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Stuff the doll with polyester fiberfill. Grab some fiberfill and pack it into the doll’s legs and arms. If you’re having trouble, use a wooden dowel or kitchen utensil (like the handle of a spoon or butter knife) to push the fiberfill into the doll. Then, keep stuffing the doll’s torso, filling it up to the neck (where the wrist ribbing begins).
- Take some time to shape the doll a little as you go, since the stuffing might take an awkward shape at first, and you want the doll to look uniform.
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Sew around the doll’s neck. Thread a needle and sew a basic running stitch around the base of the doll’s neck, starting (and ending) at the back of the neck. Be sure to leave long strands of thread at both ends—you’ll need them! Cut the thread, so you have two ends hanging loose; then, grasp one end of the thread firmly while pulling on the other, so the fabric around the neck is drawn inward.^{[9]
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- To do a running stitch, you simply need the thread to pass in and out of the fabric at regular intervals.
  - Bring the needle up through the fabric at the starting point, then back down a short distance from that point.
  - Next, bring the needle back up at an equidistant point from the last stitch, and make another stitch of the same size.
  - Keep sewing in a straight line, creating a pattern of horizontal, same-sized stitches.
- When you’re done, tie the two ends of the thread together tightly to ensure the neck keeps its shape.
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Add polyester fiberfill to the doll’s head, then sew it closed. Stuff the rest of the glove (in other words, the section with wrist ribbing) with fiberfill. Once it’s full, shape the head—and the stuffing inside it—until it looks fairly round and even.
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Sew the doll’s head and arm hole closed. Just like you did earlier, sew a running stitch around the end of the glove; then, cut the thread and use both ends to pull the fabric closed. Tie the ends of the thread (and add a couple more stitches at the top) to fasten the head securely. To wrap things up, sew up the arm hole that you cut into the glove as well. Congratulations, you have your doll!^{[10]
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- Don’t want to sew? Use rubber bands to secure the doll’s neck and head instead.
- While technically not necessary, sewing the arm hole stops the glove from unraveling where it was cut.
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Decorate the doll however you like. Makeshift dolls usually have eyes, a mouth, and some sort of hair at the very least—but we’ll let you figure out exactly what embellishments you want. For eyes, sew a pair of small black buttons or beads into the doll’s face. Then, stitch a mouth onto the face with red (or pink) embroidery floss…or just draw facial features with markers!
- Try using thick yarn for the doll’s hair! Loop a bunch of the yarn around two of your fingers into a pompom shape. Replace your fingers with sewing thread and bind the loops of yarn together, then sew it right to the top of the doll’s head.
- There are plenty of other accessories to add—like a strip of patterned fabric for a scarf, or a ribbon around its neck tied into a pretty bow.
- If you want to flex your sewing skills a little more, you could also try making clothing for the doll.