Wire

• Having several gauges of wire on hand works well during armature construction.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Select a wire that doesn't leave a film or discoloration on your hands when you handle it. The wire should be difficult to bend because you want to be able to pose the sculpture but not have it bend so easily that it falls down. Many artists use clothes hangers because they are available. You can also use more than one wire inside the structure; this allows you to use stiffer wire for the central core of the body and thinner wires for arms, hands and feet.
  
  

Tools

• Vise grip pliers work well to twist heavier wire.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  Wire bending tools include a vise, pliers, hammer and wire cutters. Start by cutting a stiff wire (like a clothes hanger) twice as tall as your sculpture. Bend this wire in half so the bend is a half circle. Estimate the size of the head. Twist the wire to create a circle for the head with the twist becoming the neck. Twist three times. Angle each wire to the side to create shoulders. Bend the wire back toward the waist and twist the wire twice to create the waist. Bend it out for the hips and back inward so that the bottom wire is horizontal and the ends overlap.
  
  

Arms

• Chenille wire is soft and fuzzy and perfect for fingers.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Select a wire not as stiff as your body wire. Bend a loop in one end and twist the end three times around the wire; this will form a hand. Hold the hand wire up to the shoulder. The loop should hang a little below the bottom torso wire. Hold the wire in place at the shoulder and wrap the end around the shoulder to the neck, past the neck and to the shoulder. Measure the arm and make a second arm and hand on the wire. Trim off excess wire. Use chenille to make fingers on the hands.
  
  

Legs

• Soft sculpture dolls can be posed to sit upright when a child plays with them.Goodshoot/Goodshoot/Getty Images
  
  Bend a loop in the wire and twist the end three times for the foot. Hold the wire up to the hip bend in the torso wire. The leg should be as tall from the torso wire to the top of the head wire. Bend the wire from one hip around the overlapping wires to the second hip. Measure the leg and make a second foot loop, twisting the wire. Trim off excess. This gives you the basic armature frame for the doll. Pad the wire during the soft sculpture process so you can't feel the wire through the fabric.