Fun
Paper doll chain maker
Choose a shape or draw your own on the folded strip, see the chain of figures open out like an accordion, and print strips with the folds and the cutting shape ready to go.
✓ Holds together: the figures join where the shape touches the folds (green).
Strip 27.1 × 6.8 cm (10.7 × 2.7 in), panels 4.5 cm wide · 2 strips per landscape page.
Shapes
More fold-and-cut designs — hearts, butterflies, stars and doilies — are on the kirigami page.
Play and explore in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a paper doll chain?
Cut a long strip of paper and fold it back and forth like an accordion into equal panels. Draw a figure on the top panel so that its hands, or another part, run right over both folded edges. Cut out the figure through all the layers, but leave the paper at the folds uncut. When you unfold the strip, the figures are joined where they touched the folds.
Why did my chain fall apart?
The figures are only joined where the shape reaches the folded edges on both sides. If a hand stops short of a fold, or you cut along the fold itself, that join is gone and the chain comes apart into single figures. The tool checks the shape and marks the joins in green; the template shows them too.
Why is every other doll a mirror image?
In an accordion fold, every second layer lies face down, so when the strip opens every second figure is a mirror image of the one you drew. Symmetric shapes like dolls and hearts look the same either way; animals such as the elephants face each other in pairs, trunk to trunk and tail to tail.
How many panels can I cut at once?
With ordinary printer paper, up to about 8 layers still cut cleanly with good scissors. More panels make a longer chain but a thicker stack, so use thinner paper or cut two shorter chains and tape them together at a fold. The template tells you the size of each panel and how many strips fit on one page.
What size are the printed strips?
Each strip runs almost the full length of a landscape A4 or Letter page, about 27 cm (10.7 in) on A4, divided into the number of panels you chose. The panel height follows the shape: tall dolls need taller panels than elephants. When the panels would be too tall for the page, they are made narrower and the strip shorter.
Can I draw my own shape?
Yes. Start a tall, medium or wide blank panel and draw the figure as a closed loop with Draw paper; with Mirror left and right on, each stroke is copied to the other side so the figure comes out symmetric. Use Cut a hole for eyes, buttons or windows. Everything stays in your browser.
About this tool
A paper doll chain is a classic paper craft: a strip folded like an accordion, one figure cut through all the layers, and a row of dolls holding hands when it opens. This paper doll chain maker shows exactly what happens before you pick up the scissors, and prints a template sized for your page so the folds line up.
Nine original shapes are ready to use — paper dolls in dresses, kids holding hands, gingerbread men with buttons, hearts, Christmas trees with baubles, stars, elephants, bunnies and snowmen. Each one is drawn on a single panel of the folded strip and reaches both folds, the rule that keeps a chain together. You can also draw your own on a blank tall, medium or wide panel, with a mirror option for symmetric figures and a hole tool for eyes and buttons.
Press Unfold and the folded stack opens out like a real accordion, every fold flattening at once, with every second figure mirrored the way real paper opens. The tool checks your shape as you draw and tells you if a figure would come loose, and it marks the joins along the folds in green. Choose from 2 to 12 panels; more than 8 layers is best cut from thin paper.
The printable PDF has strips across a landscape A4 or US Letter page with the folds dashed and labelled, the shape drawn on the first panel with the cut-away parts shaded grey, the joins in green and a 5 cm bar to check the print scale, plus a page of folding steps and a picture of the finished chain. You can also save the unfolded chain as a PNG.