Making cloth bodies?

I have a cloth body for Ephram, which works wonderfully for propping him up against things, but... It's really not convenient for anything else because I don't have anywhere to lean it all the time. XD;;;

So I was thinking of maybe trying to make a cloth body that would be more floppy and be able to sit and stuff. I guess I could try basing the pattern off the one I have, but I have questions...

What would you use to stablize the neck? The body I have has something or other in it that keeps the head from making the neck flop over. What could I use for that?

Would it be possible to do something like threading thick wire through the limbs so it could 'pose'?

I don't want poor Ephram to be relegated to just sitting on a bottle for months and months. T_T;