Doll Finished

This is the dolls legs. I have attached it to the broom using a coat hanger wire that is in a U shape. Poked up through the boot heels and legs. This is for when i have her suspended in the air to show her standing on her broom.
A close up detail of her dress, cat and hands.
Her face close up.
Here she is completed. I had fun making her i hope you enjoyed her journey into being.
The next job is to clean up my mess, get back to doing some more Christmas dolls and dream about the next project.

Doll Continued

This is the doll so far. the rest is just finishing off by hand. adding hands, sewing on embellishments, adding the cat and lastly the face.

Cat Pattern

I have now added the cat pattern to my free pattern and tutorials list. If you make one or have an idea on how to make the instructions clearer, let me know!

Doll Continued

This is the hair i am going to use on the doll.
I have to brush and clean it out first and then having drawn a hat line on the doll i will use a felting needle to poke the hair in just on that line i drew and above it on the head to hold it in. I am looking for a messy fly away look so styling is not so important. This brush is actually a pet brush, exactly the same as they type of brush you get in teddy bear stores but much cheaper.
All witches need a broom and this is what i had.
Some lavender from my niece. I tied it up and here it is.

Doll Continued

All witches need a cat, I thought hard on what i wanted, and thought about the basic shape of a cat. So idea in mind, back to my trusty tools, cardboard, scissors and masking tape i set to work.
This is his basic pattern shapes. a back, front, underside, tail and face.
Front view taped together.

back view taped together.
This cat is going to be made out of soft cashmere and wool coat material. I am going to put iron on interfacing on the main body to help it give it body and sew it by hand. This is now going to be traced onto freezer paper, adding seam allowances and ironed onto the fabric. cut out and hand sewn together. I hope it works!

Doll Continued

The main body of the hat is now sandwiched between the two rims. Pin and sew the rims together. Decorate the hat as you wish. Embellish.
Cardboard, glue stick and felt. The main body of the hat is clipped and glued between the two brim pieces.
Hat Components
Wire used to measure and create the shape from around the head ready to be traced onto cardboard.
Wire around the head for the shape of the inner brim of the hat.

Doll Continued

The fabric paint i will use for the boots. paint 1 layer, leave it to dry, lightly rub and add another coat. When they are dry, cover the painted boots with clear nail polish. Nice shiny leather look.

The leg/shoe dissected. The shoe part is what i will use to trace on the leg part to be painted later.
Leg wire cut and the end of the wire bent in on itself for safety , put through the leg. Stuff through the heel carefully and ladder stitch the top of the leg to the underside of the doll.
Do this with both legs.
Sewn, cut out and stuffed the front part of the shoe leaving the heel and the leg unstuffed.
Drawn boots onto cardboard. trace onto doubled fabric. Sew around shape leaving open at the top and the heel. The wire of the leg is going to be in the centre and it makes it easier to stuff up from the heel.

Doll Continued

More of the shape and drape method. As this is a fixed doll and not a toy this works very well.

More shape and drape.
I will add more colour in the embellishments, embroidery and other bits and pieces it is evolving as we speak.
I will also be making a cat and a broom. I still have not decided exactly how i am going to do the legs yet, but i have an idea of what i want to do....

Doll Continued

Originally i was going to make some felt to do the clothes when i fell for the dreaded flu. So change of plans. I am going to use the mustard felt i bought from Zart Art the other day.
Using the paper towels i decided to tackle the clothes using the drape, pin, and tuck method.
The bottom of the dolls skirt was too flat and i decided i wanted the underside not to show so much. By making a 3cm mark on both the underside and on the outer skirt, pinning the stuffing away from it i was able to lift the underside up. Pinching the fabric as i sewed i had the shape i wanted and exposed the calves of the legs more, rather than just the ankles.

Pinned all around 3cms.

Materials used in pattern draping.

Stuffing and Kitties

I thought i might share this with you. A good place to buy good quality fiberfill stuffing in Victoria is from this place. The Pillow Factory. My friend picks up a bag for me a couple of times a year, Sorry, I cannot for the life of me remember how much it costs, but a 5 kilo bag B grade stuffing works well for dolls. If you know of a good place to buy stuffing or doll supplies share your thoughts with us.


Cat picture for the day. Sitting in Sunshine.

Doll Continued

This is the underside of the skirt, with her boot legs showing. Just coat hanger wire at the moment.
Two views of the doll. The fabric i have used is one i am going to use in another project, Gum Trees, later on. It is a heavy weight curtain fabric from Savers.
Front view.
This doll is going to be put aside for a couple of days because the next step is to make the felt for the clothing. I need a really nice warm or at least no wind day to do it. So I am now going to make some of my favourite things at the moment. The Kinder Kids are begging to be made. Usually I do some of the sewing on the dolls every day, but have neglected them for one whole week.

Doll Continued

This is the skirt pattern. I am going to sew it in the following order. All the top darker points i will sew first. Then those marked 2. then the sides together.
This is the base. I will sew this on doubled fabric right sides together using my sewing foot as a guide. Cut a around and clip. I will then make a slit on one side only to turn right sides out. This will then be sewn to the bottom of the assembled skirt. Two holes made at the base for the coat hanger legs to hang out.
The next step will be to stuff the skirt then place the body in it then hand stitching it to the doll.

Skirt and Legs

This is the cardboard skirt pattern i have made right at the beginning when i worked out all the measurement of the doll. It will be it in whatever fairly stiff fabric i can find. It won't even matter what colour or design it is because it won't show. The final layer of this doll is going to be hand made felt. I have not made the felt yet, So looking forward to doing it.


What is this? It is the base of the skirt pattern with coat hanger legs. I have decided that the skirt is going to be a stump type of base with legs coming out from starting at the the calves. Long slender feet with boots.

Coat hanger wire is the basis of the legs. The fact is you will not be seeing most of her legs only the bottom part will be showing. Using a wire in one piece attached to the body will help keep it stable. She is going to be on a broom flying with her cat when she is finished.

Hands

Left hand. Right hand. paper hand.

stuffed and sewn

All the ladder stitching is done.
body is now put aside for later.
I am not worrying that it is not the neatest in the world, it is only for the fun of crafting. Later i can make adjustments to my liking but the important thing for me right now is to get my idea down.

Making the hands this afternoon. This is one of the hardest parts, usually takes me 3 or 4 goes to get it how i like, Playing is so much fun!

Sewing tips

When choosing a thread for your sewing project, don't just put the cotton reel next to the fabric, you will not get the correct shade. Instead unroll it a little and put the single thread next to the fabric. You may be very surprised at how different it looks.

body continued

Hands

Although i will not be adding the hands to the doll until i have done the clothing, they will be shown finished ready to be put into the end of the arms before then.
The reason why i put the hands last is so that i can be happy and not have to worry about them getting in the way of the sleeves and clothing draping.
More on that later when i get there.

Pin, Pose, Progress

The body, arms and head have been stuffed and posed and pinned before sewing. The skin fabric is from Spotlight it is pale pink quilters cotton. It looks too bright on the roll but when it is stuffed with fiberfil it lightens up.They all get ladder stitched

Using your small stuffing tools you can add more stuffing as you go along before you have finished sewing. Sew up the head, arm and back opening. Leave the wrists open for now, you are going to add the hands when they are done. I will post close-ups of the hands before i pose and add them to the rest of the body.


This is the doll in progress

ready to stuff

This is the doll so far. I have made the body, sewn the arms, wired the fingers, made the head, It is a flat faced doll, just two pieces the same a back and a front with a slit in the back the neck is going to be put into the slit. I have not decided on the legs yet...

The picture shows them as being very very slender, I think i may use coat hanger wire and wrap them first before deciding what to do next. More on that when i get to it.

My tools that i use for stuffing are, two sizes of forceps, 24cm and 12cm. these have ridges that can grip the fiberfill. two hand made stuffing tools, (large eyed needles that have the eye cut in half), filed to eliminate rough edges and a handle put on the pointy end. One of them has a polymer clay handle and the other one, a cork. I will put a proper handle on it later. Scissors, good quality thread for the body always. The seams are going to be stressed with the stuffing and you do not want all your hard work to go to waste. A cheap thread could make the seams split. I use cheaper ones, like my bargains the other day for things like clothes, they don't have the stress of being pulled about. Do check any thread before you use them.