M-m-m-my Poppet

My Poppet
DIY tutorial

    Oh my Star-Lord! I have such exciting news for you. This week I am a guest blogger over at My Poppet. For all you crafty food lovers you will find a delicious DIY tutorial for a miniature felt pizza. It looks good enough to eat and will have you craving the real thing. Ch-ch-check it out!

A huge, amazing shout out to Cintia and her colourful, inspiring My Poppet site.

DIY Peg Doll

    This week I successfully taught peg doll making to children. The children were in awe of the handmade examples that I had to show, but for me the best part was watching them sit down and have a go at sculpting and sewing different shapes of felt material onto their individual pegs.
    No two dolls were exactly alike, which was the intended result. I could easily have instructed the children to make the dolls in my vision, but that wasn't the outcome I was looking for. It was more important for the children to make the peg dolls in their own personal way.
    I present to you a tutorial, which was very loosely used as a basis for the above mentioned doll making class. It is for people who want to make a peg doll and don't know where to begin. I recommend reading the notes, and you have two options: make what your see or sculpt the doll as you imagine it. Remember, there is no right or wrong of making a peg doll. There is only... the fun way!

Materials & Tools 

Threading Needle 

(1) Push the threader through the needle eye, insert the thread into wire threader loop. Pull the threader back through the needle.

(2) Bring the ends of thread together and tie a knot.

Making Doll Hair

(3) Cut 5 pieces of yarn, each roughly 30cm in length.

(4) With the 5 pieces of yarn together, wrap around the middle of the peg and bring the ends of the yarn together up above the head of the peg.

(5) Cut another length of yarn and tie this around the yarn above the head, and knotting it off.

Additional Note: You can also make hair for the doll by colouring in the head with textas, or gluing/sewing felt to the top of the peg.



Doll Clothes
 

(6) Choose a piece of felt and wrap it around the body of the peg and cut off any excess that you don’t need. Play with different lengths of fabric – to make shirts, pants, skirts and coats.

(7) Feed the threaded needle

into both sides of the fabric to close the opening. Repeat the stitch pictured. This diagonal sewing will create a row of visible parallel stitches. Tie a knot in thread when done. Cut the thread close to knot.



Doll Arms
 

(8) Cut out 2 small, narrow pieces of felt fabric roughly 4cm by 1cm. These will be the doll arms.

(9) Ensure your thread is knotted at the end. Stitch the arm pieces to the sides of the fabric wrapped peg.

(10) Your peg person is finished and ready for play.

Additional Note: Experiment with your peg doll designs. With freestyle doll making there is no right or wrong way of creating. You can draw faces, use glue, sew accessories, use buttons, feathers, or anything that makes your peg doll uniquely yours. 



Bonus Material: Reference Card

Luna Lovegood Inspiration

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    I am one of the masses who enjoys the Harry Potter universe and for this very reason I constructed a Luna Lovegood inspired textile sculpted art doll.

    I am so proud of the little-big details that went into making this doll. She has wire armature, is sculpted with felt. I've hand painted fabric, needle felted, blanket stitched and even curled yarn to bring this Luna to life.

    This Luna is currently available in my store. Check her out!

Craft Evolution

Melissa's Doll Making Progress

    When you love someone, or like something, there is not a single simple answer to explain why this is. This is true for me when it comes to creating. I like writing, taking photos, digital editing, drawing, painting, stitching, knitting, crochet, armature, problem solving and I get a real kick when I bring all these things together.

    Doll making has allowed me to mix together many different passions of mine. The other thing I like about doll making is the evolutionary journey it has taken me on. No two dolls that I've created are ever exactly alike. Even after I have perfected a doll pattern I seldom stick to it. There are constant adjustments – I see things that I could do differently the next time. There are new techniques to try.

    I feel that as my dolls change and evolve I too change and evolve with them. I am a different person at the end of each doll making process. Do you feel that too, with your work?