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

DIY Cookie Cutter Doll

© Melissa Gaggiano

    It's the winter break and I've got the kids making dolls. It's fun, and whiles away the time in a productive manner. I made a basic cookie cutter doll pattern, which was cut from felt fabric. The good thing about felt is that it doesn't fray, so you don't worry about seam frays.

    I have had minimal involvement in the doll making process. I help the kids when they ask for help, and I just make sure that the dolls have some kind of structural integrity [don't want the filling popping out].

1.     I get the girls started - show them a blanket stitch and let them stitch the body pieces together along the edge. Keeping an 8 cm opening at the top of the head. Since felt is being used there is no need to turn the doll body through.
2.  The dolls are then stuffed with doll filler. Using the same blanket stitch the top of the head is sewn shut. 
3. The faces of the dolls are painted on.*
4. Using additional felt [even scraps] drape the fabric over the doll bodies, cut out the clothing pieces and sew directly onto the doll bodies.*

* The important thing about this activity, particularly with the last two steps is to let the kids play with draping, cutting their own shapes and sewing the pieces onto the doll bodies. The rules are 'there are no rules'. Whatever your child creates will be perfect in their own mind.

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

    If you wish to do this project I am providing a free pattern for the doll cookie cutter body. Let's see what you come up with.

© Melissa Gaggiano
Print on an A4 page; Cut out pattern;
Trace outline on 2 pieces of felt [front & back].

DIY Doll house Bunk Bed

© Melissa Gaggiano

    There are many wonderful free DIY doll house furniture instructions available out there. Of course when I decided to built a cardboard bunk bed for my kids' doll house I wanted to construct it within one day. So rather than following one of the many gloriously detailed, fancy bunk beds, I came up with my own simple design, which I now offer to you.

What will you need?

• boxing cardboard [preferably 4mm thick]
• art knife
• metal ruler
• craft glue
• paint

1. Cut out these pattern pieces on the cardboard.

2. Begin gluing the two ground supports to a mattress bottom piece. Allow to dry.

3. Turn mattress bottom piece sideways and glue to one side wall
[bottom supports to line up with side walls].
4. Glue second bottom mattress piece to side wall [closer to the top]. Allow to dry.

5. Glue second side wall to both bottom mattress pieces.
Ensure all pieces are pressed firmly together and allow to dry.

6. Glue the ladder to one side of the bed. Allow to dry.

7. Now you may choose to paint or draw on the bunk bed to decorate.

Face Painting Template

My daughter's face painting ideas.

    Today my eldest decided that she was going to be a face painter when she grows up. What an epic idea!

    As a fun weekend project I suggested she create a folio of face painting ideas. Being that we were out of printer ink I created a face stencil that can be used many times over. 

    For those who like this idea, and have plenty of printer ink I have created for you a printable template (see below) for coming up with face painting ideas. I look forward to seeing the designs you come up with - include a link in comments below.

Printing spec: Scale to fit on A4

    Alternatively if you want to create a reusable face stencil simply create a copy of the below stencil. Ensure you use relatively strong card and cut out using a sharp art knife.

© Melissa Gaggiano

Pants for Ken

Ken's Got Pants

    In this house there are two Ken dolls, both vying for the one and only set of clothes that they happen to be in possession of. Yes, that is right, these poor boys have to share their clothes [an issue I have talked about previously with great passion].
    But the times are a changing' as I have begun making them a spare set of clothes, beginning with a pair of pants. No longer will it be a 24/7  Pants Free Friday for the Ken dolls in this house.
    And now I share with you a tutorial for making pants for this overlooked figure from Barbie-land.

Materials

• Scrap fabric [Dad's old boxer shorts will do and if he asks where his pants went just say it was for a good cause.]
• Thin elastic

Steps

1. Print the below provided pattern [ensuring scale is correct]. Cut out the paper pattern.
2. Cut two fabric pieces from the paper pattern.
3. Fold the bottom hem of each fabric piece 5mm and stitch closed.

step 3

4. Fold each fabric piece in half and stitch up the pant leg.

step 4

5. Pin both pant legs together via the crotch. Stitch the crotch closed.

step 5

6. Fold down waistband of pants 10mm and hand stitch closed, leaving an opening no wider than 10mm.
7. Feed an elastic through waistband via the opening just made. Tie a knot in elastic to close.

step 7

8. Turn pants through and give Ken his dignity.

Print paper pattern to scale

DIY Cat or Bat Mask

    My youngest loves Batman, and now that she has been watching the Batman animated series she has now discovered Cat Woman. So now interchangeably  she will call herself Batman or Cat Woman. 

    I made her a paper mask which can either be a Batman or Cat Woman mask. Hey! It looks like both. And now I am sharing the mask design with you as a DIY.

Materials

• Black paper or card
• Thin elastic

Steps

1. Print the below provided pattern. It will fit on an A4 page.
2. Cut out the pattern along the unbroken lines.
3. Place pattern over black paper and trace an outline of the mask.
4. Cut out the outline of the mask.
5. Fold along the dotted line location [as seen on the pattern].
6. Using a stiletto [or needle or pen head] punch a thin hole into the sides of the mask where the dots are [as seen on the pattern].
7. Measure the elastic to fit around back of child's head.
8. Feed the elastic through the holes in mask and tie two knots. And you're done, just in time for Halloween.

Cat Woman/Batman mask pattern

Ragamuffin Mousie

    Several years ago I contributed a cloth mouse pattern to Mixtape zine. The pattern appeared in issue 10.  I've been combing through my library as part of a spring clean, and I found a copy of this sweet lil' magazine.

    I now share this mouse pattern [aka Ragamuffin Mousie] with you as a free DIY craft project. All the information you would need is provided below, for print out.

Ragamuffin Mousie instructions
© Melissa Gaggiano

Ragamuffin Mousie pattern
© Melissa Gaggiano

DIY Tooth Pouch

    I have put together an easy little tutorial for you, for making a tooth pouch. You don't need much to make this sweet little fellow. Simply save the below file to your desktop, print to the correct scale on an A4 page, and follow the instructions.

    Let me know if you make this tooth. I would love to see your efforts.

DIY Silly Critters

Silly Critters
© Melissa Gaggiano

    I created a doll that could be made by people who believe they can’t sew. There is no right or wrong way to make a silly critter. In fact the aim is to make each critter as unique as possible. Go ahead and change placement of facial features, cut out strange shapes to make the eyes and ears. Go wild with this one.

Materials
· Scrap fabric
· Scrap felt
· Needle & thread/sewing machine/ or craft glue
· Scissors
· Doll filler

Steps
1. Using scrap fabric, cut out two body pieces*.

2. Using scrap felt, cut out ears*, chest, eyes, pupils, mouth and bottom. Design your own mouth shape and use any eye shape you want.

3. Pin chest piece to lower half of one body piece [this will become front of the doll. Stitch the chest piece to front of body. At this point you can hand sew, use a machine or simply glue it on.

4. Sew on or glue the pupils to the eyes.

5. Consider placement of eyes and mouth to front of doll – go crazy, make it unique. Sew/glue these pieces to front of doll.

6. Now for the ears. Bring the two body pieces together – wrong sides together. Slip the two ears in between the body pieces – you choose the placement and pin into position.

7. Sew/glue along the edges of the doll, but keep the bottom open for filling.

8. Now you can stuff the doll with filling.

9. At this point you have two options. [i] Sew/glue straight along the bottom to close the silly critter. Or [ii] Pin the bottom piece into the remaining opening, lining up the edges and hand sewing the silly critter closed. This bottom that will allow the silly critter to stand upright by itself.

* You have two different body and ear options to choose from.

Small Critters pattern
© Melissa Gaggiano
Print to scale on A4 paper.

Rocket Ship

© Melissa Gaggiano

Materials

• Empty toilet paper cylinder
• Foil
• Red paper/card
• Scissors
• Pencil
• String or yarn

Steps

1. Wrinkle up the foil to create texture, then carefully unwrap and smooth out.
2. Wrap the foil around the T.P. cylinder. Tuck the foil up into one end of the cylinder.
3. Close the other end of the cylinder by twisting the foil into a point. This will be the top end of your rocket.

Steps 1-3

4. Cut four small incisions into the bottom of the cylinder, making four equal quadrants. Each incision need only be about 1cm.

Step 4

5. Draw an outline of a rocket blast onto a scrap piece of red card. Place a second piece of card to the first piece and cut out the flame outline. Make sure the width of the flame is a bit wider than the rocket cylinder.
6. Separate the two flame shapes. Cut an incision up to the middle on one flame. Cut an incision down to the middle on the second flame.

Steps 5-6

7. Bring the two flame pieces together via the intersecting incisions just made. From a birds-eye-view the flame will look like an X.

Step 7

8. Push each section of the flame up into the four rocket incisions. 

Step 8

9. Tie the end of string to the nose of the rocket ship, and now she is ready to fly.

* Bonus steps: 

• You could paint the finished, foiled rocket. 
• Have the rocket as part of a mobile installation.
• Cut out stars, glue to string and have the string dangling to the rocket.

Decorative Mushroom

© Melissa Gaggiano

Supplies

• Scrap felt - red, beige and white
• Needle and thread
• Scrap thin elastic
• Hole puncher
• Scissors

© Melissa Gaggiano
Mushroom Pattern Pieces

Steps

1. Print and cut out the supplied pattern pieces.
2. Using the Inner Section pattern cut out 2 pieces of beige coloured felt. Using the Top Section pattern cut out 2 pieces of red coloured felt.
3. Using a paper punch cut a handful of circles out of white felt.
4. Cut a small piece of elastic, tie ends together in a knot. Sew looped elastic to the top of 1 Inner Section piece.
5. Hand sew the white felt pieces to one of the Top Sections.
6. Layer all four felt pieces together, ensuring the Top Sections are on the outside of the Inner Sections. Also have the elastic loop poking out at the top.
7. Blanket stitch along the outer edge of the mushroom and tie off at the end.
8. You now have a cute lil' red mushroom decoration.

© Melissa Gaggiano

Pocket Doll

Melissa Gaggiano doll design

    This pocket size doll is something I whipped together on a whim. Initially I wanted to use a printed iron on transfer, but since I was on short supply of materials, I simply traced the lines and went over them with my sewing machine.

    This is a good project for people who want to make a doll but aren't confident sewers.

Materials

• Scrap fabric
• Iron on transfer paper

Steps

1. Print out the reverse illustration onto iron on transfer paper.
2. Set up iron, press paper illustration to fabric applying instructions that come with transfer paper.
3. Cut out front and back fabric pattern pieces along broken line. 
4. Pin the front and back pattern pieces together and sew around outline, with a 5 MM seam allowance. Keep an opening at top of the head.
5. Take your scissors and make little snips around the outer edge [curves and corners]. Careful not to cut the seam lines you have just sewn.
6. Turn the doll inside out [this is why we keep an opening in the head].
7. Stuff the doll with filler [you know the fluffy stuff].
8. Sew the head shut either with sewing machine or by hand.
9. Now play with your doll or put it in your pocket.

Melissa Gaggiano illustration

Melissa Gaggiano illustration
Back pattern piece

Melissa Gaggiano illustration
Front pattern piece
Use this reverse image if you are using a print iron on transfer

Penny Paper Doll

    I have only just finished making a paper doll. Her name is Penny and you can download and print her for free.

    I recommend printing onto a thick paper so Penny will stand up after you cut her out [if not, print onto regular paper then glue to cardboard before cutting. Cut as close to her body as possible, and cut along the line near her feet. Wrap this rectangular section into a cylinder shape and tape the edges together.

    Additional enhancements: I kept the skin clear, so that it can be coloured in to be any tone you like.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.