Friendship Dolls

Hi everyone, Laura here today. I’ve been wanting to make a mixed media rag doll project for some time. For myself, and I think for many others, when I’m making a doll the debate is whether to have a face or not. If you choose a face, is it just the eyes? Where do I put them? I was pulling out stencils to use for this project and realized the face on the TCW923 Celestial Sun would work perfectly for a doll face!

I designed a basic rag doll pattern with an attached head. To create the clothing as part of the body, I created a seam between the dress fabric and the neck. skin fabric. The legs and arms are cut from the skin fabric. I chose to make two dolls with different skin tones.

After cutting out pattern pieces, I stenciled on the faces using TCW9009 Black Modeling Paste applied with a palette knife.

Next, I stenciled on the dress background. I started with TCW781 Scrollwork to create a background pattern. I applied two shades of acrylic paint with a cosmetic sponge. I kept the sponging kind of loose.

Next I applied TCW 9004 Light and Fluffy Modeling Paste using TCW874 Poppy Grid over the background pattern on the dress. After applying the paste with a palette knife, I dabbed on two shades of accent paint with a soft brush. I did the same to the lower legs using TCW755 Modern Lace.

I allowed everything to thoroughly dry before assembling the doll. I stitched around the body/head, legs, and arms, leaving an opening at the shoulders for the arms and at the bottom for stuffing. I used a polypill stuffing to stuff the head, neck, and body. I stuffed the arms and legs, allowing a bit unstuffed at the attachment end.I inserted the arms into the openings at the shoulders and stitched in place. I did the same with the legs.

Once the dolls were stuffed. I used a variety of yarns and fibers to create hair that is stitched on to the head. I used art crayons and a white marker to add detail to the face. Some lace around the bottom edge of the dresses and the dolls are ready to play.

This project was so much fun to create! The Crafters Workshop provided some of the materials used on this project but the opinions stated are entirely my own.

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