1 Xmas Item a Month

 

Who bids me hope, and in that charming word

Has peace and transport to my soul restor’d.

-               George Lyttleton.

Well a jolly good morning to you all!  My beaded dolls have caused quite the stampede of emails and requests for a tutorial on how to make them, so I will share with you and have made an attempt at a tutorial at the end of this post. I have joined the girls with 1 Xmas Item a Month over at Narelle’s  blog. For this month’s item I have made....you’ll never guess....

 

 

A beaded Christmas doll!!!

I also started making something last post and asked you gals to have a guess at what it might be...one of you came very close. Those 4 little red things were actually Santa bodies in the making. Here they are (one finished and others still in the making).

A very rare photo of Heather actually sitting still and not terrorizing everybody!!! Lol (I had her strapped to her seat...which is the naughty corner seat I might add). Cute as a button she is really.

Can you see the scary monster sitting at the table???

Heather gave me these beautiful beads to keep making beaded dolls, they are  rather gorgeous.

I’m sure none of you will scoff and laugh out loud, but this is a photo of treasure.....someone gave me two big boxes full of material. I had to wash it all because it had been sitting for a very long time, but the material inside was just fab!!!! There are so many different textured materials that I’m going to have fun making all sorts of things.

 

I’m buzzing off now to annoy or tease my hubby, have I mentioned he has no hair left? Wonder why? Lol.  Have a fab week ahead and love life!!

Cheers, Anita.

Beautiful Italy - Gardens of Axel Munthe, San Michele Villa

Tutorial – Beaded doll

Calico, fabric for dress and pants, beads (any size), pearl cotton, buttons, toy stuffing, any embellishment you would like to add.

These can be made in any size that suits you. If you want to make a brooch, as I do, then check out my template for size. Just copy the shape as you can see it in the pic.

Trace onto folded calico, so you cut 2 shapes at a time. Cut out shapes and pin  together.

Sew a generous quarter inch seam around doll.

 

 

 

Give the rounded edges a snip.

 

Turn material inside out and stuff with toy stuffing.

Make a small hem and top stitch the opening.

 

Making pants is optional. I cut a 1 and a half inch by 4 inch piece of organza, stitched the 1 and a half inch seam together, turn inside out. Place on doll, make a small hem and do running stitch across the top of the pants and also by sure to stitch it to the body of the stuffed doll as  you go.

Make a knot to finish off. Cut of end. For the crutch part of pants, I just stitch up the middle part with a couple of small over sews and tie off.

Dress:  2 and a half x 4 inch piece of material. Sew up the 2 and a half inch side and turn inside out. This next part of sewing I use quilters cotton doubled on a needle and a good long thread. Make a small hem of about quarter inch and do a running stitch to gather it. Put it on the doll and pull gently so the dress fits nicely.  Make a knot to tie it on but don’t cut the thread. After you have the dress in place put the needle through the back of the doll and push it through to the front. You can then sew a button on the front of the dress using this thread. Once you have sewn the button on, take the needle back through to the back of the doll, knot and tie off.
 

Arms and legs.

Using pearl cotton and a long thread, I run the needle into the back of the doll and push the needle through were the first arm would go. I make sure to pull the knot right through the body so you can’t see it. Place 4 beads on thread and then turn the needle back through 3 of the beads and go back into the place your thread came through the material and take the needle straight through to the other arm. This next bit is tricky because you have to pull the beads together just enough so it doesn’t make the arms stick out straight, just a little loose. Repeat for other arm and when you have pulled the beads together you can  do a knot a tie off. The same is done for the legs and I use 5 beads for the legs.

Hair: For the hair I just use my imagination. For this doll I used 4 stars and tiny beads of the same colour for the hair. I have used embroidery thread for hair (see last post for ideas). For the face I use pens and just draw the faces on. And you can use a blush for cheeks.

If  you had any trouble following my instructions do contact me as I’ve made a million of these dolls, have never done a tutorial before and would really love you to be able to make these dolls.  Really, after you have the body, arms and legs on you can do your own thing. Enjoy.