Good afternoon, dear needlewomen!
In our previous article, we discussed the difference between Tilda dolls and other toys. Now let's look at the difference between the Tilda Pumpkinhead doll and other Tilda dolls. Distinctive feature This cute doll has a large “pumpkin-shaped” head, which gives her incredible charm and charm. In this master class by Anastasia Zharikova you will learn how to sew a doll with your own hands - in this article you will find step-by-step master class on sewing a doll and a video tutorial.
The good thing about pumpkin heads is that they are very different from factory dolls. Each one turns out unique. You can depict any emotion on the face of the Pumpkinhead doll; you can make this doll a portrait.
To make a Pumpkinhead doll with your own hands, we will need:
- Beige fabric for the doll's body
- The pattern can be printed using a printer or copied from the monitor screen.
Pattern doll Tilda Pumpkinhead
The pumpkin head doll pattern can be printed and saved to your computer.
- Two buttons for attaching handles
- Acrylic paints for face painting
- Brushes
- Fabric for dress
- Blush
- Felting wool for hair
Tilda Pumpkinhead doll step-by-step master class
We cut out the Tilda doll pattern using scissors and apply it to the fabric on the back side.
We trace the pattern of the Pumpkinhead doll with a pencil.
Cut the fabric using scissors, leaving a seam allowance of 0.5 cm
We sew the parts tightly by hand so that when stuffing the doll the parts do not come apart. The step width is 1.5-2 millimeters.
The next stage of our work is turning out the parts of the Tilda doll. We turn the parts inside out using sushi chopsticks or something similar.
To sew all the parts, you need to leave small holes for stitching.
The next stage is filling the doll with padding polyester. To stuff the doll with padding polyester, we will need about 100 grams of filler.
We stuff the parts; the legs don’t need to be stuffed until the very end.
It is important to properly stuff the neck so that the head holds up well. We insert part of the filler into the neck, stuff it tightly, hold it with your fingers and do not let go. To ensure that the filler does not get lost, you can fix it with needles.
The head of the Tilda doll also needs to be stuffed very tightly, fixing the padding polyester with needles so that the stuffing is fixed and does not move. We roll a padding polyester ball into the nose, insert it, and fix it with a needle - then the Doll’s nose will turn out to be convex.
We stuff the head of the craft as tightly as the padding polyester will fit into it. Then the shape of the Pumpkinhead doll’s head will be smooth and round, and it will be easier to paint the face with paints.
The next stage is to sew the head of the Tilda doll to the neck.
We sew the neck to the head of the Pumpkinhead doll with a hidden seam, since for the aesthetic appearance of the doll it is better that the seam is not visible. This is one of the most labor-intensive stages of making a doll with your own hands.
If the seam is not perfect, don’t worry - you can always cover the seam for the Pumpkinhead doll with beads or a scarf.
Sew the legs to the body. We sew up the body in the middle, tuck the edges of the fabric inward, insert the legs and sew them on.
We leave the handles for later; we will sew them to the finished doll’s dress with our own hands.
We sew a dress. For the dress we will need three rectangles of fabric, one of them measuring 45-50 centimeters in length, and the width will be the approximate size of the skirt. Try the dress on your body; you won’t need a dress pattern. For the sleeves you will need some fabric - the size of the handle.
For the sleeves, fold the fabric in half,
Apply a pen and trace with a pencil.
Sew with small stitches. We insert our hand into the sleeve.
We fold the upper part of the dress, apply it to the body, measure right size, flashing.
When designing a dress for the Tilda doll, you can already show yourself and your design abilities - decorate the dress with sequins, rhinestones, beads, braid...
The bodice of the dress is ready, now you need to sew a skirt to the bodice of the dress for the Tilda doll.
We will make the skirt by gathering the fabric on a thread.
Now we put the dress on the doll. And we sew on the handles.
This is done simply: Sew on a button. Determine approximately where the handles of the Pumpkinhead doll will be attached. We thread the needle through the body and sew on both handles. The two arms of the Tilda doll will be secured with one thread through buttons.
We're done with clothes. Let's start making Tilda doll's hair with our own hands. We outline with a pencil where the hair growth will be. We roll small thin pieces of wool for felting onto the head of the Tilda doll with a regular felting needle.
How to do Tilde's hair
As soon as we have felted the base to the head, we form the hair for the Tilde doll from felting wool.
Our pumpkin head doll will have red pigtails.
Decorate the ends of the doll's braids with ribbons.
Apply blush to the Pumpkinhead doll. Rosy cheeks are one of the fundamental features of the Tilda doll.
How to draw eyes on a textile doll.
With a pencil we outline where our eyes will be and draw a semicircle.
Draw the eyebrows and mouth.
Draw the whites of the eyes. The paint is special for the fabric and will not crumble over time.
Drawing the iris of the doll's eye
We draw the pupil itself with black paint.
Outline the eyes
Draw freckles, mouth, eyebrows for the pumpkin head doll
This is such a cutie.
Beautiful dolls self made with your own hands. They seem to be alive, as they are made with love, they contain a piece of your soul.
Video doll Tilda master class
Text prepared by: Veronica
The pumpkinhead can be recognized by its thin arms and legs, expressive eyes, triangular nose and red hair. The disproportionately round head of a beauty is often sewn together from several wedges, and one of the seams can go in the middle of the face. The beauty got its funny name due to the shape of its head, in the shape of a pumpkin. The nose, large eyes and expressive mouth are painted on the face. The pumpkin head came to Russia from America. I made it for the first time when I was 12 summer girl Marcela, who retrieved her mother's faded doll from the attic. She repainted her face and dressed the doll in a new outfit.
Today's pumpkin heads are very charming, each with its own character and disposition.
Attic doll can serve a great gift, as well as a fashionable touch in interior design.
An old doll dress with a neat apron is often decorated with a heart with the embroidered inscription “I love you”.
Pumpkin head doll pattern
You can sew a pumpkin head doll yourself, just pick a pattern and stock up on the necessary materials.
When making a beauty, its base plays a big role. Best suited for a doll's body cotton fabric, for example, satin or linen. It is also advisable to take a light or beige shade.
The finished pattern is downloaded to a computer and printed onto A4 sheet. The size can be adjusted independently by setting the desired sheet format.
When transferring the pattern onto the fabric, pay attention to the direction of the grain thread. Depends on it appearance beauties. Cutting in the direction of the cross thread will make the doll thicker and shorter.
Internal seams are processed as follows. The pattern is transferred to the fabric, but not cut out. Sew along the contour and, leaving 3 mm allowances, cut out. The details are turned out using a pencil.
In the absence of fabric suitable color, the base can be painted by brewing strong tea. For 2 liters of water you will need 4-5 tea bags. 1 meter of fabric is dipped into a boiling solution and boiled for 30 seconds, removed from the water, laid out on a tray, wrung out and dried on a line.
Pattern legend:
- body part – 2 pcs.,
- head detail consisting of 5 petals,
- In the picture there are two versions of arms and legs, 4 parts each (in the first version, the fingers are sewn separately).
A version of the model with a seam on the face and a small nose.
The Matryoshka pumpkin head does not have legs, but is very stable.
Pumpkin head doll dimensions
The size of the classic dolls created by John Grewal was 40 cm. They were dressed in signature outfits. The dolls had red hair and triangular noses.
Modern pumpkin heads are often made smaller, although it all depends on the desire of the master. Here is an example of a Veronica doll measuring 22 cm.
Pattern of a life-size pumpkin head doll
Selecting a pattern is an individual question, because each craftswoman creates her own exclusive dolls.
The most common pattern is considered to be model No. 1, which is often taken as a basis, slightly altered to suit you.
The pattern can be enlarged several times, then you will get such a large beauty.
Pattern No. 2 is similar to the first. It has a head of 6 wedges. The beauty's fingers are not cut separately, but stitched with thread.
This Princess will come out, 30 cm high. The elegant dress and underwear can be removed.
The third model is designed for a small doll, up to about 20 cm. Its head is made using a seamless method. 
The doll’s nose is not drawn, but figuratively highlighted with thread. The result should be as follows:
Model No. 4 has a seamless head with a prominent chin and small ears. The doll should be small in size.
Pattern No. 5 is similar to the previous one, but without ears. The doll's mouth can be drawn to one side, making the model more mysterious. 
The result will be as follows:
Pumpkin head doll face:
The face of the pumpkin head has a non-standard shape. Initially, it is formed according to the template, filled with synthetic down or halofiber, and then they begin to tint the fabric in natural flesh tones. For this purpose they use natural dyes or a solution of strong tea.
Sometimes there are dolls with ears. They are cut out separately. It is advisable to fill your head with filler as tightly as possible. Due to its structure, the doll’s face can dangle, so the head is additionally fixed with a support stick.
The face of pumpkin heads is very expressive. It is decorated with large eyes, a triangular nose, and a clear contour of the lips. All details are painted with acrylic paints. The task is very painstaking and requires the imagination of the master.
Often there are dolls with glued eyelashes and button eyes.
There are two types of head designs for beauties: suture and seamless.
with a seam on the face
Most often, the doll’s head is sewn together from several wedges, 5-6 parts, as a result, the beauty’s face in the middle ends up with a seam. Such models have convex noses and chins.
no seam on the face
A seamless face is formed from two circles, which are sewn along the contour. To prevent the head from being pulled along the seam when turning it inside out, zigzag scissors are used for cutting. The base is filled very tightly with filler. With this method, the face turns out smooth, without any bulges.
There are models with a head made of 3 wedges: a large one and two smaller parts. With this method, the halves are connected at the back of the head and the face is seamless.
Sometimes the face is painted with a mixture of instant coffee and PVA glue diluted with water (1:1). Some craftswomen add vanilla and cinnamon to the mixture.
How to sew a pumpkin head doll, master class step by step
The pumpkin-head doll Winter will be dressed in a warm hat, a fluffy dress and red boots. Her head consists of 3 parts and is sewn without a seam on the face.
The pattern is given not only for the doll itself, but also for her clothes.
The doll's details are applied to the fabric, and the contours are transferred to the base. The folded fabric is marked with red needles.
The contours of the parts are machine stitched, leaving spaces for filling. Zigzag cuts are made at the edges of the bends.
Each part is tightly filled with padding polyester, and the edges are sewn up. The head is covered at the back of the head. It is advisable to insert a base stick into the middle for fixation.
The face is painted with paints. Zimushka's eyes should be clear and large. The hairs of arched eyebrows form on top. Blush is applied to the cheeks.
Now you can start sewing the outfit. The hem of the dress will consist of many frills. The bottom of the pantaloons is decorated with lace, and the belt is decorated with a bow.
The hat and scarf are made of knitwear or knitted from yarn. The knee socks are striped, and the boots are cut from thick red fabric.
When the outfit is completely ready, the doll can be dressed.
What is the hair of a pumpkin head doll made of?
The hair is most often formed from colored wool or knitting yarn. Of course, wool is very similar to natural hair, and it’s easier to work with. It is enough to press it to the head with a felting needle. This material can be found in any store, it is more difficult to find desired shade. The disadvantage of a wool hairstyle is that it cannot be combed or changed. At best, you can only carefully touch it with your hands.
Yarn hair has good volume. They can be styled and combed in different ways. Of course it's hard to choose natural shade yarn with easily separated thread.
Ready-made doll tresses, wigs and hairpieces are also available for sale.
Braids are the easiest hairstyle for pumpkin heads. To give shape, thin wire is woven into the hair. Braids are decorated with bows, elastic bands and hairpins.
Dolls look realistic with beautiful curls. To do this, braids are pre-braided from wool of different thicknesses and lengths. They are left in this position for a couple of days, and then unraveled and cut into individual strands.
Wavy curls fall in a circle to the head.
There is another way to form curls. Wool strands, soaked in a special solution of water and PVA glue, are tightly wound on wooden sticks. Leave to dry, unroll and roll onto the head.
Sometimes there are dolls with hair from satin ribbons and floss.
The pumpkin head with short hairs from fluffy yarn, decorated with flirty curlers.
How to sew arms and legs to a pumpkin head doll
There are certain secrets for attaching arms and legs to the base of the pupae.
Firstly, they are sewn in the same way as the head with a hidden seam - with the right side inward with a hole, and then turned inside out. It doesn't look very nice, but it's not noticeable under clothes.
In the second case, a wire or cotter pin with a disk is passed inside the legs and arms.
The third method of attaching limbs is the most reliable - button-thread.
A button is sewn onto the tip of the arm/leg, then the thread is passed through the base of the body. With this fastening, the doll will be very stable and will be able to sit. The main thing is to correctly calculate the position of the legs. The limbs and the body should form one vertical line. With this fastening, the thread is tightened tightly.
Pumpkin head doll clothes, patterns
The appearance of the doll depends half on the correct selection of outfit. It should be pleasing to the eye and very bright. Clothes can be removable or sewn on.
Fluffy dress
To sew such an elegant dress, just adjust the pattern to your doll size and cut out the details.
The tulle petticoat adds pomp to the dress. The outfit is decorated with lace.
Removable fancy dress
The pattern is given for a standard pumpkin head. The front of the dress will be one-piece, the clasp is located on the back.
For the skirt you will need two strips of multi-colored fabric (40 cm wide). The outfit consists of two layers, the bottom is trimmed with lace.
Warm blouse
The model is sewn from two identical parts, only the front part is cut in half.
The front side sections are folded under the fastener. The blouse will be complemented with pockets, and the edges will be cut with zigzag scissors. You can sew a button at the top.
How to sew a tracksuit for a pumpkin head doll
Modern masters dress their pumpkin heads in tracksuits. Sewing such an outfit will not be difficult.
For the pants you will need a square of jersey. The template is transferred to fabric, stitched and cut out. The bottom of the trouser legs and the top are turned up. A thin elastic band or rope is tightened at the top, with which the pants are secured to the doll.
The T-shirt is made non-removable. It looks the same from the front and back, only the neckline in front is a little deeper. 
And here is the pattern for the tracksuit itself.
Decades of pumpkin head dolls have inspired new creative ideas among puppet artists. Try it and perhaps your work will be no worse than the famous masters.
Pumpkinhead dolls were so named after their unusual heads, shaped very similar to a pumpkin. They first appeared almost 100 years ago, in 1918, when a certain John Barton Gruel decided to please his daughter and sew her an unusual doll, which he called Raggedy Ann.
It is not difficult to repeat his feat if you follow the MK instructions given below. The author of the master class is a Russian craftswoman who sews handmade items. It will take a small amount of time to make such a toy, but it will bring joy and comfort to your home for a very long time! And the sewing process itself will bring you real pleasure)
Head
The main highlight of the doll, its “pumpkin”, is made from several separate parts, similar to petals, which are sewn together. This technique is used to make the head look voluminous and not flat. For the “petals” you need a white or flesh-colored fabric, reminiscent of skin in color. Also used: simple pattern, padding polyester or other convenient option for stuffing, thread, needle.
The pattern below can be used. There should be at least four parts for the head, preferably six. Don't forget to draw a small nose for two adjacent wedges. This amount of detail is used to make the face of the future doll more plastic, with soft outlines.
Place the pattern on your piece of fabric, stepping back a few millimeters from its edge and observing. The wedge parts are sewn together so that you can then turn the workpiece right side out - to do this, leave part of it unsewn - approximately in the middle of the back of the toy's head, where the last seam will be.
Turn out the sewn future “pumpkin head” and stuff it with the material that suits you; the hole you left must be sewn up with a hidden seam. Next, the face of the toy is created.
Here you have room for creativity - you can paint eyes, mouth, nose with acrylic paints or use embroidery threads instead. It is best to sketch a preliminary sketch on paper to decide not only how the details of the face will look, but also its expression.
Hair
Elena Kogan doll
To make the toy's hair as similar to real hair as possible, you should use knitting threads or colored wool for felting.
The easiest option for creating a toy's hairstyle is braids. You can also insert thin wire into them in order to give the braids an unusual and interesting shape. For loose hair, “strands” of wool for felting are better suited. They are attached to the head of the toy using a special needle for such wool - they will need to be “rolled”.
It wouldn’t hurt to add a beautiful accessory to the doll - weave a bow into her hair or come up with an original hat.
Body
For the body, as for the head, you only need fabric, padding and, of course, time, which will take about half an hour. You will need to transfer the patterns given below onto the fabric, stepping back 5-7 millimeters from the outline - this space will be used for the seam. You also need to sew the parts by analogy with the head - with the front side inward and with a hole in order to later turn the workpiece inside out. Stuff the parts as tightly as possible - the doll needs a dense base. Sew the holes on the body parts with a hidden seam and baste the head, arms and legs to the body.
Cloth
Clothes for a pumpkin head doll
This is an important part of the doll’s design, so it should be bright, elegant and pleasing to the eye. Whether it comes off or not depends only on you - but if the toy is made for a child, making a removable outfit that can be replaced later is much more interesting.
In order to sew a simple dress from chintz, just select a clothing pattern on our website to suit your taste and, if necessary, adjust it, relying on the size of the doll. Also see MK on making shoes for dolls. The parts need to be cut out and sewn in the same way as the body was sewn. To make it even more beautiful, the outfit can be decorated with embroidery, beads, lace, etc.
Have fun creating!
Lilac - fine art
Spring light and warmth.
And happiness is true, like heaven,
And defenseless, like a tear.
Traces lilac With bliss
They take you straight to heaven.
And there, in the incomprehensible heights,
Where your light step is weightless,
coming lilac play -
There's happiness there and it's always full!
(
"Lilac Happiness": textile doll- from pattern to outfit. Part 1
Lilac happiness... 20 cm
The result is such a cute doll, who would be interested in the whole process - welcome!
So let's get started. Materials you will need:
1. Knitwear for the doll’s body.
2. Adhesive for knitwear.
3. Fabric for the dress (any fabric, preferably thin and low fraying).
4. Filling (sintepon, holofiber, synthetic fluff, etc.).
5. Acrylic paints.
6. Pastel (optional).
7. Lace, ribbons, buttons and other decorative elements.
8. Hair material (in in this case llama skin).
First you need a pattern. The character of the doll and its doll charisma depend on the pose, body structure, position of the arms and legs. This is why I like to create “my own” pattern for each doll each time or change an existing one. I don’t have an art education, but proportions must be observed when drawing a silhouette. Here the memories of art lessons come to the rescue, namely the rules for drawing a human figure.
The unit of measurement is the head. In an adult, it fits into the body 7 times. I tried to depict this on a sheet of paper (may all professional artists forgive me; I tried my best). Important points - elbows bend at the waist, hands end just below the middle of the thighs. How younger child, the larger the head relative to the body.
Undoubtedly, you can exaggerately enlarge the head, lengthen the legs and arms to create an image, but if you follow the other principles, it will not look ridiculous.
So, I want to make a baby doll, so the head will be big, fit about 4 times the body.
Usually I draw the pattern right away, but you can add a sheet thin paper and circle the head, then, moving the sheet - the torso, one arm and leg. Don’t forget about symmetry; to do this, you can draw an axis, outline one half of the body and head, and then, mirroring this half, finish drawing the second.
So that the sole is flat and the doll stands, we extend the foot and draw something like a curly brace. We also “pull” the neck up so that after sewing on the head it does not go away completely. It should also be noted that when stuffed, all the details will seem thinner due to the increase in volume, so you can widen them a little, and also lengthen the head so that you don’t end up with a small head on a large body.
Now you need to prepare the material. I really like using cotton knitwear, it is flexible, soft and seems “alive” to me. But cotton, thick calico and linen are also suitable. It doesn’t matter if flesh-colored fabric is hard to find. You can easily tint it with tea or coffee (there are a lot of master classes on this). I will say the main thing - boil tea or coffee with salt (to fix the color), in a container of sufficient volume so that the fabric is dyed evenly. Hang to dry in one layer to avoid streaks. My piece of knitwear was originally white, first toned in black tea, then in green (it gives a slight pink tint).
We duplicate the knitwear with adhesive, then it will not unexpectedly stretch when stuffing, the seams will not creep, and it will be easy to turn out (in general, not sewing, but song). But let's return to the prose, or rather, to the main work. Transfer the pattern to fabric. Chalk leaves a thick line, so a regular pencil is better. In my case - a disappearing marker, but this device is not at all necessary.
When sewing pumpkin head dolls, the pattern of the head parts is laid out obliquely relative to the grain thread. In this case it is not important.
Then all the details must be stitched together or sewn on the hands using a “back needle” seam. I sew on a machine with a stitch length of approximately 1 mm; when sewing fingers and other small parts, I turn the wheel by hand. Important point- between the fingers you need to make 1-2 stitches perpendicularly, and not stitch the next finger straight up, otherwise folds will form when turning it inside out. I sew the head, arms and legs completely, and turn them inside out through the notches (more on this below). On the body I leave the hole at the bottom unsewn where one leg is attached (it will be shown in the photo a little lower). We do not sew the foot in the area of the toes.
After we cut out all the details, we make notches in the places of bends - we use scissors to cut the fabric to the seam so that it does not wrinkle when turned out.
I really apologize for the lack of focus, I only discovered this after viewing it on the computer. With these mysterious pictograms I tried to depict exactly where I made the notches and cuts for eversion.
We sew the feet together, rounding them at the sides. You can sew it slightly obliquely, as if drawing the thumb and going down to the little finger. The main thing to remember is which leg is left and which is right.
Let's start turning it out. Many people praise sushi chopsticks - wooden, with a rounded tip. In principle, absolutely any object will do, not sharp and thin enough, as long as it is comfortable for you. I have this wooden stick, which migrated from some board game son, as well as tweezers with rounded ends.
A little about stuffing. The material can be anything convenient for you. For play dolls, natural wool is highly valued; both padding polyester and holofiber are suitable. I personally love synthetic fluff; it compacts well, but forms much less lumps and lumps. As a tool for stuffing, it is recommended to use a sushi stick, lightly sanded with sandpaper, so that the filling does not slip off. But my synthetic fluff still treacherously remained in place, and the wand moved on. The same tweezers turned out to be incredibly convenient, only the other side was a rubber handle. On the one hand, it easily slides along the adhesive side, but it remarkably pushes forward even small portions of filler.
Here you need patience to gradually fill in all the details in small pieces, compacting it tightly enough and leaving no voids. We stuff the head and neck especially tightly, which should hold this tightly stuffed head. The only exception is the handles at the shoulders, where we don’t stuff them so tightly that they don’t point in different directions.
After stuffing, carefully sew up the incisions; here in the photo you can see exactly where the body is sewn up. Leave the head hole unsewn.
I'll tell you how I connect the head to the neck. Typically, such flat heads are sewn to the neck with a hidden seam. But, firstly, I don’t like any visible seam on the face, and secondly, I wanted to make a perfectly even connection. I have this method in my head (maybe some people have used it for a long time, but I have never seen it anywhere). It is ideal for dolls with voluminous heads, for example, these:
Cutting out a piece of knitwear oval shape, sufficient to wrap the head completely. We take knitwear without glue.
Just below the middle we make a tiny incision, such that the neck can be inserted there.
The next step is to pull a piece of knitwear over the neck, secure it with pins, draw a straight line and sew in a circle with small stitches “backwards with a needle”.
Sew the head by inserting the tip of the neck into the unsewn hole.
Now you need to lift a piece of knitwear and cover your entire head with it, secure it with pins a little further than the hairline so that there are no folds left anywhere.
We sew along the entire perimeter of the head, carefully pulling the fabric and moving all the folds beyond the seam line. We admire the smooth connection line.
After this, you need to trim off the strongly protruding pieces of fabric, but not all the way to the seam. Unfortunately, I missed the moment and didn’t take a picture of this process (apparently, I was too fascinated by this very connection line), so I practiced drawing and, just in case, sketched out what should happen from behind:
And we cover it all with a nice size patch.
All routine work comes to an end. Let's collect the remaining parts. A long darning needle comes to the rescue in sewing arms and legs. First we try on the limbs symmetrically, then we sew them on strong thread along with buttons.
For some people, cats supervise their work, but for me, they are soldiers, knights and guards, with whom I play with my eldest son, without interrupting the process.
How to draw radiant eyes and make a charming curly hairstyle is in the next part of the master class. Thanks to everyone who made it to the end!
http://www.livemaster.ru/topic/1126199-sirenevoe-s...-chast-1?vr=1&inside=0
“Lilac Happiness”: textile doll - from pattern to outfit. Part 2
Now let's start painting the face, creating an outfit and hairstyle.
For this you will need:
1. Acrylic paints.
2. Pastel.
3. Thin brushes.
4. Material for hair (in my case - llama skin, felting wool, yarn, mohair, etc. are suitable).
5. Glue Moment gel (you can use any other super glue).
6. Dress fabric
7. Shabby ribbons, lace, buttons (or any other decor).
My young lady has already put on the dress, but more about it later. Now let's start painting the face. First, I outline the facial features with a simple or pink pencil (it is very easy to disguise). To create shadows I use pastels in earthy tones, brown and beige eye shadows are also suitable, and the same acrylic paints.
When painting with paints, it is important to work with a dry brush, leaving just a drop of pigment, and wiping off the excess on fabric or paper. Then the shadows will be soft and well shaded. Before painting on fabric, oil paints must be squeezed onto paper and left for a while so that the oil is absorbed into the paper sheet.
Now to the point. I shade with brown and pink-brown pencils (2 and 5 on the left in the photo above) the indentations around the eyes, near the bridge of the nose and under the chin.
I use acrylic paints. Here are the shades that I needed when painting. I squeezed it out generously for beauty; it takes much less paint to paint. I apologize for the palette, every time I solemnly go to the stationery store to pick it up and come back with anything but a new palette, and again I adapt whatever comes to hand. This time I came across a part from the CD packaging, let it serve art.
Apply the first layer of white paint, drawing the whites of the eyes. While the layer dries, move on to the sponges. Use a brown line to draw the dimples and contour of the lips, fill them with pink.
Draw a neat nose and enliven it with a small highlight. We highlight the chin.
Apply another layer of white paint to the whites and do the lips again. Using longitudinal thin lines we draw the folds of the lips, placing light strokes next to them to highlight the relief.
We slightly shade the corners of the eyes, tint the whites in the corners of the eyes at the bridge of the nose slightly pink, and the outer corners of the eyes with blue. Drawing eyebrows.
Now the iris of the eyes. This beauty will have blue eyes. Apply a light shade.
We outline the outer edge of the iris with a darker color.
From the center, with thin strokes of yellow-golden paint, draw “rays” (I don’t know what the correct name for this part of the eye is.
Now we mix blue with black and darken the edge of the iris even more, draw the pupil.
Let's leave the eyes to dry and move on to the cute freckles. The generous sun has not forgotten your nose, cheeks, or forehead.
Now it's time for the glare. It is important to apply them to dry layers so that they are pure white. We draw symmetrically.
And flirty eyelashes. One thing - I practically don’t use black paint; for the pupils I mix it with blue, and I paint the eyelashes with dark brown. It is rare to find truly black colors in nature, and none of us have black shadows on our faces; all boundaries are just a contrast of dark and light shades.
And this is how much paint is left after all the manipulations - for five more dolls.
After the face has completely dried, I cover the eyes with two layers of acrylic varnish; they acquire a vibrant shine.
Now a little about hair. There are countless materials for hair and master classes on creating doll hairstyles, I would like to touch on a few of the basic, most commonly used ones. Felting wool is often used for hairstyles - it is very similar to natural hair, you can create any hairstyle by applying any amount of hair to the doll’s head with a felting needle. It’s not difficult to find it in any store; it’s a little more difficult to choose natural shades.
The only caveat is that you can’t comb this hairstyle; you can change it only by carefully moving your hands and risking thinning your hair a little.
Yarn hair is very good for play dolls - it can be unbraided, combed and sorted in any way you like. To do this, they need to be securely attached to the head; again, you can felt them, sew them on or glue them (which I don’t encourage, but it is an option). Only I prefer hair that looks the most realistic, and such yarn is very difficult to find. It should be loose, easily divided into thinner threads.
Special doll tresses are sold, and you can also look for shops with false hairpieces or wigs.
My favorite material is wool curls. They are thin and soft, like real hair, and can be dyed and braided in any way you like. They are just not so easy to find in stores. In the summer I’ll go and visit local farms, maybe someone has long-haired goats and sheep. And now I have a llama skin, hand-dyed with regular hair dye. I will make a wig out of it. First, I apply a viscose napkin (or paper) to the head and outline the hairline and wedges of the wig. Then I transfer it to the skin. I wrapped the curls on fabric curlers, so they won’t get in the way when gluing. A separate strand of hair is a bang.
The wedges must be sewn carefully, placing the edges against each other with the fur inward and trying not to pick up hairs with the needle. Glue the bangs above the hairline, and then the entire wig. I use Moment Gel glue and press the edges of the wig with tweezers. Don't forget to work in a ventilated area!
Now about the outfit. Indeed, there are a lot of master classes on removable and non-removable dresses, I won’t repeat them. I'll show you some main points. First the pattern. Viscose napkins come to the rescue again. I wrap the doll's body and outline along the shoulder and side seams, the armholes of the sleeves, and mark the middle to make the pattern symmetrical. The photo shows the finished result, fitting.
Transfer to fabric. The dress will not be removable, on one side there will be an allowance for the button placket. I usually do a facing, but this fabric is looser, so I cut out two pieces to make the top of the dress tighter.
The skirt is a rectangle, the bottom is processed and hemmed by hand. You can do this on a machine, but I prefer an invisible seam, even if it is hidden under the lace. I widen the sleeves so that later I can gather them along the hem and along the edge.
First, I put the top of the dress on the doll and sew it at the back with a hidden seam. I gather up the skirt, put it on top and sew it to the top. I disguise the gathering with a belt of bias tape. In this wonderful master class by Yulia Zh, here on YaM, the entire process of creating a similar dress is described in detail.
Let's move on to the pantaloons. The fabric for them is thin cambric, which I tinted in tea, squeezed into a ball and dried. The result was an aged crash cambric (somehow the photo did not convey this effect in full force). The cutting took place late at night, logic refused me, and I positioned the pattern incorrectly, and I had to sew the side seams. I won’t describe the process in detail; the above-mentioned master class has a very good description of all this.
The bottom was decorated with lace.
I sew micro buttons on the back.
They can be made from plastic or use beads. For example, like this - stitching a bead and a seed bead together, we get a voluminous button.
To complete the look, all that remains is to make shoes and accessories. Here the choice of materials is also limitless. It can be fabric, felt, which is very comfortable - it doesn’t crumble and keeps its shape, papier-mâché, plastic, leather, and even lace. But now I wanted to create something light, airy, weightless. Therefore, the choice fell on tulle in a muted purple color. Gather the cut out ovals in a circle, fold the folds in front and slightly in the back.
I wanted to decorate it with shabby ribbons, but I didn’t have the right color. Watercolor and a thirst for beauty come to the rescue. We tint the wet ribbon in desired color, drawing beautiful transitions. The color will become paler as it dries, and the crispness will be restored if you crumple the dried tape a little. I tinted the bow for the dress in the same way.
I made a comb out of paper flowers for scrapbooking.
The cheerful freckle is ready to rejoice and please others.
I also made a stand from scrap materials, if suddenly someone is interested, I can make another master class, since when photographing I got a taste for it and captured this process too.
I am incredibly glad to everyone who stopped by, I wish you with all my heart a creative spirit and an airy mood!
