How to make a decorative hanging doll from those old throw away socks...
Oct 03 '00
As a lot of you already know, I am a avid crafter and not only do the crafts for fun, but for profit as well. I am very active in the local craft shows and also place my crafts in local shops.
I am continuously on the lookout for something new or different to create, always with the use of Sculpey incorporated into the product (Sculpey is a man made clay found at most craft supply stores).
One day while cleaning out my sock drawer, I realized I was tossing away a lot of good socks that the only thing wrong with them was that I had worn a hole in toe from wearing them around the house without shoes on.
Immediately my mind started concocting then discarding ideas for a new craft project, then bingo I came up with a perfect solution for the old socks.
I decided that I could make a long narrow doll from a sock, using a hand-made sculpted face made from Sculpey.
Without a picture it may be hard to describe, but I will try my best.
The doll I am going to tell you how to make, is something you can make by yourself, or you can include your kids in the creating of a special doll, made from one of "their" old socks, or one of yours.
The larger the sock, the larger the doll will be.
The overall look of the doll, which I have dubbed a name of "Long tall Sally" for them, is a long narrow bodied doll.
The sock will become almost the entire body of the doll.
This is a flat doll, meant to be hung on a wall, with possibly a little wooden sign or wreath in her arms.
The toe part of the sock will become the head area, and the upper torso area will be the foot part of the sock. The ribbed part of the sock will become the skirt of the doll. The sock is all one piece, you do not have to cut it at all.
The sleeves are made from the matching sock, I use the ribbed part of the sock for the sleeves.
The face is a flat piece of sculpey that you have sculpted and glued onto the socks toe area.
Hair is glued on to the sculpey head, and then a hat is pulled down over the hair. The hat is actually the toe of the second sock you have been using for material for the sleeves.
The arms and legs are made from Sculpey.
A wire loop is attached to the back of the sock, which will allow you to hang it on the wall.
This was just a general over view of the doll to try to create an image in your mind before you get your materials ready.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
1. Pair of clean (grin) socks
2. A small amount of Sculpey clay
3. fiber or synthetic hair
4. small piece of wire
5. glue
6. small grapevine wreath or small piece of wood
approximately 2 x 4 inches of thin flat wood
7. a small piece of plastic or silk vine or flowers
8. craft paint
9. odd bits of jewlery or decorative feathers(optional)
To start out..let your kids pick out the socks to use, they will enjoy it, especially when they see the end results.
After you have selected the socks to use, take one sock and stretch it out in front of you, in a up and down position, with the toe at the top.
Flatten the sock with your hand.
Take the second sock and cut the toe of the sock off, you will need to cut this about four inches or so from the top of the toe. This will become a hat later on.
Now take the second sock and measure on the doll how long you want the arms to be. This you can do visually, just imagine where the head area would be on the doll, (this will be the spot on the toe area of the sock that you are going to glue the flat backed head to).
Visualize where the shoulders would normally be located at, then measure the length of the sleeves. Cut the ribbed section of the second sock into two tubes that you can stitch up or glue together to make the sleeves.
The sleeves can be attached by stitching by hand or machine, onto the body of the sock, or you can simply hot glue them into position. (if you are letting your kids do this, you should use a cool glue gun instead of a hot glue gun.
Now take what ever scraps you have left from the second sock (or a different color sock if like) and cut two long strips that you are going to fold and stitch or glue together to make "leggings" or pant legs for your doll.
These will be stitched or glued to the inside area (inserted and glued into the skirt area of the ribbed section) of the ribbed bottom of the first sock. These "leggings" will be what holds the legs/feet of your doll.
Right now you should have a funny looking sock, that has two sleeves attached to it and two "leggings" that are attached under the ribbed skirt area.
For the best look, open up the bottom of the ribbed "skirt" and attach the leggins to the inside, then smooth the "skirt" back over the "leggings".
It should look like a dress or long long top, with leggings or pants underneath.
Now the fun part. Creating your face for your doll. I decided to have you make the face last, as now you have the "dress" of the doll made, you can envision how large or small of a head you have to make.
Remember it is YOUR creation, so you can make your doll any way that you like.
My dolls are exaggerated and very long, with long arms and long legs, very out of proportion to a real human body...hence the name "Long Tall Sallys".
Take a ball of clay about the size or a small egg. Roll it into a ball, then sort of flatten it on a cookie sheet, keeping a round or oval shape to it.
Take a tiny piece of round clay and put on a nose, you will need to work it in to the clay face a bit, as you want it to bond when you bake it.
You can make clay lips and put on the doll, or you can simply wait till the doll face is baked and paint on lips and eyes.
Painting is easier to do then trying to make them from clay, especially if you have never worked with Sculpey before.
Now take two smaller pieces of clay, roll them into a tube shape, form a hand at the end of each tube of clay.
Do the same for the legs, using a bit more clay. Make a leg area with a foot attached. Keep the feet and legs FLAT, as they will not break as easily if they are flat.
Bake the clay parts on a cookie sheet at 275 degrees for twenty minutes, complete baking instructions are on the box, simply follow the baking directions.
I recommend you use the Super Sculpey as it is already flesh colored and a bit more durable than regular white Sculpey. If you chose to use the white Sculpey, you will need to paint the face, arms and legs flesh color before you can proceed.
NEVER TOUCH SCULPEY UNTIL IT HAS COOLED COMPLETELY...it is very hot when it comes from the oven, if you touch it while it is still hot, you will probably burn your fingers, but you will also likely break the pieces you have just made...WAIT until they have cooled completely before handling them. As they cool down the pieces will become hard.
Now that your pieces have cooled down, do any painting that you may need, dont't forget to add a little "blush" on the cheeks.
If you are painting eyes on the doll, remember that a TINY dot of white on the colored part of eye, will add a sparkle to the dolls eyes.
Once you are satisfied with the doll parts, turn on your glue gun or get your bottle of glue out.
Add a liberal amount of glue to the back of the doll face and quickly center it on the top of the sock (toe area).
Add glue to the arms and insert them into the sleeves of the dress.
Do the same for the dolls legs.
Take your lambs wool (fiber) or synthetic hair and glue it around the face of the doll.
To add the hat, take the toe of the sock you cut out earlier, and pull it down over the doll's head. Roll back the edges to form a sort of brim and glue it in place...decorate the hat with old jewelary, or decorative feathers or buttons.
Take the grapevine wreath and glue it to the dress in a position that would look natural if the doll were holding it.
Glue or stitch the arms into a position that would look as though they were holding the wreath.
If you don't have a wreath, then take a flat piece of wood and paint "welcome" on it..and glue that on the dress instead of the wreath.
If you have some artificial flowers or leaves, you can glue them onto the wreath or around the sign.
Take the piece of wire, form a circle with it and stitch it onto the back of the doll. It is best to stitch this onto the back of the head, the hat area.
You want the hanger to be up "high" on the doll, so that it will hang right on the wall.
You are done now, but you can embellish the doll's outfit with anything else you may desire, like a small piece of artificial fur draped around her neck, or a shawl made from a scrap piece of material etc.
The doll is supposed to be "funny", so don't be concerned with trying to make a "pretty" face.
You could actually make this doll by using a sleeve from a old sweater, this would make a much larger doll, but the basics would still be the same.
Sleeves cut off of old throw away sweaters also make wonderful doll clothes, one sleeve can almost instantly become a dress or a skirt for your daughter's other dolls, and this is something she may be old enough to do herself if she can handle scissors.
Remember, recycle throw away items into crafts whenever you can.
Before you automatically throw things out...take a long hard look at them and think about what you might be able to create. Include the kids in this....ask them "what" they might be able to make out of the object.
One of the objects in making crafts, is enjoyment and a feeling of satisfaction. Taking something that was going to be thrown away and creating something from your own hands, gives you a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
craftgun40
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Location: Michigan
Reviews written: 155
Trusted by: 123 members
About Me:
I am retired, extremely active and enjoy my life, family and dog.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.