Skip to main content

Free Tutorial - Beaded Goddesses

Divas? Goddesses? Sages?

This week, I finally put the finishing stitches to these little dolls which have been 
on my work table for some time. 
You will see that for most of them I used fabric with a horse motif. 
These were all meant to be ready  for the beginning 
of the Chinese New Year  "Year of the Horse"  ..
.
                      Here is the basic process I've used for making these  ....
1. Draw a basic shape,
 2. Use it as a template 
 3. Sew around the outside of the template with the right sides
of fabric together

 4. Cut from the doubled fabric, leaving a small seam. 
5. Turn right side out ( turning tubes are useful) 
6. Cut a small slit where the polymer clay face mask will cover.
7. Stuff polyfill through the opening to fill the shape firmly.
8. Stitch up the opening 
9. Embroider a  free form design and add beads. 

10. Make a small face mask from polymer clay.
( You can use a commercial mould as I did or sculpt your own.) 

11. Stitch and/or glue the polymer clay face mask over the opening.
12. Embroider or bead around the face.
14. Use braids, ribbons or trims to create these dolls. 

Comments

  1. these are amazing, bad weather tomorrow, cant wait to go to Hobby Lobby to get Sculpy. My mind is spinning, can't wait. thank you so much

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this tutorial, I have the face molds and so many beads I think this will be a great project to use some.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can you please tell me who produces and distributes the tray mould you use in the pictures for your Sculpy faces.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy I am sure they are Sculpey moulds but I am not sure they are still available as I bought these many years ago. There is a very good mould maker called Merilyn Thomas https://www.moldsbymerilyn.com.au/ and she may be able to provide something like this if this particular one is unavailable. I use Merilyn's moulds in workshops and can recommend them. Just let Merilyn know that I gave you her name and she will assist you.
      Wilma

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Too Precious to Waste

 Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons  More than a year ago, a decision was made.  The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2]  A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape

  Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape  Background : This year, 2024, ATASDA ( Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association) is celebrating its Golden Anniversary. The Collaborative Golden Cape is a celebratory garment representing 50 years of creativity in textile arts. Members of ATASDA have joined together to create a beautiful cape comprising of 50 art panels inspired by 50 past ATASDA artworks. Each contribution to the Cape is a personal response to its corresponding historic artwork and its story. The Golden Cape, embellished with these beautiful cameos of textile art and surface design, will travel and be displayed throughout Australia. Parrwang:  Jo-Anne Britt drew inspiration for her contribution to the cape from the 1987 work by Bobbie Winger . This was a dramatic wearable textile artwork, entitled , "Dancing Cloak for a Currawong". The limited colour palette and the "feathery" form of the cloak reall