MINI TUTORIAL IN MAKING A HEAD AND BODY By ATELIER PIPPILOTTA
To make a head you will need:
-piece of beige tricot (thin stretchy inter-
lock)
-piece of skin-tone tricot (interlock)
-tuft of sheep wool
-long needle
-aquarelle (water-colour) pencils
-cheek rouge (red beeswax block)
Put the tuft of wool in the beige tricot. Make a ball with it. The measurement of
the head is made from neck to neck. For the eye-line stitch a strong thread in the
middle of the head. Wrap the thread twice around the head, pull it tight and fasten
it securely.
Fold the skin-tone tricot in half lengthwise and
sew the seam. Fold the seam open and sew the top
closed in a bow-shape. Cut fabric excess off. Put
the tube over the head and bind the neck off. Pull
the eyes inward with a thread through the front to
the back just above the eye-line. Stitch under the
eye-line again to the back of the head. Repeat for
the other eye. Pull the threads in the back of the
head and knot off. Stitch thread-ends away. Col-
our the face in with aquarelle pencils, making sure
that the pencil has a sharp point. Put a little stripe
in for the eyes and a little stripe for the mouth. To
get the colour more rich make your pencil tips
slightly wet. The cheeks can be coloured in with
the side of a red pencil or you can use a block of
red beeswax crayon. Embroider for the bangs a
few hairs onto the head.
Make a body from pipe-cleaners. The length of the pipe-
cleaners is written on the pattern. Bend the ends of the
arms a half centimetre (⅛-¼") inwards. Cut the neck on
the sides and push it the body in between. Bind the neck
under the arms again together. Wrap a little bit of wool
around the hands and bind these off with small squares
of skin-tone tricot. For further dressing follow the in-
structions in the pattern.
BLANKET STITCH
For sewing felt use a blanket stitch. On the picture next to here you can see
how to make the stitch.
LITTLE GNOME
There are many kits from Atelier Pippilotta that
are made with a standard pattern. Here you can
see how the little dolls are made in this photo
tutorial.
Instructions for the little gnome
Cut all the pieces on the pattern out of felt
without a seam allowance. Make a body
from pipe-cleaners. The measurements are in
the pattern. Push the neck of the pipe-cleaner
in the neck opening of the suit. Blanket stitch
the suit around. Put the collar around the
neck. Glue the little beads onto the hands
and feet and the large one onto the neck. Cut
the thread in the kit into little pieces for hair.
Glue it onto the head for bangs. Fold the hat
double and blanket stitch closed. Put a little
glue in the hat and put it on the head. Per-
haps trim the hair a little.
COLOURING IN OF THE BEAD
HEADS
For the colouring in of the heads I use a
gel pen, a red pencil and cheek rouge.
For the eyes set two dots in the middle of the head. This you can
do with a blue or brown gel pen. The mouth goes underneath with
a red pen. The cheeks are coloured in with a red pencil.
