The "Upcycled Lightbulb Doll"
Using Creative Paperclay®
Hello all,
My name is Meri Wiley, and I'm one of the most recent design team members. I will be posting projects/tutorials every 2nd and 4th Friday of each month.
Today is my first project/tutorial and I'm very excited to share this with you. Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions and questions, and I'll answer questions as quickly as possible.
This is a class I taught back in 2013, at one of my events in my home studio.
Today's project/tutorial will show you how to make one of these as a witch......Halloween is coming, you know. This project is perfect for children as well, with supervision, for birthday parties, scouting events, etc.
Click on this image of supplies, save and print if needed
Click on this image, save and print for full size pattern
Fig. 1 miscellaneous tools, Fig. 2 used light-
bulb, and Fig. 3 18 guage wire shaped into a
stand for baking the head.
Fig. 1 Creative Paperclay®, Fig. 2 Rolling pin
and small bit of clay, Fig 3 roll out clay
to about 1/8 inch thickness
Fig. 1 drape flattened clay over the lightbulb
and start mashing to cover. Fig. 2 while
holding clay covered lightbulb in hand,
smooth with your thumb or fingers using
water (Fig. 3) and work out air bubbles.
Try to smooth as much as possible which will
eliminate much of the sanding when dried.
Fig. 1 roll out small cone shape for the nose,
Fig. 2 create a concave end at largest end
of cone, Fig. 3 using spatula or knife
(I prefer just a regular kitchen paring knife)
and blend concave cone end onto the
covered lightbulb where you'd like
the nose to be.
Fig. 1 After smoothing the clay around the
lightbulb I trimmed off excess clay at the
bottom so the threads of the lightbulb are
exposed. Fig. 2 after placing the cone on as
the nose, I then twisted it to make a funny
witch nose. I also added ears. Fig. 3 print
out the body and dress pattern on legal paper
or on two regular sheets and tape together.
Fig. 1 20" x 8.5" piece of muslin,
Fig. 2 fold fabric and lay out pattern.
Fig. 3 After sewing fabric pieces, make
sure you clip all curves and angles.
Fig. 1 make sure your clay head is in a
250-300 degree oven,using the pre-formed
wire stand to hold it up, while working
on the body. It's perfectly safe to bake the
lightbulb in the oven. Bake for approximately
1 hour remove and let cool. You may also let
your clay air dry naturally.
Fig. 2 Finish sewing body together with
a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving the neck
open, Fig. 3 Proceed to turn body inside
out after making appropriate seam clippings.
Fig. 1 straighten seams, Fig. 2 notice the
gathering information from the pattern at
the neck opening,
Fig. 3 double thread your needle.
Fig. 1 fold over neck edge about 1/4" to the
inside, Fig. 2 proceed to create a large
basting stitch through both layers of the
neck opening, Fig. 3 Make sure you start at
one point and end as close as possible to the
beginning. Leave long "tails" as you will need
to gather and tie the neckline.
Fig. 1 stuff doll body, starting with legs.
I created segmented legs so that my doll will
sit and legs will hang in a natural position,
Fig. 2 continue to stuff the remainder
of body & arms, Fig. 3 stuffing should reach
the neck opening and your basting "tails"
should be off to the side.
Fig. 1 apply hot glue to the end/tip of the light-
bulb, Fig. 2 quickly place the end/tip of light-
bulb into the opening at the neck so that
the glue is sticking to the fiber fill,
Fig. 3 using hot glue, "tack" the neckline
around the "neck" of the lightbulb and
proceed to gather the neck opening around
the lightbulb neck by pulling on the
thread "tails" until snug. Tie a couple of
knots to hold gather and snip off excess.
Straighten out the gather around the neck.
Fig. 1 paint the lightbulb head using "flesh"
tone acrylic paint. Fig. 2 begin to paint the
body with flesh tone as well, Fig. 3 Finish
painting on both front and back.
Fig. 1 After letting the flesh tone paint dry,
I applied a layer of crackle medium and
let it dry, and then applied a layer of light
greenish color over the two previous layers.
I let that dry and it resulted in an overall
crackled finish for perfect witch
skin (Fig. 2) Fig. 3 Using the provided
pattern for a doll dress, I found some
suitable halloween fabric, cut a
piece 20" x 8.5", folded, pinned pattern, cut out
and then proceeded to stitch one shoulder seam,
one side seam and only about one inch on the
opposite seam near the bottom. I turned
the dress right side out and ironed it flat.
Fig. 1 using either a single side razor blade, or
scissors, cut the bottom edge of the dress
up multiple times to "fray" the edge,
Fig. 2 Put the dress on the doll and finish
"hand" stitching the side and shoulder seams
with matching thread and needle,
Fig. 3 completed dress on doll.
Fig. 1 add gathered lace around neck to hide
the gathered fabric. Embellish with more
ribbon or charms, to your liking. Fig. 2 using
your hot glue gun, place miscellaneous dots
of glue around on the face as "moles."
Finish painting face and glue yarn or jute
to the head as hair, Fig. 3 You've finished
your Halloween witch! Enjoy!
Please leave me feedback if you enjoyed this, or even if you have suggestions or comments on something you don't understand. I want to make sure you understand my projects/tutorials. Please do not share without giving me credit and or a link to this blog.
Please check out participating sponsors and especially the Creative PaperClay Q & A Facebook page using the links provided at the beginning of this project/tutorial.
Hugs,
Meri
