The Magic Bean

Wordless Wednesday - Nothing But Blue Skies

Don't Miss Water Lily or She'll Really Pout!

Just a reminder that I'm teaching Water Lily as an online class with Joggles starting July 14th.  Click  here for more information and to sign up.

Freebie Friday - Needle Sculpting Tips

Give your dolls great realism by sculpting them with the humble needle and thread.

 

The great Mimi Winer shares her needle sculpting tips here.

Miriam Gourley shares her tips on needle sculpting here.

If you fancy adding a rather prim nose to your primitive doll, try this tutorial at Prim Mart.

Do some needle sculpting with the fantastic Julie McCullough here.

Needle sculpting isn't just for faces, make this glorious belly button for your doll with this tutorial.

Melinda Small Patterson shares a pattern and tutorial for making expressive doll hands with added needle sculpting here.

There are so many needle sculpting techniques - these are just a few ideas to get you started. 

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Canada Day

 

Freebie Friday - Free Puppet Patterns

Puppets are basically dolls with a bit more animation. Here are some free patterns and tutorials to get you started:

I love these Warm Fuzzy Mammal finger puppets from Soto Softies- retro cool, baby.

Another simple, but really cool puppet, this time of a ninja, click here.

This page gives you a basic free people pattern and a fox finger puppet.

Click here for more simple puppet patterns for both animals and humans.

Puppets in Melbourne shows you how to recycle old soft toys by making them into puppets here.

If you'd like to try more sophisticated puppetry, this video will give you an idea of how more animated puppets are often made:

If you'd like to try making a foam puppet, try this website, Puppet Building Dot Com which has several free foam head patterns.

Project Puppet also has several great tutorials including tutorials covering adding foam facial features, working with fleece, and making a puppet shirt, click here to be enlightened.

Now you'll just have to master talking without moving your lips.....mmmmm....

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Father's Day, Dad

 

Photo credit, Barry Babcock (my dad)

Happy Father's Day to the man who taught me to look and really see - one of the most important things an artist can do.  To the man who taught me to "do it right the first time".  To the man who taught me to swing a hammer and swing a bat.  To the man who says, "Nothing is impossible, just the impossible takes longer".   The only thing is I'm not sure that it is possible to love you more, Dad.  Love you.

Freebie Friday - Top 5 Tips for Better Free Motion Machine Embroidery

I will admit it, when I first tried free motion machine embroidery it alternately made me want to scream with rage and roll up into the foetal position and weep.  I just couldn't figure it out - until I discovered these five key things:

1.  Buy a free motion machine embroidery or darning foot for your machine

The first time I used a darning foot on my machine while free motion machine embroidering I almost stood up from my machine and sang the Hallelujah chorus.  The investment is so worth it.  Darning feet work so well because they let the fabric move freely, but at the same time help to control it.   Believe me, you want one.

2.  Metallic threads are hard to work with - use them in the bobbin only

Metallic threads are pretty.  They are sparkly.  I love the way they look on the spool, but they are tricky to use.  I've tried using special metallic needles and large doses of Sewers Aid, but the thread always seems to break.  I can only seem to use metallic threads if I use them in the bobbin only.  Then it works a treat.

3.  Use an embroidery hoop to hold fabric taut or use Sulky Ultra Solvy dis-solvable stabiliser

Your fabric needs to be stabilised and held very taut as you sew so try to ensure that you are either using an embroidery hoop (with the lip of the hoop facing up and the fabric flat on the bed of the sewing machine) or a very strong stabiliser.  Stabilisers like Sulky Ultra Solvy are also great if you want to be left with just the stitching to create a sort of lace effect.

4.  Invest in decent threads

It took me a while to find the threads that worked best in my machine. I like Rayon threads that are made especially for machine embroidery.  Don't try using regular polyester thread as your machine will get gummed up. 

5.  Make sure you drop or cover your feed dogs

The feed dogs are those metal teeth that push or feed your fabric through the sewing machine at a set rate, giving you a consistent stitch length.  For free motion machine embroidery you must either drop them or cover them (consult your machine's manual for how to do this for your machine) so that you can move the fabric freely around at the rate you decide.

What if you machine does not allow you to drop or cover the feed dogs?  Alma Stoller shows a clever way to get the same results with a very basic machine in this tutorial.

Want an overview of how to free motion machine embroider? Try this free tutorial from Cut Out and Keep.

I hope these tips get you singing the Hallelujah Chorus!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Gotta Have Cloth Doll Artistry

My copy of Barbara Willis' Cloth Doll Artistry finally arrived in the post last week and I've been drooling over it ever since. 

I admit that I am biased; I adore Barbara's work, she was one of the people to get me hooked on the whole cloth doll malarkey in the first place and I do consider her a friend and mentor.  Having said that, I think that Barbara has really outdone herself with this book. 

The chapter on colour is inspiring and I love the beautiful way it is presented.  Having done a fine art degree, it is lovely to see someone approach colour from a slightly different angle and to do it so elegantly, as only Barbara can.

The chapter on flat dolls is so inspiring, the textures of the dolls belie their flatness and make them so appealing. 

I adore the format that Barbara, Li Hertzi and Patti Culea's books have taken with the galleries of dolls made by other artists.  It is because of the inspiring diversity of these galleries that I come back to books like this again and again.

I suppose I am also quite biased in my utter adoration of this book because one of my dolls is featured, Erin.  I love the challenge of making dolls for books and this doll was an absolute pleasure to make.  The pattern came together so well and Erin seemed (or maybe it should be seamed?) to fall together.

 

If you don't already own this book, you need to.  Really you do.

If you live in the UK, remember that Barbara is teaching in the UK in the fall.  Click here for more details. It's your opportunity to get a signed copy of Barbara's book!