Patti Medaris Culea - Creative Cloth Doll Collection: A Complete Guide to Creating Figures, Faces, Clothing, Accessories, and Embellishments

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO
CREATING FIGURES, FACES,
CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES,
AND EMBELLISHMENTS

PATTI MEDARIS CULEA

TO MY FAMILY, FRIENDS, PUBLISHER, AND
YOU MY READERS, WHO HAVE HELPED MAKE
MY DREAMS COME TRUE.

Find instructions for the cover doll, made by Patti Medaris Culea, on our website: www.quarrybooks.com . Search Creative Cloth Doll Collection, and print a downloadable pdf.

Creative doll making. These words are at the center of what defines us as doll makers. We are artists who have a passion to create. If others like or appreciate what we do, fine. If not, the love of what we do sustains us. As artists, we think outside the box, whereas others keep within what is familiar. There is no way to predict when our inspirations will come or where they will come from, but when they arrive, we frantically search for the nearest scratch pad.

The book you are holding is actually four-in-one, a compilation of favorite material from my first four books. It is for people who know they have the gift of artistic creativity and want to take their doll-making talents to a higher level. Its also for those who have recently discovered a yearning to be creativefor those who never thought they could be doll makers. My hope is that this book enables you to start with a published pattern and make a doll thats unique. I want to help you learn to create a doll that has your signature, a doll that is truly yours.

Being a creative individual goes beyond scratch pads, needles, thread, sewing machines, and colored pencils. It begins when we rise in the morning. The creative person reflects their calling in the way they dress, cook, go to work, look at the world, interact with others, and think.

This is more than a book about doll making. I hope it will help you integrate creative techniques into many areas of your lifeand allow you to take new risks, let go, and have fun! For example, rubber stamps and paints arent new, but using them on already made cloth figures is a fresh concept. Tyvek has been around for years, mainly for envelopes and environmental suits, but here youll see how it can be used to create whimsical clothing and beads. And beading! What a wonderful art form. Youll see that when beads are used to embellish a cloth doll, your creation can become magical. Free-motion machine embroidery has been used to create wonderful garments for adults; youll discover how to use it to change the look of fabric for doll clothing, shoes, wings, and bodices. Fabric collage is commonly found in quilting and garments, but its also an exciting technique for making doll bodies and clothing.

This book contains patterns for six doll bodies and also for accessories. The doll pattern pieces are designed so that you can mix and match body parts as you wish. At the end of the book is a gallery where family and friends and colleagues have interpreted the patterns in their own style. Youll see the work of beginning doll makers, intermediate doll makers, and some hall of fame artists, too. This will give you a lot of inspiration for making a doll thats uniquely yours.

This book is for you, the reader. I hope you enjoy reading each page as an adventure in creativity. Our world is one of heads, threads, beads, and the seeds of new ideas. Im sure many of you will use the book to come up with new and exciting techniques. I hope you will share your creations with me and with others in the wonderful world of doll making. More than anything, I hope youll have fun.

God bless,
Patti Medaris Culea

Doll making has changed dramatically over the past several years, with new techniques, supplies, and materials being discovered every day. Many supplies that doll makers use come from places like hardware stores and thrift shops; others come simply from the imaginations of the doll makers themselves.

Just as carpenters and plumbers have toolboxes to house and transport their essential tools, doll makers must have a basic sewing kit. Youll need it at home and, when you travel, to take to classes.

Work Space Essentials

Container for water

Containers for mixing dyes and paints

Cover-up or old clothes to wear

Fabric eraser

Hemostatsfor turning and stuffing

Large and small finger-turning tools

Latex or plastic gloves

Measuring tape

Mechanical pencil

Paper towels

Plastic work surface

Sewing machine (your closest friend); cleaned and oiled and with a new needle

Spongessmall and large

Stuffing forks

Sweater rack for your clothes dryer or a hair dryer for setting paints and dyes

THE BASIC BODY KIT

1/3 yard (30.5 cm) of white or light-colored 100% cotton fabric

colored pencils: light or sienna brown for shading; lighter tan, beige, or flesh for highlights; white for pronounced highlights; carmine red for cheeks; light, medium, and dark colors for eyes; two shades of pink, red, or rose for lips

fabric pens: black, brown, contrasting color for the eyes, red white gel pen

6 pipe cleaners for wiring fingers

stuffing such as Fairfield Poly-fil strong thread for sculpting and attaching arms and legs, color-matched to fabric

textile medium such as Createx Textile Medium or JoSanja Textile Medium

thread to match fabric

soft fabric eraser such as Magic Rub

mechanical pencil

clear plastic quilters gridded ruler

template plastic (optional)

stuffing tools

sewing machine

turning tools such as the Itsy Bitsy Finger Turning kit or small brass tubes (see Resources, )

needle-nose pliers

wire cutters

THE BASIC SEWING KIT

sewing machine

sewing machine needles: universal points in size 10 and 12; embroidery, metallic, and top stitch in size 12

hand-sewing needles (sharps, milliners, quilters basting needles, darners, embroidery, chenille)

3" (7.6 cm) -long doll-sculpting needle

size 11/12 beading needle

variety of sewing machine presser feet, such as darning, open-toed, and zigzag