DIY Network

Muse Dolls, Part 2 Sculpt your dolls' face and dress her in style. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-110

Your muse awaits!

In Part 1 of this project, fabric artist Julie McCullough showed
B. Original host Michele Beschen how to create the basic structure of one of her signature muse dolls.

Scroll down to see her soft-sculpture techniques for creating these contemplative dolls' faces. She'll also share some of the secrets behind the muse dolls' exotic clothing.

advertisement

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Create Your Doll's Face

Materials:

doll head and body from Part 1 (figure A)
dollmaker's needle
hand-quilting thread
fine-line pens

Julie McCullough showed Michele Beschen and B. Original viewers her quilt-like technique for sculpting the doll's face, which involves stitching from the inside to "pinch" in features:

• As you look at your doll's head, the large oval is the back of the head, and the two small bumps will be the nose and mouth. Decide where you want the bridge of your doll's nose to be. Thread a long dollmaker's needed with hand-quilting thread and insert it at the back of the head to come out at one side of the nose (figure B).
  
  
• Make a small stitch, bringing the needle straight through to the other side of the nose (figure C).

• Repeat these horizontal stitches until you're happy with the definition of your doll's nose, usually about three or four stitches. This technique gives you a lot of control over the shape—it can be anything from a giant Santa Claus nose to a tiny button nose.

• To create a nostril, insert the needle at one of your existing nose stitches and bring it out where you want your nostril to be. Take a small stitch, bringing the needle back the way it came. Repeat, then move to the other side of the nose and do the other nostril.

• Use the same technique if you want to give your doll dimples, a cleft chin or other features.

• Once you're done sculpting your doll's features, bring the needle and thread out the back of the head and tie off, making sure to keep the thread tension.

• Draw on your doll's facial features with pens (figure D). Julie McCullough doesn't like to put too much detail into her muses' features—they're ethereal, abstract personalities.

	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G
	Figure H

Dress Your Doll in Style

Julie McCullough uses her own custom-made fabric to dress her muse dolls; you can do the same, or dress them in any other fabric you choose. If you want to use Julie McCullough's methods:

• Draw a template for your doll's cloak. This garment simply wraps around the doll's body, fitting closely and hanging from the shoulders. The dolls' streamlined design makes this an appropriate garment; these dolls aren't designed to move about.

• Choose a lining fabric for your doll's cloak and lay it face up on your work surface. Then add your handmade fabric, face down, and pin in place (figure E). Sew and cut around your template, leaving an opening for turning. Turn the cloak right-side out, smooth it down and stitch the opening closed.

• Fit the cloak to your doll and stitch in place. Add beads, ribbons and other embellishments.

• You can make your doll's headdress from any fabric you choose. To create one from handmade fabric, stitch a small piece of the fabric to a piece of water-soluble interfacing (figure F). Stitch several times across the fabric and interfacing before you immerse it in water; the piece will shrink and stiffen; use it to stitch a headdress (figure G).

• You also can create headdresses, scarves and veils for your dolls by sandwiching yarns, unspun wool, metallic threads and similar fibers between two sheets of hot-water-soluble interfacing. Immerse it in hot water, and the interfacing will "disappear," leaving you a fascinating open weave of the different materials (figure H).

GUESTS :

Julie McCullough
Website: www. magicthreads.com
E-mail: julie@magicthreads.com