Melania...let's give her an arm.

Needle in two layers of stitches to attach

Stitching through painted gesso is no fun. I made the mistake of painting the torso then realized that it does get a little hard to pass the needle. Well, with a good thimble and force I was able to attach the arm to the shoulder.





Blending clay over the shoulder will take more than one pass. I first rolled a thin snake of paper clay to fill in the gap and cover the stitches. Once that was pressed in and allowed to set for a bit, I smoothed the edges and with a damp finger adding more clay to finish filling the gap.

Remember, if you apply too much water to the clay, it will show cracks when dry.  If by chance some cracks do appear after drying, smooth on a bit more paper clay to cover and sand smooth when dry. 



Knot thread and tuck in towards fold


Don't worry how your stitches may look, just make sure the arm is secure and sewn tight to the shoulder, remember to follow the slope of the neck for a natural look.

Melania's Face... 3 steps

Here she is in her semi finished state.
Hmmm, I had a bit of a problem while creating Melania's face...I've never thought getting both sides to match up would be a problem.

Well it was.It took me a while but I got it to look passably even.

Her right ear wasn't narrow enough at the bottom so I added on an earring base.

I found the best way to apply the dolls features is in a three step method.











First. Apply a thin layer of clay over the gesso, leaving a  third of the head at the top without covering, this part will hold her sewn in hair

Second. As the base clay partly dries, you can begin molding one side of the face with the fresh clay. Start with the mouth and nose, make sure they are centered within the placement of the ears, then add on one eye and an ear. Make sure to blend in the edges onto the semi dry clay with a damp finger, or use a toothpick for those tight areas. Set aside to set up for 10 to 15 minutes.
The texture will be a bit rough and gritty, but as the clay continues to dry, you can gently tap it smooth with your finger (or toothpick), reshape and add on any more details before it's fully dry.

Third. Once the first side of the head is dry, the opposite side can be worked on. I noticed after stuffing the head, that my doll's ears came out to be a little odd, but mistakes can create additional detail.  I adjusted my doll's look by making an ear clasp which can later hold an earring.

These steps are simple and can be applied on all areas while creating your paper clay doll. True, the process can be a bit slow, but the doll's final symmetry will be worth it...lol

Melania's Boots

Here my doll has one boot on and one off. I just wanted to show you that once the gesso is applied the clay grips on the leg and the clay becomes easy to mold.

You'll notice that there is a stick coming out of the heel. This stick run through the dolls right leg and gives her a bit of stability, which is good because as you build on the cloth she might become a bit top heavy.
She will be glued onto a platform stand, once I'm done with the costume and hair.

Just a closer shot of the folds on the boot. I have yet to sand it a bit smoother.

I used a toothpick to make the  leatherfolds on the paper clay. Looks pretty good. if I do say so myself...lol

Palm stitch

Having the hand look normal on such a small scale is sometimes a bit of trial and error.

I found that what works best is taking a stitch or two to keep the hand from looking overstuffed and distorted, bringing the sides in a bit closer.

To make the heel of the palm, I made a long stitch down towards the wrist and pulling the needle across to the side I sinched the fabric a little closer.  

With the stitches in place you can move the stuffing around and form the heel of the palm. This gives the hand a more realistic look.

Here is a picture showing the gesso being applied and notice that I left 1/2 inch clear at the shoulder.



This allowed me to sew the arms on the body without damaging the fabric.

Arms and hands works

I'm having such a difficult time getting Melania's arms done. Muscle man looking forearms and a thick finger look is so unappealing on such a graceful doll...lol

First, I got the fabric sewn and the arms looked passable . As my attempt at making articulated fingers,was that of a novice, I was so excited that the fingers looked so normal and that the pipe cleaner and stuffing of the hands looked quite natural. So far,so good.

Now, came the hard part. Placing the clay over the fingers and arm of the doll. But with a coat of gesso and lots of patience it stuck on.

After working the clay on those itty bitty appendages it looked a total mess. (Sausage fingers and a palm that looked like a basketball players dream). So before the clay dried, I manipulated the wires to shape the hand, into a more natural position.

Sanding in between the fingers, was difficult but I need to use a finer grade of sandpaper to get a more polished look to the hand.

Now I just have to attach them to the doll.

Learning steps in creating a clay over cloth doll

First off, I would like to let you know that this will be my first attempt at creating a clay over cloth doll. So a bit of trial and error is going to be the name of the game here...lol  
I will try to take pictures and give you a before and after look at the progress I am making.
I hope you get to learn a bit more with the experience. 

For those of you who have used it before, you know that paper clay can be at times a bit stiff and hard to work with, but don't be discouraged... it's possible to make it work.
I found that if you apply very little drops of water to a golf ball size chunk , you can knead the clay into a more pliable medium that works quite well. But be careful, too much water can give you a smooth finish to start with, but the end results will show cracks and cause the clay to crumble when the moisture is all dried out. If your doll does crack, this can be mended by filling in with some wet clay and when dry, if it bulges out a bit, sanding it smooth with a fine grade sandpaper.

Okay, to begin with you will need a cloth doll to cover. I am using one that I made a while back just for this purpose. She stands 14 inches high and is armless at this point, which makes it easier to do the body sculpting. (The arms will be made separately and positioned before they are attached and smoothed over with clay to the finished body.)


 Melania

 This is my first attempt at applying the clay...not a pretty sight. The clay kept peeling back off the fabric and I was very disappointed with the texture. A grainy, sandy residue developed over the molded bottom and I was ready to shelf it and move on, but...I had a plan...

 My plan was to ask a friend how could I get a better result when applying the clay. She suggested that I first coat the fabric with gesso as a primer..and you know what? She was right.  With the gesso giving the fabric a bit of tooth the clay was able to cling to the fabric without a problem.



The problem now was that I had already made my doll's posterior and wasn't about to take it off. ( It just looked too good...) Solution: put a coat or two of gesso over the girl's bottom as I painted the rest of the doll and hope that it will hold up with the rest of the applied clay...

This was the result I got after a bit of sanding and some clay molding. To get a realistic look to the arch of her back. I first sketched what I felt the body would look like.. .

The shaping of the clay was done in a two step method I found worked for me. First, with the wet clay, you block in the basic shape of the doll's anatomy over the cloth doll. As you manipulate the form, the clay begins to dry and you can press the clay firmly to the gesso coated fabric. Wetting the tip of your fingers slightly you start to smooth the clay in a dragging motion that melds the shapes together. The slight two tone coloring, is due to the wet clay against the dried gesso.
                                    Click on either picture for a closer look.

Here I just added two pull caps from a couple of juice containers, covered with some fabric and stuffed with a fiber fill and glue mix


These caps made a perfect size placement for the paper clay molding.

Serena, my green Mermaid - Cloth Doll

This is my first mermaid, an 11 inch doll using a simple beginners pattern for the torso and adding on my own tail.
I was able to match up the separate parts at the waist with bits of shiny sequin to cover the seam.



At first, I wanted her skin to be an aqua blue, notice that it didn't happen quite the way I would have liked.  After a couple of dye jobs what I kept getting was a simple green, so green she would have to be...lol

To create her long locks of hair, I rolled multiple strips of  loose mohair. I kept adding hair gel to help it keep it's shape, and once that was all dry, I lightly glue the strands into place.

Once the hair was styled, I fasten the strands into place by sewing on the seed beads that decorate her necklace and tail.

Creating an elaborate stand for her would have take away from the doll herself.

Using sand, glue, a bit of copper glitter, some rocks and glass pebbles I was able to decorate a piece of colored styrofoam and put together a sandy base background with flowing coral colored seaweed.

Hera Pin and "Lil' Willow" - Cloth Dolls

Here is my very own pocket pin goddess. It's an original design that sits 4 inches tall.

Hera goddess of Love and Marriage, was known for her great beauty, and particularly her beautiful, large eyes. She is linked to her sacred animal, the cow, and also the peacock.
The peacock with its iridescent feathers having "eyes," gave Hera a nurturing watchfulness to cast over her subjects, while the peacock icon symbolizes her luxury, beauty, and immortality.

The goddess Hera,  who ruled over heaven, earth, and every aspect of it's existence, including the seasons and the weather, was a goddess of love and worship...yet the power she possessed was quite intimidating.


My pin doll was quite easy to make. She wears an ornate metal and seed bead crown, made out of a metal pin I had broken and thought to keep for another use.
As a Greek goddess, regally called "the Queen of Heaven,"  Hera, was a powerful woman in her own right and showed it with great tolerance.  
I chose to use as her body, a fabric depicting wild flowers and cool colors, instead of the sheer pale whites that are always used. It's visual contained just right grace I was looking for...spring like and care free. 


I hope you enjoyed my simplified version of the goddess Hera.

This was a little doll made for the day of Samhain. A day and ritual that was altered to what we now know as Halloween.

Sweet and ready to sit on your shelf. I had fun making her, knowing she will be a nice surprise to a fellow doll maker.

 This is the swap doll I received in return from a very talented lady from Leander Texas. It really captures the thinning of the veil which takes places on the day of Samhain

 I'm going to display her for the holiday season so all can see.

Fall swap doll "Lil' Willow"

Kali Goddess of Destruction - Cloth Doll

Kali is the bright fire of truth, which cannot be hidden by the clothes of ignorance.

 When asked to create a goddess of the world, the thought of great power and beauty came to mind. Which one of the most powerful elements in our world can inflict fear in it's destructiveness, as well as mesmerize with it's consuming grace...Kali, echo of the woman warrior's fierce virginal autonomy was my final choice.



My version shows her wearing only the consuming flames that represent the complete circle of creation and destruction, which is contained within her. She is the goddess that gives life to the inherent creative and destructive rhythms of the cosmos. She is the goddess that gives death, and to confront or accept death, on the contrary, is to realize a mode of being that can delight and revel in the play of the gods. To accept one's mortality is to be able to let go, to be able to sing, dance, and shout

Although she is shown to have three eyes, I gave her two. The white of her eyes show she is able to observe the three modes of time: past, present and future. This attribute is also the origin of the name Kali, which is the feminine form of 'Kala', the Sanskrit term for Time.
Kali is Mother to her devotees not because she protects them from the way things really are, but because she reveals to them their mortality and thus releases them to act fully and freely, releases them from the incredible, binding web of "adult" pretense, practicality, and rationality.