Monday, September 28, 2009

Project one - Liddle girls


Liddle girls
Originally uploaded by redmag


This is Project One of Five for my week of blogging a project a day....

Fabric Paper Doll Garlands
These were inspired by the need to use metres of heavy-weight iron-on interfacing that I got for free.


You will need:

  • Heavy-weight iron on interfacing approx 20cm high and how ever long as you'd like your garland to be - mine is 1.5 meters long. You need a heavy weight interfacing because this is what makes the fabric stiff enough to behave like paper and give you pretty erect little dolls.
  • A length of fabric cut slightly bigger than you length of interfacing - to make it easier to attach the two together with the iron - I allowed 1 cm clearance but it can be smaller if you are methodical and cut straight - which I am not and can't do.
  • A doll template (I've attached mine here but feel free to use your own)
  • An iron
  • Scissors
  • Small metal rings (optional)

What to do:

  • Attach your fabric to the interfacing using the iron following the manufacturers instructions.
  • Trace the template out on the back side of the fabric/interfacing strip. I found it too difficult to cut all the dolls out at once like you would with a normal paper doll garland and so traced the template out over the entire strip - it takes time but gives you a much nicer end product.
    If you are using the metal rings leave some material on the end of the first and last doll that can be folded back to make a loop that will secure the metal ring.
  • Cut out the dolls
  • If using the metal rings, sew them into the first and last doll. I found that the rings made it easier to hang the garland but they aren't

    ...and ta daa you have a fabric paper doll garland.

Some options to customise....If you'd prefer a garland of liddle boy dolls...just trim the skirt of the dolls in the template.....I've made a nice garland that had pairs of boys and girls.

Also you can have different fabrics along the garland - just make the join at their hands using the template to determine how wide each piece of fabric needs to be.

A comment on the picture - while not the prettiest of shots - i just loved that the two-year old's first instinct upon laying eyes of this harem of liddle girls hanging around his room was to grab his liddle Cambodian boy doll and proceed to get him to give them each a kiss...........owwwww.......which reminds me of a little picket fence my dad built when we were kids that got a similar treatment from my little sister....although she went further and declared they were her boyfriends....I guess she expected a commitment for her kisses....

See you tomorrow night with Project Two.

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