Recycled T-Shirt Fabric Dolls

Amanda was allowed to draw on her walls as a child, so it's no wonder this creative "inner child" now makes exciting and fun fabric dolls as an adult.

Materials:

scrap fabric/T-shirts
scissors
fabric pigment
rubber-coated wire
wood dowels
dissolvable surface
embroidery hoop
sewing machine
sewing needle
thread

1. Cut T-shirts or fabric into long strips. Wrap strips to form the head (figure A).

2. Sew on facial features--nose, mouth, brow line (figure B).

3. Use pigments to create a skin color for the head.

4. Glue a dowel into the head where the neck will eventually be. Allow to dry.

5. Sew onto dissolvable surface to create a netting of skin to cover the head (figure C). Dissolve material and sew onto to head.

6. Sew the hair onto the dissolvable surface. Dissolve and sew onto the head (figure D).

7. Use two rubber-covered wires long enough to run from one arm to one leg and begin wrapping around the center of them for the torso.

8. Wrap arms and legs.

9. Draw hand shape onto a piece of fabric. Turn fabric on the back and sew along what is drawn. Trim around the stitching (figure E).

10. Stuff the hand using tweezers, and use pigments to make the hands the same as the face color (see again figure E).

11. Repeat for the other hand. Sew hands onto arms.

12. Use the netting from the face to cover the hands.

13. Decide how you want your doll dressed. Use fabrics and dissolvable materials to create an outfit.

Website: www.AmandaGary.com