Steady yourself--this little enchantress could fly away with your heart! Delight your friends and neighbors with a whimsical Halloween witch that's a cinch to put together.
Materials:
six-inch foam ball
five-inch foam ball
two, five-inch foam eggs or pieces of foam
two, three-inch foam eggs or pieces of foam
nine-inch foam floral cone
36-inch long dowel - 1/2-inch in diameter (cut dowel into two, 16-inch lengths and one, four-inch length)
pair of child's lace-up shoes (we used size 10)
child's socks
white lampshade - seven inches high, four inches across top, 10 inches across bottom
1/2 yard Halloween print fabric for sleeves and bloomers
1/2 yard fabric for cape
2/3 yard unbleached muslin
10-inch cardboard circle for hat brim
two, 10-inch squares black felt
one, 12-inch square black felt
muslin to cover head and hands
several 26-gauge wire stems
four 16-gauge wire stems
one package of One and Only black curly doll hair
black fabric paint pen
glue gun
Steps:
- Cut slices off the large foam eggs or from a piece of foam to fit snugly inside each shoe. Be sure to allow room for the sock. Place a slice of foam in each sock, apply hot glue to secure and insert inside the shoe. Note: Cut excess fabric from toe of sock if needed.
- Press a 16-inch length of 1/2-inch diameter dowel into the foam in each shoe for the legs. Glue to hold. Lace and tie shoe tightly. Be certain that the dowels are straight up and that the feet stand by themselves (figure A).
- Cut an 18" x 24" length of bloomer fabric. Fold right and left side of the fabric to the center, right sides together. Cut a centered six-inch slit from the bottom to the center of the back side of the fabric to create the legs of the bloomers. Glue or stitch the front and back sides of the fabric together on each side of the slit to form leg inseams, then glue or stitch the center back seam of the bloomers (figure B). Turn right side out.
- Take long gathering stitches around the bottom of each leg and along the top edge of the bloomers. Slip bloomers down over the two dowels and let them rest on the shoes.
- With the two dowels from the shoes facing straight up, push the six-inch foam ball down on top of them (figure C). The bottom of the ball should be about 13 inches from the tabletop. Pull the waist of the bloomers up around the ball. Gather the top edge of the bloomers using the gathering stitches. Pull the gathers tight and glue to the ball (figure D). Gather and glue bloomer legs in the same manner around the dowels.
- To make the dress, remove the wire that holds the light bulb from the lampshade and paint the shade any desired color. Once dry, place the shade on top of the six-inch foam ball (body) and glue to secure (figure E).
- To make the head, insert a four-inch length of dowel halfway into the five-inch foam ball. Cut a 20-inch square of muslin. Pull the muslin smoothly and snugly around the ball, gathering all the edges at the dowel. Wrap the gathered fabric tightly with a length of #16 wire. Cut off excess fabric to one inch beyond the wire (figure F). Insert the extending portion of the dowel from the head into the foam ball body through the top of the lampshade. Glue to secure.
- Smash the small foam eggs flat or soften the edges of rectangles of foam for the hands. Cut a 16-inch length of #26 wire and insert each end into one of the foam pieces. Gather a 12-inch square of muslin around each hand, gathering the ends at the arm wire. Wrap with #16 wire to secure it to the arm wire. Do not cut off the excess fabric but wrap it to secure it to the arm wire (figure G).
- Cut an 18" x 24" piece of fabric and hem each of the short ends. Fold in half lengthwise with wrong sides facing and glue or stitch together to form a tube. Turn tube right side out and slip over the arms. Wire the sleeves to the arms at the center. Wire the sleeves at the wrists about 1-1/2-inch from the ends of the fabric. Pouf the sleeves and wire the center of the arms to the back of the dowel in the witch's head.
- Cut a 16" x 45" piece of dark fabric for a cape. Hem along one long edge and both short ends. Fold the remaining long edge over two inches and take a gathering stitch along the raw edge, sewing through both layers of fabric. Pull the thread to gather the fabric and tie it around the neck of the doll to form the cape. Fan out the gathered fabric across the back of the witch.
- To make the hat brim, glue the cardboard circle to the center of one 10-inch square of felt. Cut excess felt to within one inch of the cardboard. Cut notches around the brim in the felt then fold them back toward the center of the circle and glue (figure H).
- Glue the other 10-inch square of felt to the uncovered side of cardboard. Trim the excess felt back to the brim.
- To complete the hat, wrap the 12-inch square of felt around the foam floral cone, glue to secure and cut off the excess felt. Glue to the center of the felt-covered cardboard circle.
- Draw features on the face with a fabric paint pen. Don't forget those adorable freckles! Glue on purchased doll eyes if desired. If you wish to give her a dimensional nose, cut a 2" x 12" length of muslin. Tie a knot in the middle of the strip then cut away the excess fabric and glue the knot to her face for the nose. Blush the cheeks slightly. Place hair in position, glue to secure and arrange as desired. Place hat on her head and glue or pin to hold. Embellish further with Halloween extras such as fake spiders, leaves, raffia bows, etc.
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