A Healing Intention: ask yourself, where do I most need healing today? You can choose more than one intention. “My intention for this doll is to heal my _______________.” “After I make this doll, I intend to feel__________________.”
A notebook and journal: to sketch ideas and inspiration and to take notes
Sticks: Gather sturdy sticks of various sizes from a nearby park or your garden. Bring long ones for the body and thinner ones for arms and legs. Largest stick for the body should probably be no larger than 12 inches, if you want try to complete your doll in a day.
Sewing Supplies: Needles, sewing pins, scissors, regular and colored thread (embroidery floss if you choose).
Quilt batting: or another material to wrap the sticks with. This provides the shape and form to the body and appendages for your doll. Please cut into strips, 1-2 inches wide and 2 feet or so long. If you don’t have quilt batting, you can also use fabric scraps found around your house, cut into strips.
For the face: The face can be the most difficult part of the doll. Here are some options to think about. One option is to make a doll without a face. You can try stitching a face onto fabric. If you choose this method, you might want to bring an image of a face for inspiration. Or you may want to make a face out of an element in nature, ie, a walnut or a pine cone. Or you can use a button. Or air-drying clay (see note below) Or you may have a clay head already made. Do a search on Etsy (this is a quirky one)-there are many options there. Or look at Maureen Carlson's (Wee Folk) push molds here. We won't have time to make faces from molds in this class, but you may want to go down this rabbit hole ahead of time!
Fabric for dressing your doll: Consider using scarves for draping and wrapping. These already have patterns on the front and back and can be easily manipulated into coats, veils, aprons, flowing cloaks, etc. Patterned cotton fabric scraps can also work. You may want to bring some plain white, beige or brown or colored fabrics for an underlayer. You can repurpose old clothes for this purpose as well.
Yarn, ribbons, thread: for hair and other embellishments.
Additional materials that have personal meaning for you: your choice. Perhaps you want to bring objects with special meaning that you might want to wrap inside your doll. Or dried herbs or special stones with healing properties.
🧵 Optional:
I will provide masking tape to attach sticks together and various glues if needed.
Additional materials available for a small fee. (materials fee-$25) including fabrics for dressing and embellishing your dolls, various ephemera to be used for embellishment, including ribbons, thread, yarn, and other assorted decorative elements.
There is also the option of using paper clay to create your face, in which case it probably will need time after the session to dry.