Monday, August 17, 2015

DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Sock Doll



DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Sock Doll
Jack Skellington

This is an easy sock doll tutorial that anyone can make. Since we are coming upon the Halloween season, I wanted to come up with something that was cute and scary at the same time. Jack seemed like the most perfect thing to make and I know that it will be a wonderful gift to give to my daughter for Christmas. She loves the movie Nightmare Before Christmas. I also made one for my grandson. These little dolls are so adorable. If you would like a video tutorial too, check out the video below. 
Here is a detailed video tutorial:
 Lets get started with our blog tutorial.


THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
*Socks
*Black fabric
*Rubber band
*Black and white thread
*Scissors
*Sewing needle
*Pins
*Poly-fil Stuffing
*Black felt
*Pencil
*Paint 
(fabric paint, fabric markers, puffy paint, acrylic paint, etc...) Use whatever you have and use your imagination to come up with different ways to make this awesome craft. 

The first thing you will need is a sock and a rubber band. I love using up those mis-matched socks. Make sure the sock you use is all white and does not have a colored toe.
Stuff the toe of the sock with Poly-Fil until the head is the size that you want it. Wrap the rubber band at the base of the head to make the neck. Then cut the heel off of the sock, straight across the bottom like this.

Stuff the bottom part of the doll. 


Fold the edges of each side under and pin the bottom edges together to make sewing easier.

Now sew the bottom edge together. I used the blanket stitch and sewed it by hand but if you are handy with a sewing machine, you can use that too.

Lets make the arms. I used another sock to make the arms. I had a long sock and cut the top off of the sock and then cut it in half so that it made two pieces. 


You can also use the center foot part of the sock to make the arms by cutting off the toe and the heel and then cutting the center part in half to make two pieces the same size if you do not have a long sock. 

Cut the tip of each of the arms so that it is rounded and looks like this. Then sew around the tip and down the side of both arms, but leave the bottom open so that you can stuff it. I used the back stitch to sew the arms. Then flip the arm inside out so that it hides the stitches.

Use your black fabric to cut out the sleeves. We will be attaching the sleeves to the arms at the base of the arm. So cut the black fabric to the length that you want the sleeve. I simply held the arm up to the fabric to use as a guide. Then I cut the sleeve piece so that it was wider than the arm because we will need to sew a seam along the side of the sleeve. Cut 2 sleeves.

You should have two arms and two sleeves.

Fold the sleeves in half and sew the seam along the edge with black thread. When it is done, flip it inside out.

Hold the arm up to your doll to see how long you want your arm to be according to the size of the doll. You will need to know how much you want to stuff it.

This is what the arm looks like when it is stuffed.

Slide the sleeve over top of the arm making sure that the hand is showing. Line the seam of the sleeve up with the seam of the arm. Then tuck the edges under like you did for the body and sew the two edges together.


Sew the arms onto the sides of the doll on both sides of the arm to be sure that it is securely on there. I used the blanket stitch for this also.

Cut a piece of black fabric so that it will be wider than the doll and hang lower than the body of the doll when it is folded in half. This will make his clothes. 

Fold the fabric piece in half and find the center of the fabric. Cut a small slit in the center so that you can put the head of the doll through the hole. Do not make the hole too big. Make it smaller than the head. You can squeeze the head so that it fits through the hole. :)

Once you have the clothes on the doll, fold the material under on each shoulder and pin the sides. Sew along both sides of the material under the arms with the blanket stitch.

Stop sewing the sides once you reach the bottom of the doll. This will let the outfit flow freely at the bottom when you are done.

Cut a "V" in the bottom part of the outfit. Then cut slits on the edges of the "V" so that it gives the outfit a ghostly look.


 I know that Jack has legs but I thought this added a unique touch to the doll and it made the doll easy to make. You can add legs if you would like to. Just make the legs like you did the arms but make them longer if you would like it to have legs.

The neck on the doll is a little floppy with only the rubber band as the neck so I used a piece of felt long enough to wrap around Jack's neck 3 times and wide enough to make the neck stronger. Sew the neck piece on with black thread.

I also used felt to make the tie part which is supposed to look like a bat. I cut the bat wings to look like this. The finished bat tie looks much better when you are done. Promise. hahaha :)

Cut the bat head out of the felt too. Then sew the tie onto the neck piece with the black thread.

Lets make the face. 
Jack has many faces. Look online to see the face that you want to use for your doll. You do not have to make your doll scary looking like I did. I made them scary because I knew my daughter and grandson would like it scary. Once you find the face you want on your doll, use a pencil to lightly draw the face on.

I used acrylic paint to paint the face and the necktie on the doll but you can use whatever you have handy. I have examples of other things that you can use in the list above. You will need black and white to paint the face and tie.

I love how these dolls turned out. I hope you enjoy making a Jack Lament doll as much as I did. Come up with your own ideas to make your doll unique.

I would love to see a picture of your doll if you decide to make one. You can share your pictures with us on our facebook page if you would like. 
Thank you so much for visiting.
Happy Halloween!!

Thank you so much for visiting. Don't forget to watch the

 video if you have any questions. Check out our Facebook

 page and our YouTube channel. We would love to have you

 join us. :)

 Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

EASYMEWORLD YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EasyMeWorld

EASYMEWORLD FACEBOOK:

OUR FAMILY VLOG CHANNEL:



Monday, August 3, 2015

How To Make Fabric Apples

 How to make apples out of fabric or felt.
VIDEO TUTORIAL
 
These apples are easy to sew by hand or on a sewing machine. This is a great gift idea for anyone who loves country decorations or for that very special teacher. 

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
*Paper and pencil
*Fabric (apple)
*Stuffing
*Thread
*Needle
*Sewing machine (optional)
*Scissors
*Green Felt or material (Leaf)
*Stem: Cinnamon stick, suede lace, twigs etc.
*glue gun
*pins

If you would like more instructions on how to sew by hand, follow this link where I will show you step by step how to sew by hand:  https://youtu.be/YmBl0YzVtC4

  Thank you so much for visiting. Don't forget to watch the video if you have any questions. Check out our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. We would love to have you join us. :)
 Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

EASYMEWORLD YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EasyMeWorld

EASYMEWORLD FACEBOOK:

OUR FAMILY VLOG CHANNEL: