Dolls are a child’s first best friend. They serve a purpose as friends, they teach nurturing and they are really a child’s first step to becoming social. Dolls can be found in almost any household in toy boxes, on shelves full of collectible dolls, on top of wedding cakes, movie star dolls in a teenagers room and sports dolls that reside in a manly sports room. You can even make your own doll. Rag dolls were the special friend that rode with a child in the back of a covered wagon. Mothers, back then, had never heard of the words “thrift” or “recycle”, but that is exactly what they did to provide their children with a friend. They used scrap rags for the body and the clothes and weeds and straw for the stuffing. In today’s world, if you would like to make your own doll, your choices of supplies are not quite so limited. The basics for a rag doll would be a pattern, fabric and stuffing. Even those basics could be whittled down, somewhat, by using old linens and textiles from your closets and making your own pattern.

For a pattern, start by drawing a rectangle on paper for the body. Draw a circle sitting on one short end of the rectangle for the head. Round the outer corners of the body and the inner corners where the head meets the body in order to shape the pattern. Place the pattern on a doubled piece of chosen body fabric, with the right sides facing. Draw around the pattern. Sew on the drawn lines, leaving the bottom of the body unstitched. Cut the body out a 1/4 inch from the stitched lines. Clip the corners and turn right side out. Stuff the head and body firmly and close the open end.

The normal size for a leg pattern would be the measurement from the bottom of the body to almost the top of the head and slightly narrower than half the body width. The whimsy size could be quite a bit longer. Use fabric that will mimic stockings and cut two for each leg. Sew the legs the same as the body, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Turn and stuff the legs and close the ends. Attach the legs to the bottom seam on the doll’s body. Make the arms as long as the doll’s body and slightly narrower than the doll’s legs. Repeat the sewing used for the legs. Turn and stuff the arms and close the ends. Attach the arms to the shoulder seams of the body.

The same is true when creating patterns for your beadwork. It is very important that you take some time to take a seat and really visualise how you need your finish product to look. What’s your idea? What color or beads would go well with this design? Once you have had all these down pat, you can start working on your beadwork. You may find it difficult infrequently to come up with a new design now and then. But this is actually made simpler if you are mindful of all of the differing kinds of basic beading patterns. A vital step is learning the stitches that are available to you and how it’s possible for you to use them individually and even in mix with each other. The mixture of these stitches would be what you call a pattern.

You can choose your patterns depending on your talent level. If you’re just starting to learn about beading, your best option would most likely be the flat peyote stitch. Master this kind of stitch and you’ll certainly find it straightforward to learn all of the others. Another stitches that are commonly utilized in beadwork patterns are the brick stitch and the flat square stitch. Starting out may seem troublesome and you would have to really keep your eye to make certain your stitches look right but in due time and with enough practice it’ll ultimately come naturally to you.

Clueless as to how to finish off your pattern design? Adding a fringe to your pattern design would be best to consider. They seem to be a good way to finish off your patterns as it adds that additional flourish in your design. The most common fringes that are out there are the straightforward looped fringe and plain knotted fringe amongst others. Apart from a fringe, you may choose a cord such as the peyote stitch cord or the platted cord. When choosing the stitch, fringe, or cord to be used in your pattern, don’t forget to consider which type of beadwork you’ll be making. Are you making a necklace, a key ring, a bracelet, or a wine ring? Knowing this beforehand will help you choose a more suitable style. You can even decide to make beaded ornaments for the imminent vacations or you can center them on other special occasions such as weddings, birthdays.