I’ve been working on a couple of Spirit Dolls. This is the front of the Not Quite Pink one. She is beaded on fabric backed by a stable-in-all-directions interfacing. The fabric without the beads looks strangely like James’ legs.
The beads are mostly size 11/0, with some 8/0, 6/0, and 15/0. There are also a few hexes and bugles. Nearly all the beads are sewn on with the backstitch.
I tried something new with this one. Rather than stitching around the edge of the shape to be beaded by hand, I did it by machine with a small stitch. It’s all that garment sewing that tells me to reinforce inward curves where I will need to clip. I did the same thing on the back. You can see it here.
The back is the same fabric, but I painted it with some Lumiere Halo Pink Gold, or whatever the official name of the color is. (You don’t want to make me go down to my laboratory to look for the official name, do you?)
Next I’ll turn the edges under along the stitched line and press. I’ll press the beaded side from the back, while it’s face down on a towel and covered with a pressing cloth. Then I’ll whipstitch the front and back together, leaving a hole for stuffing. After I stuff it with fiberfill, I’ll stitch the opening closed. The final step is to add a beaded edge. I’ll post another picture when it’s done.
For more adventures in beading (including my rant about not quite pink), see my Crackpot Beader Blog.
Tags: Beading