WITCH CRAFTS

WITCH CRAFTS

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Swamp Witch

Hi All

Here's another Halloween doll,-- a Swamp Witch.  

 

This doll is about 20 inches tall. She is all cloth, with a stump body. 

(I've made a swamp witch years ago, but that one had a sculpted head made of polymer clay.)

This is my basic "hag" pattern -- a hunch-backed older woman with arthritic hands. I'm working on a published pattern to purchase. It should be ready by the fall. (I'll make an announcement when it's ready.)

The coat is made of many layers of different fibers and fabrics. I used an eyelet fabric as the base, in olive green. Over that is a heavy lace that looks like spider webs (dyed in shades of olive green). Then, a layer of green heavy netting (it's called "Spook Cloth"-- popular at Halloween season). Over that, I layered strips of different gauzes in shades of gray & olive. Plus, I added some textured yarns and "leaf" trim to look like sea weed.




She has an under-dress of metallic green lace and more gauze. I wanted to add a little "sparkle" to her to show that she has magical power.




She wears a shell pendant strung with red coral.

I aged the face with mostly colored pencils and chalk, and a little needle-sculpting.


She holds a staff, made of wire, wrapped with paper and cording. I glued sea shells on it and added some "sea-weed" fiber yarn. The top of her staff holds a small cage that I ended up putting a candle inside (candle not pictured).

Hope you enjoy!

Be safe and wear a mask (it's only for a little while).
-AB

 

7 comments:

Maria Roxborough said...

Wow, she is amazing. I love how you are able to sculpt and colour a cloth face to bring forth your vision.

Arley said...

Thanks Maria. I work hard at getting as much expression out of the cloth that I can. Thanks for noticing.

Kathy said...

Love this Witch! Just amazing...as all of your figures are! I have taken 2 of your classes, long time ago, and just think you are a great teacher as well! Your patterns are easy to follow and leave so much open to imagination. Stay well, stay safe, want to see more dolls!

Kat said...

Those hands are awesome:)

Arley said...

Thanks Kathy! I'm glad you enjoy my classes and patterns!

Hey Kat! Thanks for commenting on my hands. I work hard on them (the secret is "pom-poms" and straws), so I appreciate you saying you like them.

Mark said...

So ... are the pom-poms what gives the fingers the arthritic bumpy joints? Now why didn’t I think of that! You are so talented and I greatly appreciate the ideas and inspiration Arley!

Arley said...

I don't know Mark, why didn't you think of that?? Ha!
Also, I put a small pom-pom in the bottom tip of the finger - it makes the end of the finger curl up easier. If you don't have pom-poms, you can use rolled-up bits of stuffing.