Witchy Poo Part One

I think the single thing that has given me the most grief while my arm has been out of commission has been the inability to create. Normally, I have several ... or more ... creative projects of some kind on the go. This past while I haven't been able to work on any of them.

Today I decided to push my recuperation by doing a little hand sewing. I sat at the dining table so I could support my arm on it the whole time. It's aching like a mild toothache now, BUT I CREATED SOMETHING! My arm might give me an uncomfortable night tonight, but my psyche sure feels a lot better! Here's what I started ... a soft-sculpture witch. Since the best way to get acquainted with any creature is to see its face, I started with the head.

Step one ... cut the reinforced toe and band at top of a knee high stocking. This is a well worn and washed stocking with a few snags in it, but no holes or runs. It's your basic generic beige colour. Taupe works well for witches too.Make the top cut at an angle instead of cutting straight along the band. This is important! Then sew a running stitch along the cut edge of the knee-end, and pull the circle of stitches up tight, like so:You don't have to be perfect with your sewing for this project, which makes it a great project for inexperienced sewers and people with gimpy arms! This is the stuff I use to stuff:I bought a ginormous industrial sized bag of it when our local Fabricland was closing out. Any poly fiberfill stuffing will do. Grab a big wad of the stuff and roll it into a big loose pear shape:Then stuff it into the stocking with the wider part of the pear away from your stitched end.I added an extra ball of stuffing on each side of the pear to widen out the bottom part more. Your stitched end should be at the back of the pear, near the top, like so:If not, squoosh things around until it is located this way. Next, I took a smaller wad of stuffing and made a smaller pear shape ...... which I stuffed into the front of the larger pear. This is the beginnings of Witchy Poo's nose. I was thinking LARGE nose.At this point, I could almost see her face! (Okay, I might have an active imagination.) I added another ball of stuffing below the smaller pear. This would become her chin.

Notice the clothes pin holding the neck end closed while I worked. Since her nose is the most prominent part of her face, I stitched around it first.I used sturdy brown quilting thread. If you don't have quilting thread, you can double regular sewing thread. There's nothing more annoying than broken thread when you don't want it! Bring your needle through to the top of the nose "pear" from the stiched ends at the back of the head, then do a running stitch around the general shape of a pear, or nose, or triangle. Perfection is not necessary. In fact, a crooked nose is a good thing for Witchy Poo! Make sure you catch a bit of the stuffing with each stitch. Then pull your stitches up tight to "gather" up the nose, and take a couple of small stitches, or tie a small knot, to hold the stitches tight. Continue to shape the nose by stitching back and forth from side to side of the nose from about the top of the nostrils up to the top of the nose. Pull your stitches tight, and make a small knot to hold the stitches tight. It's like magic! That lump of stuffing really starts LOOKING like a nose! Push your needle through to where you think one eye should be, and ...... stitch some eye crinkles. Pull your stitches up tight and make a small knot to hold them tight, then pass your needle through the forehead area to where the other eye should be, and repeat. Here's Witchy Poo with finished eye crinkles, and cheeks. Her cheeks are a simple U-shaped line of running stitches pulled tight enough to give the shape I wanted. I also stitched her a couple of nostrils. I have given her cheeks a bit of powdered blush. I have also given her a couple of warts ... stitch a small circle of stitches and pull up nice and tight. This is a good place to knot off your thread when you're running short, and a bit of dangling thread coming from a wart looks like the wart is sprouting hairs! I have given her warts a bit of green powdered eye shadow. If your thread is running short and you don't want to add warts, try to stitch through to your gathered stitches at the back/top of head to knot off. Next, a mouth.

I stitched a slightly downturned ... unhappy or grumpy ... mouth, and added a line of powdered blush along the stitches BEFORE I pulled the stitches up tight. This is important as it is really difficult to colour the mouth after drawing stitches tight. Here is her finished mouth:

Now I can see how I want to shape her chin, which I do by stitching a large "W" under her mouth.I also gave her another wart on her chin. Her nostrils also got a dab of powdered green eyeshadow ... YUCK! I also added powdered green eyeshadow around her button eyes, and dusted the end of her nose, her chin, and her forehead with a bit of powdered blush. I gave her small grey buttons for eyes, and sewed them on firmly by stitching right through to the gathered stitches at the back of her head. I added grumpy eyebrows with the black thread I used to sew her eyes on, but did not pull them very tight. She has definately taken on unique characteristics! Here's her side profiles:You might be alarmed about the weird shape of her head, but you needn't be. She will eventually have hair and a hat and will look just fine! Here is Witchy Poo with a little more stuffing in her neck:

BOO! Her head is now ready for a body. Stay tuned!