Hi All,
Been working hard. Want to see what I've been up to? WITCHES! Yes, I'm getting ready for Roger's Garden Halloween event for September.
I've made some Cauldron Witches. I made 3 witches (1 cauldron). They are all "sisters" (I'm referencing the "3 weird sisters" from Shakespear's "Hamlet".)
Here's how I made them. (I only took photos of one of them in progress, but you get the idea.)
Started with my "Witch Hag/Baba Yaga" pattern of a basic stump doll hunched over. (I didn't bother making the breasts, as I knew they weren't going to really be seen under the costume, so I just glued on some 1.5" black pom-poms)
Before attaching the arms, I got the basic dress done. I made the dress out of cotton knit, so I could cut the edges ragged and leave them raw. I built the skirt in layers, using 3 different colors of knit.
Once the dress was done, I could work on the arms & hands. I used cut pieces of plastic straws for the fingernails. I painted them and glued them to the fingers. I also put small pom-poms in the knuckles for arthritic fingers. I just made gloves for the arms, as I knew only the lower arm would be visible. I wrapped 2 different yarns around the glove mitts to make them more "raggedy".
Now I could stitch the arms to the body, and then start on the shawl.
I wanted the outer layer of the costume to look like tattered rags. I made a pattern of what the shawl would look like draped over the arms. I made the basic shape from layering 2 pieces of blue lace, with a metallic "confetti-dot" fabric underneath. (I thought a little of the lace & metallic might show through the rags, giving the shawl a "magical" look.) Then, I cut pieces of lace, yarns, gauze, muslin, & cheesecloth (all hand dyed on my stove!). I layered all the rags, in rows, to cover the whole shawl.
On the back, I stitched all the rags to hang down toward the bottom. I stitched rags on the two front pieces to hang down the front. All the rag ends met at the shoulder seam, where I stitched rags in the center across the shoulders so they would hang both front & back.
Fitted it on the body. I also made some jewelry for her, including some necklaces (those are coyote toe bones on the middle necklace) and a sort of "witch chatelaine" that had some charms & amulets hanging from it.
A large & complex chatelaine from Victorian times:
I figured, Witches don't have pockets, so they got to keep their magical items on them somehow, right?
Okay, now to make the head. Here's the basic head with needle sculpting to make the eyes, nose, and mouth stand out.
And now I've added some color with acrylic paints, pastel chalk, and colored pencils.
Oh yes, and some eyelashes! I also gave her some age spots & freckles to age her down.
Putting it all together, I stitch the head to the neck. Then, I start on the wig. I use goat mohair in a grey/brown color. I stitch the mohair locks into "wefts" (fringe).
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The broom is simple (if you ever made a broom before). Just a dowel, carved some "nicks" into it, and stained it brown. I took some orange raffia (from the Craft store), stitched it into a fringe and glue/tied it on with some wire. I drilled a small hole in the end of the dowel handle (where the raffia is) and glued a wire in it. I left a little of the wire stick out the end of the broom, so it could fit in a hole I drilled into the base. That way, the broom won't fall out of her hand.
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And, she's done!
