13 Socking it to Voodoo

Loved yesterdays messy paint and ink splattering project by Jas, the final pages  sent shivers down my spine!!  Loving the disclaimers too!!  Thanks Jas.

Today I thought I'd introduce to my Voodoo Sock Doll.  

The Materials

1 pair white socks

1 teabag

1 bowl of hot water

scissors

needle & thread or sewing machine

craft stuffing/old socks/ anything suitable for stuffing

button for an eye

embroidery thread

scrap red fabric, cut into a heart shape.

The Instructions

Put the teabag in a bowl of hot water, add a pair of white socks, soak for about 20 mins, rinse and hang out to dry.  I kept the teabag in the bowl, it gives a more uneven colour change.

Once dry, lay out the socks as shown above, with the heel in the centre facing up.

Sock 1 (top one here) cut the ankle rib off just above the heel, then cut in half as shown, this makes the arm.  Discard the rest of this sock.

Sock 2 (bottom one) from the top of the sock cut hrough the centre to the heel, this creates the legs.  The rest of the sock becomes the head and body.

Turn all sock pieces inside out. Next stitch the arms, making a tube, leaving a gap at the top to add the stuffing and then turn back inside out so you have the right side facing. (as above)

Stitch around the feet and legs of sock 2 to make the legs, I left a gap where the legs meet to allow for adding stuffing.  Turn sock right way round. (see above)

NOTE: I used my sewing machine for this bit of sewing but hand stitching will be good too.  From this point on all other stitching is done by hand.

I stuffed the top of the sock to make the head and secured it with an old hair band (as above) but the head was really floppy so I changed my approach, I got so engrossed in my doll making I forgot to take my photos, so I apologise and hope my instructions are enough of a guidance.

So back to the stuffing, I stuffed the head and neck area first.  The head took the first 1/3 of the sock, with the remaining section reserved for the body.  I did not anticipate so much stretching once I started stuffing her, so you will need to bear this in mind. (Ref to final picture of my doll against a spare similar sock).  Note the sock heel is her bum bit and makes for easy sitting.

I then stuffed the legs before finishing off with the body.  I recommend you shape the doll (neck area especially) as you are stuffing cos its a bit more difficult once she is all stitched up, I tried and ripped some of her stitches, poor girl, so had to do some repair work, fortunately, the naive look is what we are after!!

Once she is completely stuffed, arms too, its time to sew her up.  I hand stitched the gap between her legs with a simple over-stitch, and used the running stitch a few times to attach her arms.  Think about where her arms are going and how they will sit before attaching them.  Safety pins would work for the arms too if you are fed up of stitching by now!!

Now to personalise.  I have attached a button and stitched a large X in thick black embroidery thread for the eyes and the mouth is backstitched using the same thick black embroidery thread.

I attached the red heart fabric, which was also tea dyed with large random straight stitch.

You could paint or draw on these features.

Here she is against a similar sock used to make her, as you can see she has grown quite a bit.

Inspiration for this project came from this  Martha Stewart Skeleton Sock Doll

I have entered this in the Left of Centre Altered Art Challenge.

We would love to see any of your work thats been inspired by any of our projects to date, don't be shy!!  

Pop back tomorrow and see what Bex has been up to.

Footnote & Warning

Voodoo is well known for its dark magic but it does have a lighter side.  So if Hexing Your Ex is not for you, try some blessing and good luck magic:

Using coloured pin heads (colours and their blessings listed below) in the heart area for emotions, pins the stomach for gut feelings and in the head if you want to help their thinking.  More information can be found here:  Voodoo Dolls:

Yellow for Success

White for Healing

Red for Power

Purple for Spirituality

Green for Money

Blue for Loveccess

White for Healing

WARNING: If you play with someones mojo, remember the old saying:
"What goes around, comes around"