Rag doll tutorial

Recently the Detroit News wrote a little article about me and my clay. Here's a link...

I thought you might like to try out the tutorial yourself..have fun!

Polymer Clay Rag Doll

Level: Beginner

Estimated time: 1 hour

Tools: Scissors, wire cutters, black Sharpie pen, wax paper, cookie sheet

Supplies: 2-ounce packages of Sculpey Polymer Clay in white, beige and blue; 1/8 yard of fabric, colorful yarn, 18-gauge wire; acrylic paint in white, red and black; two toothpicks

Instructions

1. Tear fabric into 5 strips, measuring 3 inches x 1/2 inch. Cut 5 pieces of wire into 11/4-inch lengths. Wrap a piece of wire around center of one strip, twisting to tighten around fabric. Repeat with all strips.

2. Now, cut yarn into 3 inches x 1/2-inch lengths. Gather 5 at a time and wrap wire around center, twisting a few times.

3. Roll out a 11/2-inch circle of white clay. Form into tear drop and stand upright for body.

4. Roll out two tubes of beige clay, about 2 inches long. Attach each tube to base of white clay, applying pressure. These are the legs. Turn up edges to form feet.

5. Roll out a 2-inch ball of blue clay and flatten to form circle for dress. Lay over body and legs. Gently form clay around them, making sure back is covered.

6. Roll out two 11/2-inch tubes of blue. Attach one to each upper side of body on dress for arms.

7. Make two 5 mm balls of beige clay. Attach one to bottom of each arm for hands. Insert toothpick straight down body.

8. Make a 1-inch ball of beige and push onto toothpick to attach body. Gently insert a wired yarn piece to side of head, then another. Continue inserting yarn, then fabric, all over head.

9. Preheat oven to exactly 260 degrees. When fully heated, bake doll on cookie sheet 20 minutes. Turn oven off. Let cool completely before applying face paint.

10. Pour a little black, red and white acrylic paint on wax paper. Dip wood tip of paint brush into white paint and apply eyes. Let dry. Next, dip tip into black paint. Apply small dot of black paint over the white. Use toothpick to paint triangle nose, then Sharpie to draw smile and eyelashes.