Welcome to BeFruitful Kreations by artist JoEllen Laurita where primitive artwork is my passion. For many years now I have been designing and sharing my primitive whimsical artwork. You will find that I like several art forms. Primitive dolls will always hold my heart, but you will see rug hooked creations, many of them dimensional, seasonal folk art, punch needle creations and much more.
I am so excited about the possiblity of having something published in a magazine. This is the magazine I am trying to get one of my creations in. If you love primitive this is an awesome magazine.
Just wanted to share a few tips I have learned along the way.
While stuffing doll body parts roll the doll parts between your hands to distribute the stuffing. Or roll the pieces on a table.
To hide your knots. Tie your knot then put the needle through the same hole. This makes the knot hide in the stuffing. I do this several times so that I know the knot is secured.
Moisten the fabric before stuffing the doll. This helps you stuff firmly and helps keep the thread from breaking.
Use upholstery thread for hand sewing doll body parts or for needle sculpting. I have heard that dental floss works great to but have not tried it.
Thread keeps knotting while you hand sew. Pull the thread over bees wax before using.
Needle doesn’t want to go through fabric. Press the needle tip into a bar of soap.
Use pencil for drawing faces and other details on fabric. When moistened this will usually wash off. Or erase if fabric is dry.
It is easier to sew the doll parts and then cut them out of the fabric. Rather then cut the pieces and then sew.
Various sizes of hemostats work great for stuffing. Also get some curved ones to.
I used to use muslin but have fell in love with Osnaburg fabric for primitive doll making. If you paint stain your dolls you will find that the painted surface does not scratch as easy.
Various sizes of needles are a must. Long doll needles are necessary tools for thread jointing.
Finger turners are a great help.
Freezer wrap makes great patterns. You can even iron the shiny side down onto your fabric and sew. People like to use this technique to try to get the exact size as the pattern. Often the patterns increase in size when you draw around them.
This is just a beginning of a list. Please add your tips for doll making here.
Will get right to creating some awesome new things. Some Halloween creations and few new black dolls. Hmmmm there are lots of things in my mind to create. So stay tuned.
Plus I have two things already to be put onto the market.
Look for these new creations to come online shortly.
We felt the California Earthquake here in Quartzsite Arizona. Shook us up pretty good.
But no damage to anything.
Tomorrow we are heading out to our land in Colorado. For this reason it will be a few days before I list anything new. Be assured there are some new things in the works.
Should be able to offer several things for sale by next weekend. Look for more black dolls.
