Three walnut-head gossips stand chatting on a shelf in an antique corner cupboard. Natural variations in the walnut shells and in the hand drawn features give each doll a unique character, although all were made the same way.

The materials you will need for one walnut-head doll are:
an English walnut (any size)
a 14-inch square of light cardboard
a pipe cleaner, 7 inches long
a yard of white yarn
strips of cotton batting
masking tape
a felt pen
white glue
1/8 yard of calico for dress and bonnet

For the hairdo, glue the yarn to one side of the nut in a continuing spiral (photograph 1); start where the halves of the shell come together. Cover the back of the head with this spiraled yarn.

The shell joint makes a perfect nose for the doll. With a fine-pointed black felt pen (photograph 2), draw four curved lines for eyebrows and eyelids; make two large dots for eyes, two tiny dots (one on each side of the joint) for the nose, and a tiny slightly upcurving line for the mouth.

The doll’s body is a cardboard cone 6 inches high. On the square of flexible cardboard, draw a circle 12 inches in diameter. From this, cut out a quarter section, and bend it into a cone. Fasten edges together with masking tape. Cut half an inch off the point, so the walnut will sit easily on top of the cone. Glue the walnut head to the cone.

Cut or punch a small hole in each side of the cone near the top; put the pipe cleaner through the holes, to make arms; secure with tape (photog 3). Wrap cotton around arms for thickness and to hold clothing (photograph 4)

Following the patterns in part two (tomorrow’s post ), cut out skirt, bodice, sleeve-and bonnet. Sew seams, and sew sleeves to bodice. Gather skirt at waist. dress can be sewed or glued on; the bonnet is glued to the head.

1: Glue white yarn for hair to walnut in a continuous spiral. Use a toothpick to spread white glue across the shell joint. Hold yarn in place until glue dries.

2: Draw facial features with a fine-pointed black felt pen. The features should be small and delicate. Practice drawing them on spare walnuts.

3: Secure pipe-cleaner arms to cone with masking tape. Crisscross the tape over the shoulder area. This will give additional shape to the top of the cone.

4: Wrap arms with cotton batting. Tie it firmly at the wrists to prevent slipping. Dress sleeves will fit over the cotton. The arms can be bent to any position.

Tags : how to make walnut dolls
Categories : Dollmaking