My niece collects and plays with dolls. I found this new condition Merida doll at a thrift shop one day and I could just see the beadwork on the dress.
I actually beaded the family crest first thinking that I would sew it onto the dress but there was no placement that looked right so I thought a sling bag for bow and arrows would be the perfect accessory.
I watched this video to get the idea for creating the bow and arrow accessories. I did not have floral tape on hand so I dipped the arrows in brown paint and my daughter had the brilliant idea to make the bow out of a paper clip that we uncurled, cut, and shaped then wrapped with mod podge soaked embroidery floss which gave it a nice woody feel. The bow string is dental floss.
I stitched the sling bag together using an embossed felt to give it a leathery feel after sewing on the crest.
I graphed the peyote pattern of the family crest.
I stitched the belt on a bead loom using embroidery floss as the outside warp threads that could be knotted and braided to secure it around her waist.
The beadwork on the skirt was square stitched on using the same method I use for canvas being careful to stretch the bead spacing a little on the bottom and crowd it a little on the top because of the flare of the skirt. The knot pattern is from a Celtic cross stitch book.
I used a simple picot stitch to embellish the sleeve cuffs.
I had a lot of fun designing and beading this doll. I hope my niece enjoys her as much as I did and that this post inspires your own doll embellishment adventure.
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