sculpt

Some tips before you begin** I am going to assume that you have little experience in face sculpting, if you are experienced, feel free to jump ahead to that which you all ready know in my instructions, or you just might want to pretend that you don't know anything at all and see how the face turns out!

This is about play. Always use the center seam line as your marking guide.

Your own face is a good indicator of proportion. Look into your mirror, or the faces of those around you to see where the eyes sit in the face, the mouth, and the nose. Check the distance from the forehead to the bridge of the nose. Remember we have hair, at least most of us do, so you might want to place a couple fingers over the head and let the tips fall where the hair line would be before you begin to sculpt. It is a good visual aid.

A chart will follow to show you the movement of the needle for basic sculpting. I will talk you through more on the digest as questions arise.

This will allow everyone on the list to learn a little more too.

Mark the area where the bridge of the nose will start with your air soluble pen. Make a dot at either side of the nose. Follow the dot down, flaring just a bit as you reach the place on the head where the nose begins to flare into the bulb. Place a small dot at either side of the bulb of the nose to allow you to know where to stop sculpting vertically. Place a dot at the underside of the nose on each side to indicate the nostrils. Using the center seam line as your guide, and mark the sides of the mouth. Go up to the eye area, The eye dots for the inside of the eye sit just to the side of the beginning of the bridge of the nose. Go over, determine the width of the eye that you want and make a dot at each outside corner of the eye. This dot will also allow you to make cheeks.

Begin by threading a sculpting needle. ( I use a Long James Darner about 3-31/2 inches long with a yard of thread...you can use quilting thread, but I do not. There are other needles out there that you can use, some are almost as comfortable for me to work with. )

Insert the needle and exit at the dot you have designated as the bridge of the nose. Go across, under the fabric, pulling up tiny amounts of stuffing to the opposite side of the bridge of the nose, exit at your dot. Do this once more, do not pull the thread too tightly, gently tug to create the definition.

Now, working under the cloth at all times, go back and forth horizontally, exiting just below the last entry and exit stitches you have made until you have reached the dot at the bulb of the nose. Enter one side, exit the other side. Re-enter the same side, take a tiny stitch and exit at either nostril dot. Re-enter the nostril dot, exit the opposite side, bulb of the nose. Tug gently. Take a tiny stitch, exit the nostril dot opposite side. You have created nostrils and the nose bulb is defined. With your thread on the outside of the material now, on top of the fabric. at the nostril hole. Bring your thread up over the nose bulb and enter your needle at the bulb dot. Guide the thread into place around the nose bulb gently tugging the thread and using your finger to keep the thread on the outside of the bulb of the nose. You will have created a defined bulb. Enter the needle again and exit at the second nostril, repeat to define the second nose bulb. You should now be on the outside of the fabric at a nose bulb dot. Enter again, exit at mouth dot same side. Enter the mouth dot same side again, go under fabric to opposite dot, exit needle, re-enter the needle same dot, under the fabric, pulling up stuffing , exit the needle at the same side outer eye dot. Tug gently and watch the cheek come into place and the mouth pull up slightly on that side. Enter the same eye dot again, under the fabric, pulling up stuffing, exit at the first side mouth dot, re-enter, exit at the same side eye dot, tug gently and watch the second cheek come into place. Under the fabric, go across to the inside corner of the same eye, enter you needle, working under bridge of nose, exit at the opposite inside eye dot. Re-enter and exit at back of head.

You have in your hands now a basic sculpted face. Ready for painting in the features. There are other ways to enhance the face. It is time now to consider what else you would like to know and drop me a line. However, I ask that you paint that face first, painting in the face affirms the face. It shows you that even though you may not like the first results, the paints add dimension, color and life to a face, that sculpting alone does not, at least not basic sculpting.

There are many ways to sculpt a face. Some less detailed that what you have seen above, but I like to repeat exits and entries, the thread under the fabric re-inforces the stitching, the use of a single thread , without tying off, allows for gently tugging. This allows you to see how the thread and fabric interact with the stuffing to create dimension and character in the face.