Ballerinas have always admired others with their grace and unearthly lightness. Perhaps that is why toys in tutu skirts have always been one of the girls' favorites, second only to the brilliant princesses. Let's find out how to create a tilde-ballerina, a doll popular today, with our own hands. And also consider how it differs from other textile toys of this kind.
Tilde
This name bears a whole class of textile interior toys invented by the Norwegian artist Tony Finnanger twenty years ago.
Initially, only dolls were produced under the Tilda brand. Later, the assortment expanded to animals.
In addition to selling ready-made textile products, Tony began to publish a magazine with patterns of dolls. And even later - to produce sewing kits, in which everything was collected necessary for the independent manufacture of slim cuties.
Unfortunately, such products are not sold in domestic stores. Therefore, our craftswomen who want to decorate their house with tildes have to independently collect everything necessary for their sewing. Which does not stop them from creating incredibly beautiful crafts of this kind.
Therefore, if you are going to sew a tilde-ballerina, do not hesitate, you will succeed. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the toy is quite simple, and most of the necessary things are already at home.
Features of Tilda Ballerina Doll
In the world there are several dozen basic varieties of textile toys. However, the brainchild of Finnanger can not be confused with any other. A classic doll has such distinctive features:
- Long face and figure. Lush hips.
- Traditional toys have only black bead eyes and rosy cheeks. In animals, you can see other facial features (for example, unlike a tilda-ballerina doll, a frog has a nose, or less often a mouth, as a bonus).
- Hair is made of thread or wool for felting. And although many today prefer artificial wigs, for a classic tilde it is still better to adhere to traditions. Otherwise, it will not be possible to achieve the effect of a "homemade doll".
- Outfits for this toy are sewn in the "grandmother" style. Preference is given to colorful fabrics with a fine pattern or plain in pastel colors.
The interior ballerina doll has all of the listed features of tildes, but it has distinctive properties:
- Always dressed in a dress with a full skirt.
- Drawn slippers on the legs.
- Hair is bundled.
In addition, each tilde-ballerina (bear, bunny, girl, etc.) can be sewn in two ways:
- According to the traditional pattern with straight legs and arms down.
- With 90 degrees bent leg and arms raised above the head. To make such a toy, you need a slightly different pattern, and you can also insert wire into the extremities of the toy. Although, this is not necessary.
Basic pattern
Before you start sewing a tilde dancer, it is worth deciding which of the two varieties listed above it will relate to.
If you make a ballerina by analogy with a traditional doll, the basic pattern for the princess, presented below, is suitable.
Please note that her hands will not rise, just like the leg will not be able to bend, even if you sew the wire.
For a doll with bending limbs, such a pattern is suitable.
As can be seen from it, the legs are initially sewn at a right angle. In addition, when fastening, the arms do not fall down, but spread apart in different directions. This will allow them to bend both up and down.
Whatever pattern you decide to work with, do not forget that in this embodiment, part of the outfit (“swimsuit” from armpits to legs) is sewn directly into the body.
Since the body consists of one part, if you want to sew a tilde-ballerina of a hare, a cat, a bear or other animals, you will have to cut your head separately. Since, unlike human toys, the seam on the faces of animals is usually not in the side, but in the middle.
In this case, the transition from head to body can be beautifully masked with a scarf or choker from a ribbon.
What to sew
As previously noted, most tilda materials can be found in any home:
- The body of the doll is sewn from an opaque fabric without a pattern in beige colors. It is permissible that it be white, but then the dress of the charming woman should be in a different shade. Better if the fabric will stretch. But this is not a condition. Therefore, you can use a bike, fleece, knitwear, even finely bound linen and more. The main thing is that the material is dense and does not diverge at the seams.
- For the upper part of the dress ("swimsuit"), any non-stretching, non-transparent fabric is taken. It can be not only natural materials, but also synthetic ones. For example, satin, crepe satin. You can use pieces from unnecessary curtains (not tulle), a petticoat, cropped blouses. Yes, even the upper part of the children's white sock. The main condition is the material without holes, clean and without traces of socks.
- For a fluffy skirt, tulle or organza, collected in several layers, is best suited. Even if they are not at hand, they are inexpensive in stores. The only negative - you have to buy immediately 0.5 m - they do not sell less (if this is not a specialized tulle ribbon). A long lace is also suitable. You can make a pack of the same fabric as the "swimsuit", however, you have to drape it or make a petticoat.
Gasket Material & Accessories
In addition to fabric, when sewing a tilde-ballerina, you will need material for stuffing. Usually it is a synthetic winterizer or holofiber. You can get it from an old pillow or an unnecessary soft toy (of course, not from the time of the USSR).
In extreme cases, use ordinary pharmaceutical cotton wool. However, do not forget what to wash, and you just can’t wet the doll with this stuffing.
If your tilde is with a frame, for its manufacture you will need an ordinary copper wire without insulation.
You also need a thin ribbon for pointes on pointes, eye paints and shoes. And also lace, beads or rhinestones, if you want to further decorate your tilde.
You can draw hair for a toy on fabric or sew on pieces of yarn of a suitable color.
As for the tools, if you plan to sew everything together with your hands, you will need a needle with a thread, scissors and a sushi stick (in order to conveniently turn the limbs from the wrong side). If there is a sewing machine, then it is better to make connecting seams on it, and to sew limbs and a skirt - manually.
Doll assembly procedure
The process of creating a tilde dancer consists of the following stages:
- Translation of the pattern on the fabric, followed by clipping.
- Stitching the body, arms and legs. When working with the body do not forget about the "swimsuit"!
- Stuffing and insertion of wire (if desired).
- Assembling a toy body. First, legs are sewn, then hands.
Making a dress for a tilda-ballerina
After the future interior beauty has found a figure, it's time to put it on.
To start, a skirt is sewn. No need for patterns. Just cut a rectangle from the fabric and, tucking the edge on top, sew in any convenient way.
This is the place for a thread, elastic or a thin tape, tightening the dress at the waist. Do not forget that you should tie this “belt” only after all the seams along the skirt are made and it is worn on the tilde.
The resulting dress is worth decorating. You can sew on top of lace, sequins or beads.
Hair and face
One of the final touches in the manufacture of the tilde-ballerina (photo below) is the drawing of details.
If you are not very confident in drawing, start painting with pointe shoes. Directly the shoe itself is better to draw a specialized paint for the fabric. After it dries, make the ties. For this purpose, either dense threads or a thin ribbon 2-3 mm wide are suitable. Using a long but not thick needle, the stitches are sewn at the base of the pointe, and then carefully lace up crosswise and end with a bow.
Do not forget that the color of the shoes and their ties should be in harmony with the tilde outfit. By the way, the toe of the shoe can be decorated with rhinestones.
Having got to drawing pointes, proceed to the eyes. Unlike ballerina shoes, it is better to apply them with a cropped toothpick or dots for manicure.
Please note: we start to paint blush only after the embers are dry. With this procedure, it is better to cover the neck and body of the ballerina with a napkin, so as not to stain.
The last is hair. In traditional tilde dolls, they are made of thread or felt for felting. Such a hairstyle can be both glued and sewn. The second method is preferable, since in case of failure, you can rip and redo it.
After the hairstyle is collected, the chrysalis is ready. If you did everything right, it will turn out not just beautiful, but cozy and unique. And if there are small flaws - no big deal. After all, a tilde is exactly a home doll, which is made manually. Therefore, some negligence is excusable to her and will even benefit. But do not overdo it, because slight negligence does not mean sloppiness.
And now, having learned how to make such a toy, feel free to get down to business, and you will succeed!