I brought a pack of Crayola Fabric Markers for my daughter to play with, but after I started doodling a face on a prototype dolly one day & knew I had to have my own set too!!
Here's my Pocket Princess Art Doll I made for my daughters 3rd birthday ♥ She was so much fun and there wasn't any bleeding of color which was nice! I lost all track of time as I made her one evening .... Here's how I did it:
Materials
- 1 Blank Doll - (100% Cotton, Stuffing & Doll Pattern)
- Quilters Disappearing Ink Pen
- Crayola Fabric Markers
- Dryer
- I made up a blank doll using my Pocket Princess pattern. My small doll patterns work best as that's a lot of space for you (or your kiddies) to color in. (You could use flesh tones on her arms, face etc)
- Put my feet up ... and started to sketch the eyes (of course you could have already traced this onto your head pattern when you made it up earlier so that you get the exact face placement you want.)
- The front of her hair I first drew in the crown and then the hair itself is made up of a series of lines radiating from her crown. Vary the colors .. I used brown, black and yellow here.
- For the back of her hair I first drew in the 'sausage' shape and then again drew a series of lines radiating from around it.
- Then I just had fun with her dress .... if you're worried just sketch in a quick design with your Quilters Disappearing Ink Pen.
- After i was finished i made sure she was completely dry by letting her sit over night. I think this is important as I had done quite a few layers of colors in places and it seemed pretty wet.
- I followed the instructions & popped her in my dryer for 20 mins ... and .....here she is!
I love her! She's not as super bright as when I first painted her ... but considering how little time .. and money ($5 a pop in the sale for this set of 10 !) I'm chuffed! And my daughter loves her - and that's what counts :)
General Tips
- Want a 3D look ... use a darker color around the outside of your item, e.g. around her crown I used black to create a shadow.
- Always work from light to dark, otherwise you'll mess up & muddy the nibs of your lighter pens and stain them ..... and that yellow will always look dull and mottled from then on out :(
- If you tilt the marker on its side you can shade really well.
- They have a nice point to them too and can create fine lines with a steady hand ... but be careful not to use them on rough fabrics such as denim otherwise you're likely to flatten the nib.
Forget 'build a bear' ... I'll be making up a bunch of blank Tiny Tot dolls and let the kiddies color their own in at my daughters birthday party next year! Fabulous entertainment ..... then pop them in the dryer whist they eat the cake and ... bingo ..... Talk about a brilliant 'goodie bag' prezzy!
Or what about a Dolly DIY kit? Miss Minnie, make up a blank Dress Up Doll Pattern and pairs them with some of these fun fabric markers to sell as kits for little ones (and big ones) to design their own dolly!!!!
And here's one for the boys! Hahaha I had a ton of fun making this super cute Pirate for my son the other day, read all about it here!
If you make an Art Dolly Following my Tutorial with one of my Patterns, please post photos to my Facebook Page I'd love to see them!
