Make a Voodoo Doll

Despite its name, the voodoo doll is not actually historically linked to voodoo practices. Rather, it traces its origins to magic practitioners in Europe. Now whether you’re looking to use it to cast your own spells, or simply want an interesting way to decorate your space, you might want to make a voodoo doll. You’ll first need to make a template out of paper to cut out the shape of the doll. Then, you have the option of sewing on several details, such as eyes and a mouth. Finally, you’ll need to sew the voodoo doll shut and stuff it.

Steps

Making Your Template

  1. Draw half of your voodoo doll on paper. Start drawing your pattern with a pencil, so you can easily erase any mistakes. Start by drawing half a head. Then draw a shoulder, half of a torso, and a leg. When you finish, you should have half of a humanoid shape, from the top of the head to the groin.[1]
    • Once you’ve finished drawing this shape with a pencil, you can trace it over with a marker.
    • The kind of shape you make is entirely up to you. You can make a voodoo doll with longer limbs and a more human torso, or make something a bit more cartoony.
  2. Trace the half of your doll with tracing paper. Lay a piece of tracing paper over the half doll you’ve just drawn. With your pencil, follow the line until you’ve replicated it.
  3. Flip the tracing paper, mirroring it over a vertical line. You should essentially see a complete humanoid shape. Half of it will be on the sheet of paper underneath, while the other half will be on the tracing paper.[1]
  4. Use a pencil to trace over the marker line. With your pencil, trace over the marker line. You should essentially be connecting the points on the tracing paper until you’ve completed a full humanoid shape.
  5. Cut out the pattern. Using scissors, carefully cut along the lines. This will give you a human-shaped template, which you’ll need for the following part.
  6. Use pins to secure the pattern over two pieces of felt. Make sure your felt is large enough to comfortably contain the template. You can leave a bit of extra felt sticking out from under the template. Stick two pins into the paper template and through the two pieces of felt.
    • You can stick the pins through the torso to ensure a more secure hold.[2]
  7. Cut along the paper template. Cut carefully along the template. Once you’ve cut all the way around, you should be left with the paper template, two pieces of felt matching your template and some felt scraps. Put the felt scraps aside.

Sewing on the Details

  1. Set aside the paper template and one of your felt pieces. The felt piece you set aside at this juncture will be the back half of your voodoo doll. Make sure to keep it separate from your felt scraps and the front half of your voodoo doll.
    • While sewing details on your voodoo doll is optional, voodoo practitioners believe these details are crucial. If you decide to add detail, it must be done before sewing the two halves of the doll together.
  2. Thread your needle. Tie an overhand knot in your thread. Then pass the thread through the needle’s eye until the knot catches. You’ll know it’s caught when you can’t pull the thread through the needle anymore.[1]
  3. Sew eyes on the front half. There are two ways to give your voodoo dolls eyes. You can either use a button, or simply sew a cross. You can use either method for two different eyes, or use one method for matching eyes.
    • Button eye. Cut out a small round piece of felt, slightly larger than your button. Lay the button on top of this circle and over the front half of your voodoo doll. Start with your needle underneath the felt, and poke it up and through the hole in the button. Pull until the knot catches, then poke your needle through the button’s second hole, pulling until the thread comes over the button. If your button has more than two holes, continue this process, alternating between coming up from underneath and poking down through the felt.
    • Cross eye. Starting from underneath the felt, poke a hole through the head with the needle, about where the corner of a person’s eye would be. Pull until you can’t easily pull more. Poke your needle down through the felt, about ¾ of an inch away from your first hole, forming a diagonal line. Repeat this process, poking two more holes and making a line that crosses your first line.[2]
  4. Sew on a mouth. If you’ve chosen to give your voodoo doll eyes, you can use the same thread you’ve used to sew on the eyes. Starting from underneath the felt, poke your needle up (towards you), where the corner of a person’s mouth would be. Pull the thread through until it catches. Poke your needle down through the opposite corner of where the mouth would be, pushing until the thread is tight.
    • This step will result in a simple line for the mouth. You can add a bit more detail by adding small perpendicular lines that cross over the mouth. This will make the mouth look slightly like a star, giving the voodoo doll a more creepy appearance.[2]
  5. Sew on a heart. Before doing this, you’ll need to cut a small heart out of felt. Lay the heart over the front half of your voodoo doll, where the heart would be on a person. Poke your needle up from underneath the felt and through the heart, a few millimeters away from its edge (the needle should come towards you). Pull until the thread is tight. Poke the needle down, through the voodoo doll’s body but NOT through the heart. The result should be a line of thread that comes up through the heart, over the edge and through the voodoo doll’s body.
    • Repeat this process (up through the heart, down through the body) until you’ve gone all around the heart.[2]
  6. Tie a knot in the thread and cut it. After you’ve sewed off your last detail, you should tie off the thread. Run your needle under the last stitch you’ve made, and pull until the thread until you create a small loop. Pass your needle through the loop, pulling on the thread until it creates a small knot. Cut the thread from the needle and tuck it under the front half of your voodoo doll.
    • You don’t need to cut too close to your knot. Whatever thread is left will be hidden inside your voodoo doll.[2]

Sewing and Stuffing the Doll

  1. Thread your needle. Tie an overhand knot in your thread. Then pass the thread through the needle’s eye until the knot catches. You’ll know it’s caught when you can’t pull the thread through the needle anymore.[1]
  2. Lay the front half of your voodoo doll over the back half. Make sure that any details you’ve sewed on are facing up and towards you. Line up the two halves so the edges are completely flush.
    • You can push pins through both felt halves to secure them to one another. This will ensure they don’t move around as you sew.
  3. Poke your needle up through both halves of the voodoo doll. Start under one of the voodoo doll’s armpits. The needle should be coming towards you, from underneath the felt. The resulting hole should be about three millimeters away from the edge of the felt. This ensures the felt won’t tear. Pull the thread until it catches.
  4. Bring the thread over the edges of the felt, and poke a new hole. You should always be poking your needle upwards, from underneath the felt. Each hole should be separated by two to four millimeters. Always bring the thread over the edges of the felt; this is what will secure the two halves together.[2]
  5. Repeat this stitch around the voodoo doll, leaving about an inch unstitched. This should leave an opening somewhere between the voodoo doll’s armpit (where you started your stitch) and its leg on the same side. It’s crucial to leave this opening, otherwise you won’t be able to stuff the doll.
  6. Stuff the doll through the opening. You can choose just about any soft material as stuffing, but polyester stuffing is generally best. It can be found at fabric stores rather cheaply, and has a good range of textures. Some stuffing is crunchier, while other types are more squishy.[3] Insert stuffing through the voodoo doll’s opening until it gets nice and plump, without pulling at the stitches too much.
    • You can use something long and thin, like a pen or the back of a small paintbrush, to push the stuffing into the doll’s arms and legs.[4]
    • While you can stuff a voodoo doll with the same stuffing as a stuffed animal, voodoo practitioners will usually fill their dolls with spanish moss.[5]
  7. Stitch the opening closed. Using the same stitching method as before, close the opening on the doll’s side.
  8. Tie a knot in the thread and cut it. After you’ve sewed off your last detail, you should tie off the thread. Run your needle under the last stitch you’ve made, and pull until the thread until you create a small loop. Pass your needle through the loop, pulling on the thread until it creates a small knot. Cut the thread from the needle and tuck it under the front half of your voodoo doll.
    • You don’t need to cut too close to your knot. Whatever thread is left will be hidden inside your voodoo doll.[2]

Things You'll Need

  • Felt
  • Cotton thread: If you want to sew on details, such as a heart, you may want to have several colors.
  • Buttons
  • Needle
  • Stuffing: you can use wool, polyester or spanish moss.
  • Scissors
  • Safety pins
  • Tracing paper
  • Paper
  • Marker
  • Light pencil: ideally you’ll want to use an H pencil or below.
  • Eraser
  • Pen or thin paintbrush

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWHUhEA4xi0
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGE_Or2P2D4
  3. ↑ http://whileshenaps.com/2011/02/elements-of-soft-toy-design-9-stuffing.html
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2depntITYi8
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWHUhEA4xi0&t=1s

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