Prayer Flags

This is from a couple years ago and I thought it was a great thing to put up today because they are all about prayers.

Have you heard of Prayer Flags? They are a Buddhist, Tibetan, and East Indian traditions that is thousands of years old.  They are created and hung to make prayerful requests for mankind and earth.  There are traditional symbols and sayings that are put on them and have deep spiritual meanings. They are simple, but beautiful and very inspiring.

Traditionally prayer flags are done in the colors listed below, and when strung they are always in this order. If you do more than five, it must be in increments of the five and always strung in the same order, over and over, with each set. Blue is always first, at the top or the left. They are always made of cotton so they slowly disintegrate and need to be replaced with new ones, like the circle of life. New and old hang together and create a beautiful scene.  They are meant to be like a prayer sent out to the world. Their request is not for the individual, but for everyone. Each color represents an element.

Blue – space

White – air (also wind or clouds)

Red – fire

Green – water

Yellow- earth

There are fabulous pictures of thousands of flags strung in the mountains of Tibet and Nepal. Several photos from China show thousands of white flags, not the same as the above described flags.  (Put prayer flags into the images search and just look at all the flags)

I discovered the idea of prayer flags from my favorite magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors. There was an article about the flags and the Prayer Flag Project (theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com). This project invites anyone who wishes to make some prayer flags to post them and join their efforts to “spread positive hopes and prayers for peace, compassion, and creativity beyond the borders of our own little world.”

      

As an artist and fabric lover, this was intriguing. I decided to make a set of at least five and hang them outside to send peace wishes through the air to the world.

The flags in the article are not the traditional flags. They are unique to each artist and each one was wonderfully different, yet similar.

  

So, I got out some muslin, an in-between weight, and cut out five flags. I cut them 9  inches wide by 10 ½ inches high. I allowed for a ½ inch on each side and bottom to be folded twice to make a ¼ inch hem. For the top edge I allowed two inches to be folded with a ¼ folded under on the edge. This allowed a generous pocket for the string or fishing line to be fed through. I stitched the bottom first, then the two sides, then went on to the top.  A longer stitch (#3) was used so the stitches were looser and allowed the eventual fraying and disintegration that is traditional.

I did not stitch the top pocket on some of the flags until after I had added some type of fabric embellishment or trim. Others I sewed and then embellished afterward.  Plain white glue could be used, if you don’t sew. It isn’t about your skill, but about the intention to send prayers for peace, compassion or other requests.

I kept the colors semi muted to maintain a calm feel to the flags. My theme was Peace, and the calm feeling was essential, in my mind anyway.  I wrote simple sayings on some and just the word peace on others. I tried to use fabrics that had a feeling of peace about them and that made me feel good.

Be creative and add your own personal sayings and embellishments that promote your request/prayer.

This is a fairly simple project and can easily be done with kids. You could sew the flags and have them decorate them by gluing things on. Or glue the fabric into flags and let them decorate them. Remember that the flags hang in groups of five. So have the kids make 5, 10, 15, or 20. String them up outside and let the wind carry the kids’ requests around the world.

Have fun, be creative, and definitely make a mess.

Til next time.

Terri

Create a Cloth Doll Part 3

Now it is time to dress and embellish the doll. This is my favorite part. I love creating fun clothing and then adding beads and trims to make it sparkle.

At this point in creating a cloth doll you would have a color scheme that you are working from. The body colors, hair and fabrics hopefully create a beautiful collage of colors.

I usually drape and lay different pieces across the body in a variety of styles to determine just how the doll wants to be dressed. And the doll will tell you in her own way. Some fabrics will just not work. Others will be perfect. You will know when you lay them on the doll body and it makes her brighten up. The right fabrics and trims will just feel right to you.

I used the tulle and wrapped strips around the arms and one leg. Then added beads and embroidery thread to hold the tulle on. Green thread was stitched randomly to add interest and help hold the tulle on as well.

The dress top was just sheer fabric rolled to create the bust and draped in an interesting way. The skirt was also the sheer fabric folded to create two layers and stitched around the waist to the doll.

Strings of beads were added to the top and the skirt to dress her up. I got a little carried away on the waist with all the draped strings. But in the end I liked the result.

The wings were created by using tulle and the sheer fabric layered between two pieces of Sulky Solvy. Sulky Solvy is a water soluble stabilizer. It can be washed out in about 30 seconds with water but works well to create a stitchable surface. It is awesome to use in creating lace fabrics and sewing over lightweight fabrics. The wings were stitched, then jewelry wire was sewn around the edge using a zigzag stitch. Green embroidery thread was sewn around the edges using a blanket stitch to give it some pizzazz.

 Embroidery thread was wrapped around her left ankle and tied as an extra decoration.

The wings were sewn to the body and she was done. I am sure I could continue to add stuff to her but she is only about 11 inches tall.

Til next time. J

Terri

Stop by my Etsy shop for new arrivals www.etsy.com/shop/1krazyrtist

Creating a Cloth Doll Part 2

Before I talk about making the doll I want to thank the readers for your comments. This is not a paid blog. I am an artist who just likes to share the how to’s so other people might find the same joy in art and crafts as I do. There are no advertisements (except for my Etsy shop) on this blog. The ad agreement requirements are not acceptable to me. So this blog is just a labor of love for me. I hope you do enjoy it and will find your own creative juices when you read each post.

Now on to the dolls.

I use cotton muslin for the bodies because it can be found in a variety of flesh colors and weights. It is also a fairly inexpensive fabric that is great for beginners. I do recommend a tight weave rather than the really light weight (and cheapest) muslins. Cotton takes the dyes really well and will hold the color once it is set. Since these are dolls you won’t be washing them like you do your clothes. So you really don’t have to worry about fading.

To dye the dolls I just grab a paper plate (coated so it doesn’t soak up the water and dye) to use as a palette. I use a small paint brush and have a small water container next to my jars of dye. My process is really simple. I put a little water on the plate and add dye until I get the depth of color I want. I dab the doll with water to wet the fabric. The wet fabric allows the dye to spread. If you add the dye to dry fabric it will create a dot that is very strong in color. If you get too much dye on the fabric just add lots of water to it. This will dilute the dye and it will spread. It also spreads into the stuffing inside. This can make the dye on the fabric lighten up a bit. Just keep adding til you are happy with the color.

 

Experiment on a small piece of fabric before you start the actual doll. This will let you see how the colors will look and how they will spread. You can also determine how much water you want to use.

Don’t get discouraged if it turns out crazy looking. Just add some crazy fabric later and make it a really ‘out there’ type of character. The biggest problem would be adding too many colors like blues and brown over reds and greens. You will end up with muddy colors. You can heat set one group of colors and then add others over them. Then heat set again. Just like in printing, put on the lighter colors first then move on to the darker ones. You can’t put light ones over dark but the dark ones will cover lighter ones.

Once you are happy with the colors let the doll dry. Then put it into the clothes dryer for about thirty minutes on medium heat.

After that you can use rubber stamps with dye based inks to add designs. Do freehand designs with fabric pens and markers. Just heat set your inks, pens or markers when you are done.

Hair is the next fun addition. I like yarn and other fibers. I usually split the strands of yarn to create thinner ones and then stitch them on.  Cutting the strands longer than the desired hairstyle requires will let you trim it into a nice style later. You can wrap it around the head, braid it, glue it on or randomly stitch it. You can intertwine fabrics, fibers or strings of beads. It’s up to you and what your vision.

I even took apart a nice tapestry fabric to get the thick chenille threads to make hair for the Willow doll.

The hair can be put on at any time after your dyeing process is done. If the hairstyle would suffer while embellishing and putting on clothes then I recommend you wait. But if not, you can go ahead. The hair does enhance the personality of the doll. It can influence the clothing and how you finish the doll. Even if you are waiting to add the hair it is always a good move to hold the yarn/fibers around the head to inspire you. You can see what color hair is right and get a lot of ideas for styles, colors, beads and your other embellishments to the doll.

On this fairy doll I stitched the yarn at the front hairline and then put a second knot even with the neckline and stitched it. I layered it to cover the head and created an interesting hairstyle.

Then I gathered a variety of fabrics to make choices on her outfit. By choosing the fabric for the clothes I could see what to use as decorations in her hair too.

I used both tulle and sheer fabric for the hat, with some gold metallic thread knotted to hold the fabrics on. It came out as a cool hat.

The next post will talk about clothing and trim.

Til next time. J

Terri

Stop by my Etsy shop for new arrivals www.etsy.com/shop/1krazyrtist