Tying the Doll Head (Part 3 of the Bunt-Doll Tutorial)

You will need:
-Strong but thin string (I recommend left-over pieces of embroidery string, at least three strands thick)
-Needle and sewing thread 
-Doll-head (see Part 2 of the bunt-doll tutorial)
-A sewing-pin 

Take a strong piece of string a tie it across the top of the head. Make the knot halfway up one side of the head, leaving plenty of string left over on the ends. 

Put a pin below the chin to stop the string from sliding up.

Sew the knot tightly to the head (still about halfway up the head) using a double-threaded needle. Leave your thread attached. 

Take one of the ends of the pink string and your needle thread and bring them across the head to the other side. 

Hold the end of the pink string in place as you fasten it securely with your needle and thread. Trim ends, and you're done!

For instructions on how to cover the head with cloth see Part 4 of the bunt-doll tutorial. (coming soon!)

Stuffing the Doll-head (Part 2 of the Bunt-Doll Tutorial)

You will need:

-10cm of 3cm wide tubular gauze (also known as stockinette) available at you local Walgreens and here. 

-All-natural wool stuffing (can be found here) 

-Bunt-doll body (see Part 1 of the bunt-doll tutorial)

-Very strong but thin string (that will not break when you pull on it a lot)

-Another pair of helping hands

Prepare the tubular gauze by trying one of the ends (at about where my finger is in the picture) of your 10cm long piece closed and turning it in-side-out so that your knot is on the inside of the head.

Find a long and relatively wide piece of wool, like this one. 

Spread the fibers apart and trim (by pulling pieces off with your hands, not cutting with scissors!) or stretch until your piece is about 20cm long and 10cm wide. Set it aside on a flat surface, preferably the floor. 

Find a couple chunks of wool like these.

Pull the fibers apart so that they look like this. 

Combine them into a fist-sized ball of wool in you hand. 

Put the ball on one end of the long piece of wool you just set aside. 

Begin folding the ball in the long piece of wool. Your goal is to create a ball with a little wool left over to hold on to (the neck). 

Try to avoid sharp edges where you can easily tell that it is not one continuous piece of wool. 

Make a ball of wool and grab it by what will soon be the neck of your doll head. Hold your ball up to the body of your bunt doll to check that you have the right size. It should be slightly bigger than your fist. Note that the head will decrease in size when you put it in the gauze tubbing. 

 

If the shape or size doesn't look right to you, start again from the part where you begin rolling. If this doesn't work, try a different density for the ball of wool to begin with. 

When you are satisfied with the result, pull the left-over wool off of the neck, making sure not to pull wool out of the head itself. 

You should have about this much left. 

This is where you need someone else to help you. Instruct them to pick up the tubular gauze and hold it open with two hands. 

You are going to stuff the woolen head inside the gauze cranium first. 

It helps if you pinch the head on either side with you thumb and forefinger while holding the neck with your other three fingers. 

When the head is about half-way in, ask your helper to let go and use your free hand to pull the gauze over the wool while still holding on to the neck. 

Keep stuffing until the gauze covers the neck, DO NOT stuff the neck-wool inside the gauze, keep hold of it. 

Adjust your grip so that you are holding the gauze in place while gripping the neck. Check again to make sure the head is the right size by holding it up to your bunt-doll body. 

Cut a strong piece of string to be 20cm long and fold it double. 

Drape it around your hand holding the neck. 

Thread the two loose ends through the loop. 

Pull as tight as you can and then put your finger on the string to keep it that tight. 

Separate the two loose ends and take them around to the opposite side of the head. Ask your helper to tie a double-knot. 

Done! Your head should look like this. 

If it is a bit mis-shapen try to squish it back into a normal shape. If this doesn't do it after several tries you might need to start again. Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work out right the first time! It took me years to get the shape right. 

For how to tie the head go to Part 3 of the bunt-doll tutorial. From there just follow the links to the next tutorial at the bottom of each page until you have finished your bunt-doll! 

Quadruple Whammy

Four of the most insightful books I have ever read. All highly recommended for melting the mind and removing the blindfold of ignorance. 

“Mutant Message Down Under” by Marlo Morgan is the account of one woman’s epic journey across Australia. Morgan, a social worker dedicated to helping the poor and homeless, is offered a job in Australia. Almost as soon as she arrives Morgan notices a wealth gap between the country’s native people, the Aborigines, 

and white Australians, and helps a group of adolescent Aborigines start a company. Soon after she receives a call from a tribe of Aborigines, they want to give her an award for her efforts. But this awards ceremony is far from what Morgan imagined and leads her on a breathtaking adventure with a tribe that calls itself ‘The Real People’. The “Mutant Message” is a call for action and a precious link to the ancient history of both Australia and the world. Touching on topics as diverse as sustainability and those human habits we take for granted but the Real People call addictions. After reading this book I cannot continue to think about the world we live in as I used to or go about my life in the same way without recalling some nugget of wisdom from the Outback. It should be required reading for every person on this earth. My new favorite book and my bible. 

“The Snow Leopard” by Peter Methiessen

Mathiessen’s account of his journey through the Himalayas is riveting. Along with detailed descriptions of scenery and wildlife, the author describes the people, hardships, and religions he encounters. His reflections on life, happiness, and purpose inspired me to see everything anew. I recommend this book for anyone ready to have his or her cosmos bent and re-shaped. “The Snow Leopard” is dense with analogies between Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, B’on, Tantrism, Islam, and Christianity. While reading I often had to pause every few pages, and wrap my head around the concepts the author was trying to capture in words. In the beginning it was difficult to comprehend what was being said, but it became easier as I kept on and the knowledge I have gained as a result is worth the initial confusion. The most amazing aspect of this book is that it is all true. The villages described along the way harken to medieval times and the mountain path is treacherous and demanding. This real-life adventure gave the world a new sheen, proving to me that remote places and raged, dangerous wilderness still exists.  

“The Emotional Life of Your Brain” by Richard J. Davidson

This book describes what Davidson has dubbed your ‘Emotional Style’. That is, the fundamental dimensions that shape who we are, how we live, and how we perceive the world. In his book, Davidson describes what lead him to discover Emotional Style and some of the difficulties he encountered with the narrow-minded world of mainstream science. He also cites several studies to support each point he makes in reference to the brain activity associated with Emotional Style. Your Emotional Style is not just decided by your behavior, but rather the patterns of activity in your brain. When explaining each category of Emotional Style (there are six) Davidson explains the regions of the brain that are active in that category. For example, the Social Intuition dimension of Emotional Style. Socially Intuitive people are categorized by high amounts of activity in the fusiform gyrus (the region of the brain that processes information we are familiar with, e.g. the fusiform gyrus of an antiques collector is active when he sees an antique. Humans are also experts at faces, so this region lights up when we process facial expressions) and low activity in the amygdala (the region associated with pain and relating negativity with experiences). Understandably, those who fall towards the puzzled end of the Social Intuition spectrum have low amounts of activity in the fusiform gyrus and high amounts of activity in the amygdala. I really enjoyed this book because it explains human behavior on a plane that I have never seen it explained and also talks about the power of meditation to change our brain circuitry. It also gave me a peek into the world of neuroscience and how relevant it is to real-life. This book also has many entertaining anecdotes from the author’s life and an account of several of the experiments he conducted about Emotional Style and how each of the six dimensions were developed. 

“The Path to Peace Within” by Helen Jandamit

This book is a comprehensive guide to Vipassana meditation. Unlike traditional insight meditation, Vipassana is centered on several walking, sitting, and lying down exercises designed to give clarity and focus the mind. This slim volume gives instructions on several of these exercises as well as explaining their significance and how they help create an environment in which insight is obtained. Jandamit also relates Vipassana meditation to the principles of Buddhism, although one must not necessarily have to be Buddhist to practice this form of meditation. I tried a couple of the walking and siting exercises in the book and found them to be a calming and rewarding experience. The book sparked my curiosity about meditation and Buddhism in general. I recommend it for anyone wishing to read something outside of the usual fiction selection or learn more about meditation. 

Making the Body of the Doll (Part 1 of the Bunt-Doll Tutorial)

You will need:
-non-stretchy fabric (for the body of the doll, can be found at any fabric store or at Walmart)
-sewing machine and/or needle & thread (can also be found at your local fabric store)
-chalk or pencil
-sewing scissors (local craft/fabric store)
-organic wool stuffing (available here)

Draw a U-shape about 1ft tall and 1/2ft wide on your fabric. Mark an opening in the middle of the top of the 'U'. 

Cut out the 'U'. 

Sew all the edges of the 'U' excepting the opening that you marked out. 

Turn it in-side-out. 

Gather the fabric 2/3 of the way up the 'U' using small stitches on the outside and large ones on the inside. 

Pull taught to your liking and bind-off the thread. 

Stuff the body how ever you like with wool. 

That's it! For how to start on the head of the bunt-doll see Part 2 of the bunt-doll tutorial.