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!