Esmerelda and Spook

Well, it seems as if I am designing for the holidays.  You have seen my Santa and now it is time for Halloween.  

A very special lady requested a witch for Halloween and as I will be very busy this summer, I decided that the best time to make the witch is now.

I must admit that once I start on a project, I cannot stop until the end.  First I looked through my patterns for witches and choose one by Kate Erbach (Phat Phaeries Inc.) to use for my vision.  

I wanted to make the witch green with very prominent eyebrows and lashes.  I wanted black velvet boots and a cool cat and a funky broom and a wicked, wicked hat.  I assembled all my fabrics (all those I thought I might use), trims, bobbles etc for the project and then went right to work.

This project took two weeks from start to finish.  Her stand was a challenge as I wanted her to perch on a stand with her broom but she was to also be able to hang (fly).  When the doll was done, I went to the local hardware store and looked around.  I found what I needed in a metal plant spike (the metal ones for the garden that have a round metal top for vines to grow through).  I got the store to cut the spike to 16" (it was 24" to start with) and I took it home.  I then drilled a hole on the base (already painted with added paper clay pumpkin, mouse, black net and spiders) and then inserted the spike.  It worked but I had to add some metal wire for the back so that the top would have a seat for her to perch on.  I then cut strips of fabric and covered the entire wire so that the piece would fit in.  Finally I used fish line to place a hanger on the witch so that if the owner wanted she could hang her with her broom.

Here is Esmerelda and her kitty Spook:  The kitty at the base is not staying with this piece. She is 30" high and 28" across with her broom.

A close-up of her face: I used halloween fake lashes for her eyes an drew her eyebrows to look like a black tree.  She has two warts made of green wool with black thread.  Her hair is a mixture of fibbers including tiny braids that have bats in them.

The hat is black velvet with all kinds of fun stuff on it, including skulls, spiders and even a black kitty button:

Her side profile (notice her skull necklace with her "secret" key.  She also has a bat necklace of course)

Back view showing a peak of her bat wing on her back that helps her fly.

I hope you enjoyed her!