I know this is out of season, but I had several wonderful followers ask for the instructions to the Kateri Tekakwitha felt doll. I promised to add the instructions, but I ran out of time before Christmas and then I was preparing for my surgery, but now that I’m in recovery I found a little free time and thought I’d get the instructions and images together and post them for you all.
You will need:
- light brown felt dress *(see felt cutting instructions)
- some dark brown string for her hair (I used cross stitching string)
- wooden old fashioned clothespin
- 4-inch piece of string for her waist
- a small stick for her cross
- light brown thread
- a few tiny Indian beads
- a small feather for her hair (I used a necklace charm)
- needle
- hot glue
Line-up all the string in a bunch that is about three inches in length. Use a section of the string to tie the group of strings together in the middle.
Cut any ends that are folded and need cut so all ends are string ends, not folds. Put some hot glue on the top and sides of her head. Place the string hair on her head. Now add some hot glue to the back of her head and pull some of the hair back to cover the back of her head.
Pull out two strains of her hair to use to tie her brads. Brad her hair on each side and use the extra strings you took out to tie the ends.
Picture of her back
After cutting out the felt piece which will be used for her dress, be sure the dress is the correct length for your Kateri clothespin. If it’s too long, shorten the length and then round the corners. Now, snip small fringes into the edge all the way around. Like shown…
Slip it over the doll. You may need to put the dress on from the bottom of the clothespin if her hair is too big for the hole. After the dress is in place, you’ll need to add a drop of hot glue under the felt on the clothespin’s upper chest and upper back to keep the dress from sliding down the clothespin.
Pull all the dress parts down against the clothespin. try to form “arms” in the folds of the dress. Then tightly knot a string around her waist. You may need an extra hand to hold the dress down while you knot the waist string. Now, cut off the extra string ends. If the opening on the sides of the dress are showing, hot glue it together.
Take your stick and break it into two parts that will be the correct size to make a cross for her to hold.
use the brown thread to criss-cross around the center of the two stick parts to tie them together and form a cross. Hot glue it in her “arms”.
Next, I sewed on a few beads. I added 4 around her neck and 9 around the bottom of her dress. It was just a simple in-out stitch, but if you can’t sew you can use a tiny bit of glue for each bead.
I also added a feather charm to her hair.
If she needs help to stand you can hot glue her “feet” to a small wooden ring.
And there she is all beautiful and saintly!!
God Bless!
~Jen-Marie
Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Felt Ornament Patterns - Plus, Printable Paper Ornaments - PDF Download
That is so cute Jennifer! Perfect for little hands!
Thanks Noreen! My girls thought she was the best of all the felt dolls we made!
I love her!! thanks for the tutorial as well.
Perfect timing to link this to my Our Favorite Things Link Party since her feast day is next month. I would love to make one for our prayer table. God Bless!
She is such a great saint! Kids just love her! I'm glad to share it with your readers! Thanks! I'm sure she'll look good on your prayer table! God bless!
Thank you!!! I am linking to you on my post about Saint Kateri!!
I made her last night! So sweet 🙂 She's almost completely done except I can't find a feather necklace charm that's small enough at any of my local craft stores :(Can you tell me where you found yours?
Oh, Sonja, that is so neat! I'm sure she is beautiful! Sadly, I don't know where to buy the little feather. I only had one and it was given to me many years ago, along with a bunch of other odd-end trinkets. I've seen some really neat little charms at Hobby Lobby. Did you check there? Well, even if you can't find one, I'm sure she's perfect! I've made a number of these after this one and I think they look just as nice without the feather.I'm very sorry that can't help.Happy creating!