Witch 3d Figure Assembly Tutorial

Meet Eeek-Katerina Witch,
a dimensional figure to create from card stock
plus ribbon, twine or perle cotton, beads
and other finery.
This Halloween gal has bead jointed arms and legs,

and a head full of twine curls.

Clothing details include a bell skirt with panels

that are laced together with accent panel overlays,

bat wing sleeves with spiky shoulder arches, and bat crown.

Layered bat wings have stitching detail

and hanger bracket attached with faux (or real) buttons.

Measures approx. 18" tall x 10" across wings. 

(Not a beginner project, but loads of fun to create.) 

This design is a "sister" to Liberty Angel, 
the tutorial for which will be referred to often for this project.

If you have previously purchased BOTH files

for that project, you may make a slightly-modified

version of Eeek-katerina (with Angel boots) 

by purchasing only the witch clothing and wings file.

Otherwise, two file downloads are required.

Complete her ensemble with witch 3d miniature hat (replace bat crown),

witch 3d broomstick, and spider 3d half ball.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Identify and cut the shapes:

A head    B neck   C face overlay with nose

(not shown: eye contrast/show thru liner)

D back head hole cover    E neck

F left & right upper arms

G left & right lower arms

H left & right upper legs (stockings)

I left & right lower legs (stockings)

J body front    K & L body sides

M body back    N & O back body covers

P body base  (matches S bloomers paper)      
Q leg connectors (matches S bloomers)

R  left & right boot pairs

S left & right bloomers

T skirt front with overlays, hem accents
U & V skirt left & right with overlays, accts

(not shown: 19 point end dangler anchors)

W skirt back  

X bodice front    Y bodice sides l & r

Z sleeve fronts & backs

AA bat crown base, bat, head & eye liner

BB bat wings and overlays l & r

(not shown circle stitching anchors)

CC hanger (2-3 layers)

DD swag star & moon base with overlays

EE shoulder spike arches

2. OTHER INGREDIENTS: to complete the Witch as shown (modify as you prefer), you will also need: 36-40 yards of solid black twine and spray starch (or equivalent doll hair specialty yarn, wool roving, etc.), narrow ribbon for joints, 24 small (1/4") beads for joints, 19 dangle beads for hem points, 4 wood beads for swag, twine to attach buttons, perle cotton to lace boots, skirt panels and bodice, wings, optional "real" buttons for wings (two -5/8") and  1.5" wide ribbon for waist, two 4 inch sections of 5/16" diam. wood dowel to provide shape for the lower legs.

3. Prepare the head shape by folding back slightly on all the perforations lines.

Identify the back with finger hole cutout, the head base with neck hole cutout, and the front with the largest rectangular panel.

4. Build the head front into shape by forming the various "darts": fold or bend to bring the straight edge to overlap its adjacent wedge tab's perforation line, and glue in place. 

Begin near the face base as shown here. . .

. . . then move up the side of the head front to continue completing darts . . . 

. . . toward the top of the head. 

Complete the darts on both sides and also note that some of the darts have two edges to align and join to their corresponding dart perforation lines.

5. Prepare the neck by folding back slightly on the vertical perforation lines, and folding top edge (narrow end) and bottom edge tabs outward slightly.

6. Form the neck into a tube to bring the vertical straight edge to overlap the opposite tab's perforation line, adjust to line up the bottom edges of tall (unbent) neck back panel and the adjacent bottom tab.

Glue in place.

It may be helpful to insert a "press-against" surface such as a flat-edge pencil to help glue the seam into place.

7. Insert the top of the neck into the head's neck hole, with the back of neck oriented to the back of the head hole. Push the neck inward ONLY until the tiny top tab perf lines reach the neck opening edge.

8. Fold the tabs (but not the back tab) outward and glue in place. Make sure that the neck upper perforations line up as exactly as possible at the neck opening edge so the Angel will hold her head in the appropriate posture.

Apply pressure and hold until secure (with this gluing step and throughout).

9. Apply glue to the tab face surfaces. Fold the head back panel tabs inward, and "close" the head into position . . . 

with the tabs inserted inside of head side/top edges. Use the finger hole to reach inside with finger tip to help join each of the tabs to the inside surfaces of the head sides until all are secure.

NOTE: it may help the shape to attach top center tab first, then work around each side to adjust and glue in place.

10. Position and glue the back hole cover in place.

11. Prepare the face panel by bending back slightly on the upper and lower perf lines. 

Distress edges and add a pinky finger-tip smudge of blush or chalk paint for cheeks.

Also bend back the perf line on the eye/brow contrast liner. Glue the liner behind the eyes/brows with perf lines aligned, liner offset inside face edges.

12. Position and attach face panel, centered, on the front of the head.

NOTE: the following images thru step 40

are "borrowed" from the Liberty Angel construction tutorial, so the paper selections shown are for that project, NOT the witch.

13. Prepare the torso front and sides by bending slightly at the waist perforation lines (back for front, outward for sides), and folding side tabs back.

14. Line up and join the lower front's straight edges to the corresponding tab perforation lines, then align and join the upper edge and tab. Complete for both left and right.

15. Complete the torso top assembly by folding the top of the sides panel inward, folding the top of the front panel back to overlap it, . . . 

. . . line up the neck hole edges that should match, and glue the layers together.

Also fold the top panel's back tabs downward at the back.

16. Prepare the torso bottom panel by folding the tabs inward at a perpendicular angle (NOTE that the card stock paper being used for this sample is polka dot to match the "bloomers".

17. Prepare the leg attachment tabs by folding each half-circle tab back to perpendicular. Apply glue to the narrow panel (underside) between the half-circle tabs, then insert each tab shape into a slot pair, push in fully, and apply pressure to join to the bottom panel.

18. Position the bottom panel assembly inside at the base of the torso assembly (wide end is body front). Apply glue to the tabs area, then line up and join torso tabs to bottom panel tabs. 

19. Rotate the neck into the neck opening at the torso top (side-wise is narrower to fit channel more easily), then adjust the neck upward until the bottom neck tab perforation lines seat exactly at the neck opening edges 

* * * THIS IS IMPORTANT * * * 

Make sure that tab perf lines are as exactly as possible at the neck opening edge to ensure that the angel's head will be upright and not tipped forward.

20. Bend the neck tabs outward (back neck tab DOES NOT bend) and glue in place on the inside of torso.

21. Prepare the joint tunnel tube by folding back on all long perforations, also folding end tabs out slightly.

(NOTE that it may be best to leave at least one end tabs unbent to assist the threading into the torso opening in the next steps.)

Overlap the straight long edge to the opposite tab perforation line, and glue in place.

NOTE it may be helpful to insert a narrow rod tool such as a knitting needle or skewer into the tube to provide a "press-against" surface to help join the seam.

22. Insert the tunnel tube through the "shoulder" square opening on one side of the torso, through the torso cavity . . . 

. . . and out through the opposite opening.

Bend the end tabs (both ends) back and glue in place on the outside of the torso assembly.

(FYI, the arm-connecting ribbon for the beads joint of the shoulder will pass through the tunnel.)

23. Position and attach the torso back panel over the back cavity, lining up straight edges to tab perforation lines on sides and top; bottom tab straight edges should be even.

24. Position and attach the upper and lower back opening covers.

25. Prepare the upper arms by folding on the long side and tab perforations, also folding along the partial perforation lines to help give the arms some dimension and allow for insertion of bead joints.

Fold into a "tube" to overlap the side straight edge to the tab perforation line, and glue in place.

26. Prepare the lower arms/hands in similar fashion.

27. Insert the narrow (lower) end of the upper arm into the top of the lower arm so that punch holes line up.

Complete this "elbow" joint by threading narrow ribbon (model here uses silk ribbon) onto a darning (blunt end) needle, threading through first bead, through hand then upper arm holes, through a bead inserted inside the arm sections, then out through upper and hand holes, then through third bead on the other side.

Complete the "circuit" by passing the needle back through the first arm layers, middle bead, and second arm layers (bypass side beads this time).

 Tie the ribbon ends into a square knot and trim with 1/4" tails.

Here you can see the completed arm unit with elbow triple-bead and ribbon joint.

REVIEW: the ribbon passes once through side beads (so they won't pull off the ribbon joint) but twice through the center bead and all arm openings.

28. Prepare the upper legs in a similar fashion to upper arm, folding, creasing, forming a tube and gluing side tab.

29. Prepare the lower leg in similar fashion to fold and bend center, tab and partial perforation lines.

30. (Angel boots shown; witch boots have split lower edge for toe and heel sections.)

Locate and arrange the left and right boots (one will include the attached bottom flanges and tab).

31. Apply glue to the leg portion to heel only of each boot shape. Attach in place on the leg section, taking care to line up the lacing holes, and the edges that should match.

Complete both boots.

32. Fold the boot into a tube shape, join front edge to tab.

Also fold the bottom flanges into position and tuck the tabs under the bottom of the boot edges and glue in place. (Insert a narrow rod tool to assist with this seam if helpful.)

Remember: witch boot has separate heel and toe edges and flanges.

33. To help provide some shape and ballast for the lower leg/boot, cut 4" lengths of dowel (diameter slightly larger than standard school pencil, or 5/16") and insert into the top of the boot. Push inside so that the top of dowel clears the joint tab.

34. Thread a darning needle (blunt end) with no.5 perle cotton (or equivalent such as baker's twine).

Lace down the boot holes . . . 

. . . then back up to the top . . . 

. . . then tie in knot and bow at top. Trim ends to approx. 1 to 1.5 inches long. Secure ties with a dab of clear glue.

35. Refer to step 27 to insert upper leg end into top of boot  and prepare triple bead and ribbon knee joint.

(Witch paper shown here.)

36. Prepare the bloomers shape by folding back on all perforations. Form the shape into a "tube" to bring the straight side edge into position to overlap the tab opposite. Align the edge at the tab perf line and glue in place.

37. Slide a bloomer bell over the top of a leg assembly until top joint holes line up (bloomers seam toward the back is best option, if possible). Glue-tack in place at top near holes, if necessary. 

38. Complete the triple bead and ribbon joint. Insert the top of the leg between the tabs at the torso bottom panel, then refer to step 27 to position beads, thread ribbon through and back, tie off.

Complete both leg attachments.

This is how the legs should appear at this point of the assembly.

NOTE: Angel construction order has skirt/apron attached at this point. Witch arms can attach earlier, as directed here.

39. Attach the arms to the shoulders of the torso assembly by threading a sufficiently-long enough length of ribbon through a double bead joint at top of one arm (thumbs of hands should be forward as arms hang at doll sides), through the tunnel, out and through the second arm triple bead joint.

Complete the circuit back (refer to step 27), skipping the outer bead, back through arm layers and middle bead and arm layers, back through tunnel, through arm layers and middle bead and arm layers.

Tie square knot, trim ribbon ends as done with previous joint assembly.

Following images show witch project.

40. Line up the side front edges of front and side skirt (right side shown here first; NOTE that a tiny symbol cut in skirt top tabss will show front edges of side skirts which attach to front skirt). Use fine darning needle and 30" or so of twine or perle cotton to lace up from the bottom in 'X' stitches as shown (or other stitching pattern of your choice). At the top, make a straight stitch across to begin the pass of 'X' stitches down to hem. 

Be sure to leave 4-6 inch tails to tie into a knot and bow at bottom.

41. Adding dangler beads to the hem points is an optional design choice.

The beads used for the sample witch dress were detached from home decorative trim, and attached to twill tape.

Here, you see the bead units cut away from the tape. The beads used were the long oval tear drop and the darker small seed beads above and below - just the 3.

Button-twist (stronger) thread was passed with a very thin needle down through the sequence of beads and out the bottom seed bead, then skipping the bottom bead passed back through the teardrop and top bead. 

Two-inch tails were left in place to anchor on the skirt backside.

Thread the tail ends through the skirt point hole front to back . . . 

(a needle is shown here, but if thread is stiff enough, ends can be threaded without)

. . . pulled through so that beads are just below blunt cut tip.

Use the point thread anchors (cut 19) to glue over the tails on backside to hold thread tails and beads in place. When dry, clip away excess thread.

42. Prepare 'apron' panel overlays by attaching the bottom edge accent shapes to each.

Add decorative studs if you choose.

43. Bend top curved tabs of skirt panels and apron panels forward slightly. Apply glue to apron tabs and a tiny margin (1/8" or so) below perforation.

Position apron panels (outer panes are marked with tiny symbols in tabs) over corresponding sections of front and side skirts and attach top tab and edge.

44. Complete lacing on bodice front with ribbon or twine. Attach bodice front/shoulder and sides over torso.

45. Position skirt onto torso assembly, with "bend" of tabs at bottom edge of bodice and glue tabs and narrow margin below tab perforation line to torso front.

Allow to dry to secure attachment.

46. Wrap skirt sides/back around torso to line up the remaining lacing edges.

Complete lacing to join edges, referring to step 40 if necessary.

47. Prepare bat-wing sleeve front and back sections. NOTE that there is NOT a left and right sleeve; both are interchangeable. 

Fold top shaped 'tabs' upward slightly. Fold horizontal perforation lines back, dart tabs back, vertical lines back.

48. Create darts to shape sleeve by bending sleeve to bring straight edge to overlap dart tab to perforation line. Glue in place.
















Complete the lower darts in the same fashion.

49. Bring the top edges of a left sleeve front and back section together, to line up the top shaped tab and overlap the two attachment tabs as shown. Glue the top tabs and attachment tabs together.

Allow to dry completely so the next tab seams can be joined, where there will be some resistance to positioning.

50. Bring the wing tip and mid shaped tabs of front and back sleeves together to line up edges. Glue shaped tabs of each together. Clamp these tabs (if possible) to secure while allowing to dry thoroughly.

NOTE it will be helpful to manipulate the sleeves into their barrel or tube final shapes to help overcome the tension and resistance to this alignment.

51. Prepare the shoulder spike arches by bending points back, folding base tab area on perforation lines to form a slight arch.

52. Position a spike arch at the top edge of the completed sleeve assembly, with the spikes slot fitted over the shaped tab, inner shoulder edges lined up.

Glue in place.

53. Place the sleeve over the shoulder of the torso assembly, with the top spike/shoulder inner edge just past the side shoulder edge of the torso. Center the top tab and attach to torso.

54. Swing the bottom front (then back) sleeve tabs into position on the torso front (or back) and glue in place.

55. Layer the front wing overlays onto each corresponding wing base shape, taking care that button attachment holes and lacing holes line up exactly. 

56. Prepare to begin lacing by passing lacing (twine or perle cotton, etc.) through wing layers front to back at one of the first holes at inner edge, pulling through to leave 1/2" tail. Secure tail by gluing it in place on wing backside with an anchor circle.

57. Complete lacing (long stitches will show on front, short shown on back), then when final stitch is completed . . . 

. . . clip lacing thread tail short and anchor in place by gluing a second anchor circle in place.

(Your work will probably look neater than mine!)

Here is how the completed wing appears from the front.

58. Prepare the wing/hanger by gluing 2 or 3 hanger shapes together for strength.

59. Position the wings with inner edges meeting at center, button hole punches of wings and hanger lined up. Glue surfaces that touch together.

60. Position and attach buttons on the backside with twine or cotton.


(Set assembly aside until step 70.)

NOTE: the wig preparation steps that follow show the twine used for the Angel project. The witch project uses solid black twine instead of the 'kraft' shown.



61. Prepare twine curls for wig. Attach twine end with masking tape strip near end of rod (this tutorial will use a double tip knitting needle). 

62. Snugly wrap the twine around the rod tool, and slide wraps close together.

Continue wrapping coils around the tool until . . . 

. . . the tool is filled. Clip and attach twine end to tool to secure.

(FYI my needle allows for approx. 9" of wrapping, using about 4 yards of twine per "hank", for a total of about 36 yards for the Angel's wig.)

63. Spray the coiled twine to saturdate thoroughly with liquid spray starch.

Allow the twine to dry thoroughly (2-3 hours in my dry climate).

This is the product that I used.

64. When dry, undo the tape end anchors and slide the curled twine off the rod.

NOTE: avoid pulling the curls straight so that the twine retains its full curliness.

Complete the wrapping, spraying process to produce 9-10 lengths.

65. Bring the ends of one "coil" together to fold the length in half, then . . . 

. . . bring the ends together with the opposite loop and center ends/loop in a "hank" that measures approx. 4 inches on each side (8" total).

(This sizing is based on my knitting needle length and the coil it produced, as a guideline for your own creation.)

66.  Prepare the back portion of the "wig". Use two hanks, fold in half with ringlets hanging down the back of the head. Attach with viscose glue near the crown of the head. Apply additional glue down the back of the head as deemed necessary.

67. Prepare the main wig section by bunching 6 lengths side by side, aligning and "flattening" or smoothing the middle. Stitch across the center with short sewing machine stitching and matched thread (2-3 passes) or glue together to a narrow strip of paper underneath.

68. Position the center of the wig on top of the head, adjust forward as desired, then glue in place under center "seam". Continue to adjust/arrange and glue in place down head sides as deemed necessary.

Pull the back hanks of the main wig section around to the back of the head to overlap and blend into the back hair attached in step 66. 

Add more glue as needed to keep the arrangement you achieve, but take care that glue does not show.

69. Prepare the "bun" hair by coiling a 1 or 2 remaining hanks into a bun. Tuck any cut ends underneath to hide.

Position the bun toward the back top of the head, and use generous amount of glue underneath to securely hold the arrangement you have achieved. 

70. The form of the bat wings for this witch project make it necessary to build up a 'platform' on the upper back torso to attach wings assembly to.

Cut 1 to 1/25" squares from heaviest cardstock available. Layer and glue securely together to form a stack approx. 1/2" tall.

71. Position and secure platform on upper back torso (hot glue recommended).

Position and attach center of wings/hanger assembly to platform.

72. Prepare swag by threading a length of soft ribbon through star and moon base holes back-to-front as shown with beads between shapes and at ends.

Position and attach accent front shapes that will cover and secure the ribbon in place.

73. Thread swag ribbon ends through hand punch holes, slide another bead in place, then tie into knot with single loop and trim excess ribbon.

74. Prepare bat crown by attaching contrast eye shape behind bat head shape, then attaching head assembly on front of bat base.

Bend bat wings and crown on perforations (crown is accordion folded in alternating forward/back configuration).

Attach bat body section to corresponding center portion of crown.

(Substitute witch hat for crown if desired.)

75. Position crown on hair and secure the back ends in place with neatly-applied glue.

76. Complete witch project by wrapping wired ribbon around waistline and tying in knot/bow at front.

This witch also has a ceramic star button choker tied in place at neck.

Here she is complete and ready 

to add to your holiday decor.