Everyday I hear something new…There are African head wraps….
then there are African Wrap dolls. I heard of Black dolls
but not African Wrap dolls until now. It’s made in a very
beautiful image to compliment the
beautiful image black people walk around with.
Angela Briggs is the diligent young woman creating
these African wrap dolls to reflect her history and her
love for nature and recycling. She searches through outdoors
for branches,twigs, leaves,pods,etc. And we know how much
our fellow African peoples love wearing nature. But yes,
she uses those as acecessories for her dolls and gathers
beads and buttons from the nearest thrift store. We know
that thrift stores can carry the best stuff, both new and
used.
She searches throughout fabric dumpsters for scraps and
remnants to be used as filler and also for the dolls’
clothing. Briggs teaches about her craft at an art center,
The Pasadena Art Armory.
How to Create a Doll Wrap, come on people, lets be a
specialist….
Get your tools out
yarn-lint-cloth(18 inch square, 5 inch square, 20 inch square)-bottle
(8 oz. Aleene’s Tacky Glue or glue gun beads and shells-beads and
shells-seeds-buttons-baskets- wire-branches-pine needles-synthetic
hair-fabric trim-raffia-leather trim
– To create the head, put a ball of lint in the middle of a small square
of cloth. Gather the cloth together and tie a piece of yarn around it,
while the remainder hangs out. To create the body, do the same
process again with a large square of cloth around the bottle. The
leftover material will make the arms of the doll.
-Put the head on top of the body and tighten it with yarn by
criss crossing the yarn over the shoulders and around the waist until
the cloth cannot be seen. Keep on wrapping the yarn up and around
the neck, continue down to the waist.
-Continue on the arms, and then work to the end of your arm, wrapping
the yarn around until you can’t see the cloth. Wrap it around the waist
and tuck the end of the yarn into the body.
In order to wrap the garment, put a ball of glue in corner of the fabric.
Place glued fabric on the chest area and keep wrapping the fabric around
the chest under the arms, while creating folds to look as real as a
normal draped garment.
Use tacky glue to put on hair, beads,buttons, whatever else you want
to use as ornaments and facial features.
Bend the arms to create movement. Baskets, head wrap, and anything
else can be used creatively.
Oh and some tips you may need:
The sizes for each fabric is indeed approximate. At times, Angela uses
old blouses or scarves, and the measurements wind up being more or
less.Any fabric size will create a realistic draped garment is fine.
If the baskets are not there,you have the option to use large bottle tops or mussel shells.
If you recycle water, soda, and juice bottles, that can be used for the body.
Who knows? After seeing this, little children may want to see
themselves with the head wraps.They are a beautiful representation of us
black people. To me black dolls are another way of saying black pride,
especially if they look their best. Lastly, don’t you think these are a
good type of doll to make a good impression on children.
I mean one of my quotes I just thought of my head is this:
“You want to see good images? Make them!”
Pictorial 4 the Photogenic 