Kokeshi dolls: paper piecing project

I'm in love with Kokeshi dolls, they are so cute. They are traditional dolls originally from nothern Japan, if you want to know more about them please read this article on Wikipedia.

I found a few tutorials and also a couple of templates on the Internet explaining how to make these dolls but I thought I would have a go at creating one of my own design and although I think I need to change a few things overall the result is not bad at all

Here they are, what do you think?

If you like paper piecing and would like to make yourself a few Kokeshi dolls just follow the instructions below and use the images as reference (click on them to zoom in).

Start by cutting the shapes shown in the picture below.

Make the head by cutting the black circle using straight lines and stick it onto the face.

Now you're going to make the body.

Glue the top piece on the body base and trim, stick the 2 oval dress shapes on black cardstock or other dark colour cardstock for an outlined look.

Stick these 2 shapes on the body base overlapping them as shown in the next picture.

Turn upside down and trim around the body base.

Again, stick this on black cardstock and trim making sure you leave a black outline all around.

Stick the head on the body and glue the belt on the doll. Finish by drawing the eyes and mouth if you want or just leave the face blank.

Notes:

- If you look at the picture of my finished dolls at the top of this post you'll notice that on the one on the left the outline was done by hand drawing a line with a black pen.

- On the doll on the right I got too carried away and by accident cut the bottom part of the doll. If this happens don't throw the doll away as you may be able to use it in a future project by disguising the mistake.

- To cut the oval and round shapes I used the Sizzix BigShot and Sizzix die-cuts but if you don't have a die cutting machine you can draw the shapes by hand or look for free printable ones online.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial as much as I enjoyed creating it for you and I would love to get your feedback on it or on any of my other tutorials here

Here are the cards I made with the Kokeshi dolls I showed you above.