A Handcrafted Christmas: Jewelry Lady

My friend, Melissa, and I were at TJ Maxx one day this summer and saw a jewelry holder that was kind of like a dress form only about doll sized. When it came time to think about her Christmas gift (we exchanged early since she will be out of town the next couple of months) I remembered this! I went back to TJ Maxx and it was gone!

So, I did what I always seem to do and thought - I bet I can make one! First, here is a little peek at how she turned out:

I will admit that I was very pleased and almost wanted to keep her myself! I think it was the scarf - love the scarf!

Ok, how to make this yourself ~ gather your supplies:

leftover muslin (I used scraps left from lining my skirts this summer)
rice (I used about 3/4 of a 10 lb. bag)
needle and thread
sewing machine and thread
one wooden table leg (mine was 22 inches)
two small table legs (mine were 6 inches)
one piece of wood for the base
paint
felt scrap
drill (if desired)
hot glue

Paint all of the wood pieces any color you'd like! Set aside to dry. Note, you see an extra little finial here which I intended to use for her head, but she was so tall already and I didn't really think it was necessary - so I left that off. I purchased all of my wood pieces at Lowe's.

Meanwhile, print out the body template for your lady (click to enlarge)

Attach two pieces in the middle with a piece of tape, cut out. Make sure to cut around the arm, neck and bottom tabs - DO NOT cut these off! This is important to the finished look.

Now, use as a pattern on your muslin and cut two. (of course, you could use ANY fabric for her body to personalize this even more!)

Pin the two pieces right sides together. Starting on one side of neck - sew around edge leaving all edges of the tabs open. This is how you will get the arms, head and post through! Snip corners up to seams (not through!) and turn right side out.

At this point, your lady should look like this:

Hand stitch the tab sides as shown - make sure to leave all the tab ends open as this is how they get onto the posts!

Attach post to base by drilling a hole or screwing the post into the base. Reinforce with wood glue if needed. Mark arm placement with a pencil and drill a hole all the way through the post.

Now, slide the fabric on to the post letting it fall all the way down to the base, bring tab up into the body to give a finished edge around the post:

I think this may be the trickiest part - getting the arms on! Put one of the arms through the fabric and then screw it into the hole you made. Repeat for the second arm. As you are doing this, fold tab in to give a finished edge on the arms as you did above.

Run a small bead of hot glue around the inside edge of the bottom tab just to keep things in place and hold the "stuffing" in!

Now, I made a little paper heart and wrote a verse from Proverbs 31 on it - as I wanted to remember that our outward beauty is not the main focus and I wanted even this jewelry lady to have a beautiful heart as I would desire as well.

Take your lady outside because this part is a bit messy. Bring your rice, a funnel and a measuring cup or spoon with you as well.

Pour rice through the funnel into the neck opening until your lady is filled as much as you would like her to be. Near the end, slip in the heart you made:

She should look like this now:

Fold the neck tab in towards the body and hand stitch a small gathering stitch around to close.

Hot glue a piece of felt underneath the base so she won't scratch your furniture!

Your lady is all done and you can embellish her however you choose! The arms and neck are perfect for bracelets and necklaces while you can push earrings and pins into the rice stuffed body.

Enjoy!