Materials needed: - Fabric (preferably in a skin tone color) - Needle and thread (black or a color that matches the fabric) - Scissors - Pins - Stuffing material (cotton, foam, or filling made specifically for plush toys) - Embellishments (optional, such as buttons for eyes, yarn for hair, or fabric scraps for clothing) - Voodoo doll pattern (optional, you can create your own or find one online) Instructions: 1. Gather all the materials needed for your voodoo doll. 2. Decide on the size and shape of your doll. You can use a pre-made voodoo doll pattern or create your own by drawing the shape on a piece of paper and cutting it out. 3.

2 Simple Ways to Make a Voodoo Doll

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Ali Garbacz, B.A.. Ali earned her B.A. in Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures with a focus on East Asia from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022. She has published articles centering around culture and history for non-profits and has also done news writing for an online news site. Ali now writes as an editor at wikiHow with the hopes of becoming a part in helping to achieve wikiHow’s goal of teaching everyone to do anything. She enjoys the process of researching and learning new things to share with readers and creating content that is both informative and fun.

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Got someone in mind you want to cast a spell on? Or maybe you’re just looking for a spooky decoration to add to the frightfulness of the Halloween season. Whatever the case may be, why not put your crafting skills to the test and make your very own voodoo doll? These little handcrafted people are fascinating, terrifying, and the perfect thing to have if you’re out looking for a bit of revenge (we can’t guarantee it’ll work, but hey, at least you’ll have a cool-looking doll at the end of it). Follow this article for a step-by-step guide to making your own voodoo doll and start thinking about how you plan to use this little friend.

Homemade VooDoo Doll

Sometimes we need a way to get out our aggressions! You know those times when it feels like everything is against us and there is nothing that can be done to get things back on track? We have all had that one co-worker that gets under our skin, or the neighbor that doesn’t respect our boundaries. These times call for a homemade voodoo doll! Officially a voodoo doll is an effigy that pins can be poked into. These dolls can be used for positive or negative effects. A voodoo doll can be made to help focus prayers and healing for a person, or pins poked into them to focus anger against a person in our life, without causing actual harm.

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I made this homemade voodoo doll for a close friend as a way to deal with some challenging co-workers. There is some vinyl across the back to allow the ‘name’ of the person to be placed on the voodoo doll and erased when my friend needs to focus on a different person! Also, I didn’t really want the voodoo doll to be scary, so I tried to make it quite cute. A voodoo doll is very easy to make. I used leftover fabric scraps, some buttons and left over yarn to make this one. Use what you have available!

How To Make Your Homemade Voodoo Doll

This voodoo doll was created by using the shape of a gingerbread man. Two pieces of fabric were cut, one for the front, and one for the back. Before assembling the voodoo doll body, I decorated the pieces of fabric. It is so much easier to decorate before the two sides are attached and stuffing has been added.

Decorate

Two different buttons were used for the eyes with black embroidery floss as the thread. I added Frankenstein like stitching across different parts of the body and the mouth, also using black embroidery floss. A small rectangle of iron-on white vinyl was adhered to the back – as a place to write names with dry-erase markers. After the decorating, it is time to assemble the voodoo doll.

Assemble

Now, place the right sides together and stitch almost all the way around, leaving an opening at the top of the head – for stuffing and to add yarn hair. Once you are done sewing, turn it right-side out. Fill it tightly with stuffing.

Hair

To create the hair, gather the amount of yarn you would like for your voodoo doll’s hair. I cut several pieces the same length and tied a knot using all the strands, at the end. This knot will be tucked inside your doll’s head. As an alternative, you could vary the lengths of the yarn strands, to make your doll look a little more crazy! Push the knot end inside the doll’s head and hand stitch across the top of the head.

Ta-da! You are done! If you don’t like the look of the hair, you can trim it to change the look!

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Let’s Make A Voodoo Doll: When Good Dolls Go Bad

When most of us hear the word “Voodoo,” our minds immediately picture an old Haitian witch sewing together a burlap doll in an incense-filled hut down in the bayous of Louisiana. Well, that stereotype is pretty much spot on … so, good job. Before we can get to how to build a voodoo doll, a quick history lesson.

The word Voodoo means “spirit of God.” It is said that Voodoo began in ancient Africa, and there are three main types still practiced today: West African, Louisianan and Haitian Voodoo. More than 50 million people worldwide practice Voodoo, and part of their belief system entails connecting with “Loas,” special spirits that interact with mortals. If you believe in Voodoo, you believe that Loas affect aspects of your day-to-day life that include money, happiness, love and revenge.

3. Place the pattern on the fabric and secure it with pins. Cut around the pattern, leaving a small border for sewing.

How to Build a Voodoo Doll

Voodoo dolls can be used for many purposes, most of which are good. Of course, a doll can also be made for evil by the person who created it. Official Voodoo priests and priestesses see themselves as servants of the spirits. They don’t tell the spirits to do anything; they provide offerings and honor, and then they ask. One of the most important reasons for summoning spirits is to ask for aid in healing the sick and injured. You can also ask them to heal a broken heart or change a person’s luck. Or, in our case, you can build a Voodoo doll to screw with our intern.

Step 1: Get Crafty

We are creating our Voodoo doll to address the spirit of a particular person. You can do the same. Sticks, yarn or fabric can be used for such a project. For our Voodoo doll, we have chosen a felt fabric square, some thick thread, batting and some buttons from a big-box store. It is important to pin a special token of the person to it (such as their hair, a picture of them or a piece of their clothing), all in the hope of talking directly to their spirit through the doll.

Step 2: Clean It Up

Remember, everyone who came into contact with our fabric in the store will have a connection to the doll. In an effort not to confuse the spirits, it is important that we “clear” the Voodoo doll of all previous energy before using it. Since, if you are reading this article, you are most likely not a Voodoo practitioner and could possibly kill someone if you were to screw this up doing it yourself, maybe just place your doll outside for a few hours to let the sun cleanse it. You can also bury your doll to allow the earth to transform the energy, but you might set off some red flags when your neighbor sees you digging it up afterward.

Step 3: Keep Your Eye On The Prize

Again, the goal here is to summon spirits (the Loas) to help you. It is suggested that you create an altar for your doll, offer a sacrifice and then light a candle to the spirits. There is no need to slaughter a goat here. A small, store-bought snack or a cheeseburger will do just fine. Hold your doll and focus on your mission. (If you have the attention span of a fly, this isn’t going to work.)

Step 4: Color-Coded Conjuring

You are now focused. You have shown respect to the spirits, and are ready to get down to business with your push pins.

There are seven colors that symbolize different things in Voodoo. Yellow represents success and confidence. Green represents money and growth. White is for healing and positivity. Red symbolizes power and love. Purple is for spirituality and wisdom. Blue equals love and peace, and black is for repelling negative energy or summoning it.

The head of your doll also represents knowledge, the heart is for emotion, and the stomach is intuition. Example, to make the hot chick at Target fall in love with you, use a pin in the doll’s heart. If you want her to get a promotion at work, you would use a yellow pin in her head and so forth. (There you go―she’s hot, and now she’s in love with you and rich! You are welcome.)

Paging Dr. Evil

Finally, let’s move on to the B-movie stuff … if you are ready to invoke intense physical pain and misfortune upon an enemy (or, as in our case, you just want to mess with people around the office), it is time to go full-on SERE school on that tiny doll of doom. You can use regular pins, wire, water or rope to torture it.

That said, now would be a good time to remind you that using a Voodoo doll for revenge or inflicting pain (for fun or otherwise) is not smart. Know that focusing spiritual energy for evil can result in your own bad luck. Remember, karma knows everything about you just as much as Amazon, Apple and Google do. What goes around ALWAYS comes back around, so practice wisely, houngans and mambos …

Bonus tip: If the person you have created the Voodoo doll for is talking shit about you, place a gag over the doll’s mouth. If he is being a really hot-headed asshole, place the doll in the freezer to help him to “chill out.” (Think of it as putting your nemesis symbolically “on ice.”)

For more creative ideas, check out our podcast Skillset Live! Get in on the conversation on our social media pages or pick up a back issue at OutdoorGroupStore.com!

How to sew a voodoo doll

The other day I was walking out of the grocery store when I happened to glance up at the gumball machines near the door. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared slack-jawed for a moment before grabbing my wallet and madly digging for quarters. I mean, seriously, who can resist a gumball machine full of voodoo dolls?? I ended up going home with this cute li’l guy in my pocket:

I took a close look at it and thought, “hey, I could make one of these!” (This is especially true in light of my massive yarn stash that never seems to shrink no matter how many hats I crochet.) I came up with this version:

• Yarn, on hand or $1 and up
• Buttons, on hand
• Small foam balls, $1
• Glue, on hand

Total: $1 and up

Glue the end of the yarn to a small foam ball. (Mine came in a variety pack of sizes that I found at Dollar Tree.)

Wrap yarn around the ball until it is completely covered. Use a dab of glue to secure the end.

Figure out the length you want your arms/torso/legs pieces to be. Loop a piece of yarn to that length several times. (Mine are about 5 inches long.)

Starting at one end, wrap the yarn around the looped lengths tightly until you reach the other end. Glue the end of the yarn to secure. Repeat to make a second piece the same length.

Cut several lengths of yarn and tie them securely around the yarn-wrapped ball.

Lay out the pieces as shown, with the long pieces bent to create the arms and legs and the ends of the yarn wrapped around the head going through what wikll become the torso.

Tie around the armpit area tightly with a long piece of yarn. Create the torso by wrapping down toward the feet, then wrap back up to where you started to make a double layer of wrapping.

Make the last couple of wraps in an “X” shape, passing the yarn between the arm and head. Glue the end of the yarn in place on the back of the doll to secure.

To make eyes, find a pair of smal buttons that each have 4 holes. Use black thread or embroidery floss to make an X on each button. Glue the buttons to the doll’s head.

Voodoo dolls make great gifts for:

• a friend with a particularly cruel boss at work.
• anyone going through a nasty divorce.
• people who have a morbidly offbeat sense of humor.

You can give the voodoo doll by itself, or you can:

• place it in a box with a package of straight pins and a lighter to make a complete kit.
• glue a pin to the back side of its torso to make a wacky brooch.
• attach a string to the top of its head to turn it into an ornament.

What else could you do with a voodoo doll?

4. Once you have cut out two pieces for the front and back of the doll, place them together with the right sides facing inwards. Pin the edges to keep them in place. 5. Thread your needle with a thread that matches the fabric or choose a contrasting color for decorative purposes. Tie a knot at the end of the thread. 6. Start sewing the edges together using a straight stitch. Begin about a quarter inch from the edge and continue all around the doll, leaving a small opening for turning and stuffing. 7. Once you have sewn around the doll, remove the pins and turn it inside out through the opening. Use a blunt object like a pencil or chopstick to push out the corners and shape the doll. 8. Now it's time to stuff the doll. Take small pieces of stuffing material and fill the doll through the opening. Make sure to distribute the stuffing evenly and fill the doll to your desired level of plumpness. 9. After filling the doll, sew the opening closed using a slip stitch or a ladder stitch. Knot the thread securely and trim off any excess. 10. If desired, you can add embellishments to give your voodoo doll more personality. Sew on buttons for eyes, attach yarn or fabric scraps for hair, or create small clothing items to dress up your doll. 11. Your voodoo doll is now complete and ready to use. Remember to always use voodoo dolls responsibly and with respect for others..

Reviews for "Sewing a Voodoo Doll for Love and Romance"

1. Samantha - ★★☆☆☆

I was really disappointed with "How to sew a voodoo doll". The instructions were confusing and unclear. As a beginner, I was hoping for a step-by-step guide that would help me understand the process. However, the book lacked detailed explanations and left me feeling frustrated. Additionally, the book didn't provide any information on the history or cultural significance of voodoo dolls, which I thought would have added depth to the subject. Overall, I felt like this book was a missed opportunity to educate and engage readers.

2. John - ★☆☆☆☆

I picked up "How to sew a voodoo doll" with the hope of learning a unique and intriguing craft. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. The instructions seemed disjointed and poorly organized, making it difficult to follow along. It felt like the author assumed the reader already had a basic understanding of sewing and skipped over important details. Additionally, I was disappointed by the lack of visual aids or diagrams to help illustrate the steps. This book left me feeling confused and unfulfilled in my desire to learn how to sew voodoo dolls.

3. Emily - ★★☆☆☆

I found "How to sew a voodoo doll" to be quite underwhelming. The writing style was dry and lacked any sort of enthusiasm or personality. It felt more like reading a technical manual than a guidebook on a creative craft. The instructions were vague at times, and I had to rely on my prior sewing knowledge to fill in the gaps. Furthermore, the book didn't provide any creative variations or ideas for personalizing the voodoo dolls. Overall, I was left uninspired and unimpressed with this guidebook.

4. David - ★☆☆☆☆

I expected "How to sew a voodoo doll" to be an interesting and informative introduction to voodoo doll making, but instead, I found it to be a waste of time and money. The instructions were poorly written and confusing, making it impossible for a beginner like me to follow. The book lacked clear illustrations or pictures, which would have helped visualize the steps. I don't recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to sew voodoo dolls; it's simply not worth the frustration and disappointment.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Sewing a Voodoo Doll