Jack Sparrow Voodoo String Doll

"Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me" Captain Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies specifically the fourth one, On Stranger Tides, have him controlled by Blackbeard with a voodoo doll. So here's my voodoo doll version of him using materials that I already have at home.

This is my first time making a string doll but it turned out so cute and I was really happy that he's very poseable as well.

You can do a different character doll and decorate him as much as you want!

• 1 inch diameter styrofoam ball
• Aluminum wire
• Kitchen string ( thick and thin)
• Doll eyes used for needlefelting
• Craft glue
• Needle felting wool - brown
• Black seed beads
• 1 Jump ring
• 1 Head pin
• 1 Bag clasp
• Needle felting needle
• Foam block
• Awl
• Doll or Leather needle
• Markers - black, brown, red
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Needle nose pliers
• Wire cutter

First, we need to make the armature of the doll. The body armature is made up of 2 aluminum wires. A 5.5 inches one which is bended in half and a 2.5 inches one that is placed horizontally 1/3 of the way down from the bended wire making a cross. (1st photo) The horizontal wires are the upper limbs and the 2 bottom wires are the lower limbs. To keep the horizontal wires from moving, lift both bottom wires up then down around the horizontal wire. (2nd photo) Twist 2 full turns both the lower vertical lines to make the torso. You can see in the 3rd photo the framework of the body wherein you have a neck, upper and lower limbs, and a torso. This armature is quite stable and will make your doll poseable.

To prevent yourself from being poked by the wire, use a needle nose pliers to loop the ends of the wire limbs. (4th photo)

The head armature is the styrofoam ball. To make the doll into a charm, insert a headpin first, then to attach the head to the neck, poke the bottom part with an awl and apply glue to the neck. Let this dry.

Now we can start wrapping the armature. We will first use the thicker string and start wrapping the legs. You can add glue to the wire to help it stick. I wrapped the legs in 2 layers then continued up to the torso then the upper limbs, also in 2 layers. I also made a criss cross on the chest part. I continued up to the neck then the head. I added some glue to the ball as well. Keep wrapping the string until you can't see the styrofoam.

To bind the end of the string, I thread the string to the needle then insert the needle through the styrofoam ball and cut. I also add a dab of glue to the end of the string.

To make the clothes, I used a thinner kitchen string and added color by using markers. But if you have colored string like embroidery floss, it would look much nicer.

I started wrapping the legs for the pants then bind it off by threading the string through the doll with a needle and adding some glue. I colored the pants with a black marker. The boots is done the same way, but coloring it with brown.

For his dreadlocks, you can needle felt the wool or simply rubbing pieces of wool between your hands will felt it much faster. I glued the felted wool on top of the head and cut off the excess.

His red bandana is also wrapped string with beads glued on the right side.

Poke the eye sockets with an awl then inserted the eyes with glue.

For his moustache and beard I glued the excess wool trimmings.

I looped the end of the headpin, added a jump ring and clasp to make him into a charm.

You now have a cute poseable Jack voodoo doll.