A Show of Hands

Work in progress with wired hands

Hands and their gestures can add a lot of nuance to a figure. For a variety of reasons, many people have a fear of making hands.  Fingers are small body parts to begin with, and sewing something extra small can be a daunting task.  Stuffing something so tiny can pose problems.  Creating realistic gestures can be tricky.  Never fear, you have options.

The mitten hand is a good general purpose hand for a beginner.  There are few small parts (only the thumb, really) and it's pretty easy to turn the hand right side out.  "The mitten" doesn't offer much in the way of gesture, but by altering needlesculpting tension, these hands can be open or closed and can be sewn into a variety of positions when completed.

The nice thing about this hand is the process of stitching finger grooves creates a bit of a curl to the fingers- very realistic.  Notice in the mitten hands shown above that they have been overstuffed (they look like pudgy baby hands).  This is a problem beginners often have - if it's hollow, stuff it.  Actually, the best mitten hands have almost zero stuffing, as seen below

A reasonably good mitten hand

The little cat doll above has typical mitten hands.  The palms are pretty flat, the hand curls a bit and it has clearly defined 'fingers'.  The hands are stuffed lightly and tucked into the end of the arm.  I use a round of backstitches to keep the hand in place.  Because I use wools and other heavy fabrics, the stitches are nearly invisible.

The hand that I use the most is a realistic hand with all five fingers.  I used to be afraid of these (turning those tiny fingers!), but the key is using knit fabrics.  Knits are a bit trickier to sew (use the appropriate needle in your machine), but the end result is sooooo much easier to work with.  Another big help is creating a pattern with the fingers spread wide; this will give you some (but not much!) seam allowance and prevent blow-outs when turning fingers.  When stitching, don't use a shorter stitch length; this will decrease stretch and cause more problems, not fewer.

Unshaped hands with chenile stems

The hands shown above have been turned right side out and then 'stuffed' with chenille stems.  It is a good idea to turn the fingertip end of the stem into a tiny loop - otherwise you or a customer may get poked. Generally the hands won't require any additional stuffing.  For extra support, sometimes I insert a narrow strip of very stiff interfacing (the type used in baseball cap bills) into the wrist. This prevents the limp wrist phenomenon that can occur if your figure is moved and posed a lot.  Not a problem if the figure just sits around with one pose.

Hands after shaping

The photo above shows two hands in which the fingers have been bent into more realistic poses.  The left hand has been curved just a bit to approximate the normal appearance of a hand at rest (glance at your hand, it takes effort to open the fingers flat).  The right hand has been bent into a pointing pose. Although the fingers look a little too long and the joints are not as pointy as they should be, rest assured that on a figure, they look fine.  There is something about the human brain that interprets not so perfect body parts on artwork as looking realistic.  This is why Barbie (who's proportions are way out of whack), looks fine to most of us. 

The one downside of using wires in hands is that the hands can get bent out of shape during shipping or movement.  It is fairly easy to repose fingers, but sometimes I get gallery owners going crazy with the fingers. 

Work in progress with wired hands (see 1st photo)

So try some hands.  Start by making a pattern.  Trace three hands (an extra for mistakes) onto t-shirt fabric (the hand should be perpendicular to the grainline), then sew using 12 stitches to the inch (don't hand sew these seams, it just won't work).  Turn right side out (go slowly and think happy thoughts!).  Insert chenile stems. 

One last thing.  I'm going a bit backwards here.  The body, arms and legs should be made first, then the head and hands last.  The reason for doing this is that there is a ratio of body part sizes the eye expects to see.  If you make the head and hands first (which most people want to do), your body rarely comes out the right size.  Something to think about.  If you're just practicing, start making those hands!  Practice makes perfect.