Traditional Fabric Toy
Traditional toy making involves patience and knowledge in stitching patterns. The making process of each traditional toy slightly differs from one another. The first process starts by selecting an animal and its size. After selecting a camel, a single wooden stick is taken and covered with cotton and tied in all direction with Jute twine to fix it in position. Then two wooden sticks of equal length are placed in one end of the single wooden stick and are tied to each other with Jute twine rope. Cotton is again placed in the remaining wooden stick and further tied with the twine rope to completely cover the wooden stick. The same process is followed to tie the two wooden sticks in the other end of the single wooden stick to form a base of the toy. Then again the jute twine rope is tightly tied to ensure the shape of the base.
To create the hump of the camel a lump of cotton is placed on the top and is fixed to the base with twine rope and forming the shape of the hump. A steel wire is cut in required length to form the base of the head and is positioned in one end and with the help of plier the two ends of the wire are twisted to form a long neck. The wire is then covered with cotton lump and the tip of the wire is tightly secured with cotton and the neck part is concealed with the cotton and twine. Then the neck is bended to some extent. Cotton is again attached to the head and tied to form the exact shape of the camel’s head. The completed base is again tied with jute twine rope to enhance the shape.
Piece of old cloth is cut and is placed on top of the base and with a needle the cloth is sewed to the neck part. Then with scissors all the unwanted parts of the cloth is removed and the cloth is further stitched to the base of the toy covering the jute twine rope and cotton. Small ears are sewed to the camel’s head. A decorated embroidered cloth is taken and placed on the body of the camel and is stitched to the body giving it a lovely appearance. The cloth is stitched all around the body and a decorated satin ribbon is sewed to the toy to give it the traditional look, which enhances the beauty of the camel. Beads are counted and sewed into a thread, which is attached to the back of the camel’s head. Beads are also used to create the eyes of the camel. Woolen decors are added to the toy to form a tail and ornament the head of the camel. The traditional Fabric toy is completed.
