How to Make a Businessman Voodoo Doll

A Planet Voodoo tutorial of step by step instructions for creating your own Businessman Voodoo doll for business success! A fun activity for team building and a fun doll for your desk! Whether workplace politics are keeping you down, you've been passed over for a promotion or you just want the photocopier to work right, the How to Make a Businessman Voodoo doll tutorial is just for you and your favorite co-workers! Make your own Businessman Voodoo Doll and take charge of your career!

"Art is a lie that tells the truth." -- Pablo Picasso

Materials needed:

                                                                         pattern

Scissors

Card stock

Black and white nylon thread or waxed beading thread

Hemp cord

Leather needle

Regular sewing needle

Fabric glue

Thin leather

 Fabric scraps

  Straight pins

  Spanish moss

 2-5 buttons

Patience & creativity

Instructions

This tutorial assumes you know how to sew a basic stitch. I like to use blanket stitch when sewing felt, but this is just a personal preference.

Step One

Pick out a pattern and cut it out on card stock.

Step Two

Place your pattern on your piece of leather.

Step Three

Pin the pattern to the leather with your straight pins.

Step Four

Cut out the pattern, leaving about 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Step Five

Repeat step four, so you have two sides.

Step Six

Unpin the paper patterns.

Cut the leather down the middle of each side (optional).

Artist hint: Leather tends to have two different looks. One side is smooth and the other side is rough. Also, one side is typically lighter than the other.  I decided to make one half dark and the other half light. This is purely aesthetic and not necessary, but I think it makes him look cool. It is also a sort of take on the traditional New Orleans harlequin dolls that are made using half black and half white material (but that's another tutorial).

Step Seven

Place the patterns together and sew around the entire edge of the voodoo doll. On one side of the doll sew all the way up the middle.

Step Eight

On the other side, starting from the head, sew halfway down. from the bottom, sew halfway up. You should have an opening on one side of the doll where you will put the stuffing. you can leave the feet and arms open if you want. I sewed the hands on mine, and left the feet open.

Step Nine

Take the Spanish moss and stuff your poppet with it.  If you want, you can turn the pattern inside out first. This is entirely optional and depends on how you want him to look.

I turned mine inside out. When you are done stuffing, it should look something like this:

Mojo magick hint: If you intend to use this voodoo poppet in ritual, now is the time to place herbs and other items inside to make him magickal and powerful. Because I want mine to bring business success to his ultimate possessor, I placed some sage inside and infused it with sage essential oil, about 15 drops. You could also place a piece of fool's gold or a coin inside him. He smells awesome!

Step Ten

Sew the opening closed. Tie the feet closed with the hemp cord. If you left the hands open, now is the time to tie them closed also.  Artist hint: It looks cool to leave a little Spanish moss coming out of the feet and hands.

Here's the other side.

Step Eleven

Decide which side you want to use as the front and sew the two buttons on for eyes.

Now you have your basic voodoo  poppet doll!

Step Twelve

Now comes the hard part. You have to make him some clothes with the fabric scraps. I want mine to wear a business suit and a tie so I have to make him pants, a shirt, a jacket, and a tie.

Decide what material to use for his suit, shirt, and tie.  I am using white felt, green suede (because I want him to bring me money and business success), and a cowry shell fabric  for his tie (because I want him to bring me money - cowry shells were traditionally used by indigenous peoples for currency and the loas love them).

Step Thirteen

Let's start with his pants since they are the easiest to make. place your voodoo doll on top of the fabric you have chosen for his pants. Cut out a square as shown in the picture.

Tip: you can place two pieces of fabric together and only cut once to eliminate a step here. Depending on the fabric used, you may have to pin the pieces together.

Cut a slit in the front for his legs on both sides of his pants.

Step Fourteen

Sew the sides together. you can turn them inside out right now if you want.

Step Fifteen

Try on his pants to see how they fit.

Okay, as you can see in the picture, my guy's pants need altering (either that or he needs more junk in his trunk). So I just placed a little dab of fabric glue under the fold to make them fit better.

Step Sixteen

Now for his shirt.

Set your businessman voodoo doll poppet on top of the fabric and cut  around him as shown in the pictures for his shirt.  then do it again so you have two sides.

Step Seventeen

Now, place your doll back on top of the fabric and cut the fabric in the shape of a shirt, using his body as a guide.

Step Eighteen

Place the cut out shirt on top of the other fabric square and cut it out so you have two sides of a shirt.

Artist note: Since I am using felt, I did not pin the two pieces of fabric together. Depending on the type of fabric used, you may want to pin them together to keep them from sliding around.

Step Nineteen

Take one of the shirts sides and cut straight down the middle.

Place the shirts on the voodoo doll to make sure they look like they will fit before you start to sew them together.

So far, sew good!

Step Twenty

If the shirt is looking good, now is the time to cut out the jacket. pin the shirt that is not cut in two pieces onto one piece of fabric for his jacket. Notice that all fabric has a right and a wrong side. Make sure you have pinned the shirt to the right side of the fabric. Cut out around it, leaving about 1/4" seam allowance.

Unpin the shirt from the jacket, and place the jacket onto the wrong side of another piece of the fabric you are using for the jacket. Cut out another jacket side.

You should now have two jacket sides. Place these aside.

Step Twenty-One

Back to the shirt...sew the two sides together, leaving openings for the arms and the front.

Depending on the look you want, you can turn it inside out, or leave it the way it is. I turned mine inside out.

Step Twenty-Two

Try the shirt on your businessman voodoo doll to see how it fits.

He's looking a little like Andrew Dice Clay right about now...

Step Twenty-three

Now you want to tack the shirt closed. Tacking just refers to placing a couple of stitches to keep it closed. this step will help to shape the shirt and collar.

I put a stitch right under his collar and two more down the front. Then I sewed on a couple of buttons.

Shortcut: You can use glue here if you want instead of tacking and you can eliminate the buttons. In the final doll you won't be able to see the buttons anyway, unless you keep his jacket open.

Step Twenty-Four

Now for the tie.

Take the material you have picked out for his tie and cut a strip wider at one end than the other. Cut a point at both ends. Make sure it is long enough. You can always trim it down to size.

Tie the tie around the businessman just like a real tie.

What? you don't know how to tie a tie?

Fold his collar down in the back and over the tie in the front.

Step Twenty-Five

Back to the jacket...

Take the two jacket pieces and cut one straight down the middle.

Step Twenty-six

Sew the jacket along the sides, leaving the arms, top, bottom, and front open.

Turn it inside out if you want to.

Step Twenty-Seven

Try on the jacket.

Woohoo Mississippi! This jacket is too big...time for another alteration.

Step Twenty-Eight

It's tweaking time (no, I am not a crack head).

I had to trim the arms and sides so it would fit him better. Then I cut a slight curve at the bottoms in the front and a diagonal at the top in the front.

Step Twenty-Nine

Let's try this again... since the jacket fits, I closed it by tacking it closed in the front and adding a vintage button. I also folded the sleeves in. BTW, his tie is tucked into his pants in the front.

much better!

Step Thirty

Let's see what it looks like when I fold his pants up a bit...

 Yikes! now all he needs is a guitar and he would look like ac/dc!

Photo of Angus Young courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Step Thirty-One

Since I don't want him to look like Angus Young (not that there's anything wrong with that), I unfolded his pant legs.

No...still not right... let's let out his sleeves.

That's better! Now we are done!

Congratulations!

You have made your very own handmade businessman voodoo doll poppet!