Wooden Gifts Tutorial: Carving Front‑to‑Back Clothing Folds for Figurines

Hey everyone, Wooden Smile is back with another tutorial on hand‑carving wooden gifts. In this blog post, we’re sharing how to maintain the continuity of clothing folds on your wooden figurine—helping your piece feel more three‑dimensional and layered.

Let’s start by taking a look at a finished example. This is a painted piece, and you can see how the coat’s edge flows smoothly across the arm while staying continuous. The carved folds in the fabric do the same—this particular wrinkle goes across the arm and connects with the folds on the figure’s back. When creating wooden sculpture gifts, your details should feel seamless. If the folds appear on the front but stop suddenly on the back, it breaks the flow and makes the piece feel incomplete.

Now, back to the figure we’re currently working on. The edge of this character’s coat is right around here—where we’ve made a pencil mark. Rotate the figure to the back and extend that mark so the line wraps across the whole back. When sketching it out, it’s okay to give yourself a little extra space—this is just a rough guide. If it doesn’t look right later on, we can always tweak it during the wood carving phase.

Next, let’s establish the relationship between the coat, vest, and pants. Since the coat is closer to the viewer than the pants, we’ll carve the pants inward just a bit to reflect that layering. This attention to detail is what lifts a simple wooden statue into a refined, hand‑carved piece of art.

Now, follow the flow of the coat as it wraps from the front to the back. It creates a small angle where it meets the arm—let’s smooth that out. This way, the coat naturally transitions around to the back. From the front, carve in the lifted edge of the coat—this flipped‑up edge should sit slightly higher than the layer underneath. Be careful while trimming here so you don’t damage any of the folds you’ve already carved. Such continuity is key for high‑quality wooden figurines.

Next, make a clean upward cut from the bottom and remove the excess wood along your guideline. This creates the height difference between the collar and the torso, which you can then continue carving as it wraps around to the back. These are the kind of refinement steps that define true craftsmanship in wooden sculpture and gifts.

When it comes to the collar, it should be higher than the surrounding clothing. To carve this area properly, make a stop cut first, then follow up with a slanted slice. Repeat this process all the way around the collar. If you’re mindful of your cutting angles, it’ll save you a lot of time and make the transition much cleaner for your custom figurine.