Friday, August 28, 2015

Altered dress form ( part 3)




The black and white altered dress form.









This version of the altered dress form may look complicated but it is way easier than you think

Once again I used a basic dress form and some easy to find materials to create the dress.


You will need some tissue paper. I used a plain black and a  black and white print.

Other materials I used are :
Mod Podge
Tacky glue
Tiny scrap of black netting (tulle)
A black pipe cleaner
Some black beads.
To create a bodice for the dress, cover the dress form with the printed paper using  Mod Podge. It is easiest to use strips of paper for this will help to prevent creases. Cover with a coat of Mod Podge to make is as nice and smooth as you can. Leave to dry.



For the skirt you will need two strips of tissue paper. The width will depend on how long you want the skirt.  The strips will be used folded in half. Make sure they are long enough to go round the hips of the dress form easily and with a bit to spare.

The way fold the first strip.  One half is slightly  wider than the other one.



Glue and drape one strip to the hips of the dress form.









The second strip is folded in half  and then again in half. This one is draped and glued over the top of the first one to create the top of the skirt. There will be a bit left over that you can use to make a loop and a strip for the bow at the back.




Two smaller loops  and an extra slip made out of the black and white printed paper are added to the bow.
Neck and shoulder area gets a layer of black net glued on with Mod Podge.

Neck and arm holes get finished with little circles made out of black pipe cleaner.
You can decorate the skirt with black beads if you like.


Monday, August 24, 2015

Altered dress form ( part 2)


I did make another altered dress form.

They are so much fun make and to show off.






 I had  a kit for making a plastic  dress form but there were some parts missing . I felt a bit sad but . when I gave it a good look again I thought :   what  if I  I used  the two plastic body parts as molds.  and make a few extra dress forms using air hardening clay ?  I can play now and  the good thing is I can still use the plastic bits later when I find the missing pieces of the kit.





I am terrible when it comes to working with clay. But I manged to make  a decent front body and  a  not too bad  back body. I glued the two halves together with Tacky glue and left them to dry overnight.


I used the finest sandpaper I could find and sanded till the dress form looked and felt nice and smooth.
I did not have a stand for it but I think this banister pole is doing quite a good job . The thingy at the neck of the dressform got replaced with a brass doorknob.  Must say I  am pleased by the way it looks.

The finished dress form got dressed in scraps of vintage lace that a friend gave me . It is an awesome lace with embroidery and sequins on it. I just needed a few tiny scraps that I draped around the dress  till I was happy with the look. The whole thing is one piece except for the two hanging bits at the front. The paper rose got treated with a bit of gold eye shadow to tone it down a bit.

Now all I need is a shop to show it of in.