paper me happy

every couple of months or so i get the opportunity to dress our in-store wire frame mannequin, appropriately named "paisley", with paper and ribbon.

it's been a year since my first creation so for sheer amusement i thought i'd share the ever evolving styles of paisley...





fall 2009

her latest dress has a draped skirt made of cavallini music note sheets with black ink ginwashi peaking from underneath. the ribbon is waste not paper in grape. the ruched bodice is covered in beautiful kusudama paper flowers made from the boise weekly newspaper.

side note: did you see the project runway newspaper challenge?

at first these flowers seemed daunting to make but i found them very easy to create. we have gotten so much attention for the flowers that i have printed out tutorials for customers who want to recreate them... and added them below as well...




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summer 2009

my boss jokes that i make dresses that i would like to wear... i'd have to agree with her on some level and especially in this case. this dress reminds me a bit of something i would have liked to wear as a flower girl in a wedding but i have to admit, i'd wear it now at 22 if it could withstand any sort of physical movement. the bodice, made from a sheet of waste not paper, has been the most challenging structurally because it is tailored to the mannequinn with darts for a fitted look. the skirt is the same black ink ginwashi used in the above dress and the ribbon is waste not paper in plum.

summer 2009

i love the skirt on this dress. i originally started with large white sheets of construction paper from the local art supply store but it lacked something so i added a layer of colorful floral print paper to add volume. the top is two pieces of ruched paper to make a one-shoulder look. the ribbon is once again waste not paper (my favorite) in blossom.






february/valentine's 2009

i love the playful element to this dress. the jumper look (with the crossed ribbon on the back) along with the curled ribbon gives it an airy feel. the 'love' banner, from zozo the magic queen, gets the message across!




christmas 2008

again, this is a dress that i would definitely wear to a christmas party if my waist was only 17" around; and if you're going to go big with a ribbon - christmas is the time to do it! the "head" is literally a wrapped christmas gift that really showed up in our window, especially at night with the lights shining on it!





fall/thanksgiving 2008

this outfit was so much fun to make. i wish i had more photos because there were quite a bit of elements to this look. i found a pattern for making a pilgrim bonnet and used that with our paper. the hair is made from yards and yards of copper colored raffia ribbon, placed on top of a cool cross-hatch paper covered box. the apron (which is fully functional...and i think we still have it somewhere!) is made from two different papers with a velvet ribbon in the middle which leads to the tie strings in the back.





halloween 2008

the inaugural dress! the ribbon tied directly to the wire frame with the ruched bodice placed atop creating a flattering silhouette (as you can see i have used that same silhouette a few times). although hard to see, my favorite part of this look is the sheer zebra print ribbon adhered to the witch hat to create the look of white streaked hair. the popularity and attention this dress brought to the store (along with my love for dressing paisley) has kept the tradition going. stay tuned for more dresses to come!!