Playing with a doll is a traditional and perhaps the most attractive activity for girls.
They take the script from life, films and books. An indispensable part of your favorite pastime is a new dress. Young children, who do not yet have access to sewing and knitting, are great at making paper clothes with their own hands.
Creative skills acquired in this way help develop imagination, taste, and understanding of the properties of various materials.
Dresses for paper dolls step by step
Which doll can be dressed up in paper costumes? First of all, the classic cardboard one. However, non-woven outfits are also suitable for fashionista Barbie. A paper dress for a doll is not only a game, a children's craft, but also a type of decorative art.
It is interesting that fashion designers have come up with such exotic dresses even for real models: they appear on the catwalk in complexly constructed costumes made from any type of paper, for example, sheets printed in a printing house.
Bloggers offer master classes on designing doll outfits with step-by-step execution: using origami techniques, appliqué, from napkins, paper - corrugated and colored.
"Presidential" paper dress
These majestic paper dresses were used from 1960 to 1968. Many of these dresses were covered in all-over designs, such as various prints or flowers, but the ones we find most interesting are those with printed paintings or photographs. In 1968, some women wore paper dresses with images of presidential candidates such as Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon.
Cardboard doll
It is painted on thick material and comes with clothing. This fun is still popular: kits for children's creativity are on sale. They make it possible to cut out costumes and dress paper girls, boys, princesses, brides, and athletes. And even study the history of fashion of the twentieth century!
It’s interesting to design a doll yourself and make dresses for it. There are no limits to the imagination here. Creating your own character, giving it a name and dressing it up in accordance with everyday situations is a very interesting task for girls.
Both the doll and the dresses are made one-sided or two-sided. The clothes are drawn after the doll is placed on the paper - measurements are taken along the outline. The fastenings that will hold the dress are drawn immediately over the shoulders and at the waist (little children, when cutting out an outfit, often forget about this).
The two sides of the dress are made by folding the paper on top of the drawn garment.
Cut out the outfit along the contour of the already drawn part. There are some little tricks here:
- the doll's shoulders should be straight;
- There needs to be a slit on the back of the garment.
Dresses are easier to make than the doll itself. It must not only be made of thick cardboard, but also secure the weakest points with tape: the neck and arms are most often broken during the game. Find a suitable template on the Internet or come up with it yourself: any option is the beginning of an exciting game.
Paper dresses: again on the crest of fashion
Recently, disposable wedding dresses, actor's costumes made from toilet paper, and other designs have begun to circulate online again. With the new trend, such clothes are no longer uncomfortable, dangerous or disposable.
The main advantage of paper clothing is its environmental safety. Paper dresses still seem fun and quirky, but are also biodegradable. Clothes made from easily recyclable materials are new in the fashion world. Many designers showcase eco-friendly clothing lines during fashion shows and other events.
Outfits for Barbie and her friends
Barbie is a doll designed to be dressed up. No matter how many dresses there are, this fashionista is never enough. They buy new clothes for her, sew them, knit them. But there is a great way to dress up a toy using paper.
For this you will need:
- colored paper;
- corrugated;
- scotch;
- glue;
- elastic bands;
- sequins, sparkles, ribbons.
For the youngest children who do not know how to use scissors, a simple method is suitable: fold the paper like an accordion and secure it to the doll’s waist with an elastic band.
The result has been achieved: the toy friend is no longer naked. You can further improve your skills and move on to more complex designs.
Doll outfit made from napkins
White napkins are an excellent material for Barbie's wedding dress. The first stage is to make a cone from plain paper. It is rolled up like a bag and secured with tape or glue. Then you have to use scissors to level the bottom of the paper structure - it must be stable. The top of the cone is trimmed a little.
How to make a skirt from napkins:
- In the standard way, napkins folded four times are cut in the center (based on the principle of paper snowflakes).
- Having unfolded each of them, they see a small diamond in the middle.
- Each napkin is strung on a paper cone, their edges are arranged in a free order.
- You may have to use up a whole pack by the time the entire base is covered.
- The last napkin strung is the top of the dress: with the help of glue it becomes neat (folded on the sides, like a scarf thrown over the shoulders).
Then they proceed to the top of the dress: a napkin folded in three times (slightly shortened) is fixed to the doll with glue. Nothing prevents you from showing your imagination: making the dress openwork by cutting out the likes of snowflakes from napkins.
Or use colored napkins for “cocktail” outfits, dark blue ones for “evening” outfits. It’s nice to decorate the model at your discretion - with small beads, artificial flowers.
Paper dresses: expansion of the range
Once the hype died down, companies began experimenting with the style and material, adding other substances to the paper to create a durable fabric that could even be washed.
The Mars Manufacturing Company created an extensive range of paper dresses, from basic styles to paper evening dresses and even wedding dresses that cost no more than $20.
Due to their elegant and unusual appearance, as well as the fact that they were not then stored in closets and there was no need to resell them, paper wedding dresses were very popular. Especially in working-class areas, where they knew how to appreciate both beauty and money.
Other companies followed suit, creating things like paper slippers and waterproof paper raincoats and swimsuits. A paper dress was even invented that would grow grass when exposed to water.
Over its short history, paper dresses have become more and more stylish every year. They began to be decorated with sixty different paisley prints and bright patterns. Some paper dresses were sold in such a form that they could be decorated by the consumer. This created room for imagination.
Even Andy Warhall got in on the trend with a design based on his famous soup concentrate.
Corrugated paper
Corrugated paper is ideal for children's creativity; its bright colors and stable waviness (“compressedness”) are combined with plasticity.
Just a few steps are needed to make
a dress out of it for Barbie or any other doll:
- take measurements for the toy (blouse and skirt separately);
- make a cardboard cone for the skirt;
- cut two rectangles (large and small) from corrugated paper;
- attach a cone covered with corrugated paper to the doll’s waist;
- fasten a small piece (blouse) and tie it with a ribbon at the doll’s waist;
- straighten the bottom of the skirt and blouse (about 0.5 cm) in the form of a flounce or ruffle.
There is a super idea for dolls whose heads can be removed to change outfits. Little girls who have just learned to use scissors will easily make a new costume for them. A circle is cut out of corrugated paper (the diameter depends on the height of the doll).
It needs to be folded in four and a small hole cut in the center. Nearby there are small slits for the hands. A tunic (sundress, ball gown) worn around the doll’s neck is decorated with a belt or flower.
It's all about personal imagination. Based on this method, it is worth developing a wedding, evening, and beach outfit for dolls of any size and type. The colors of corrugated paper promote the development of imagination.
If the head of the toy cannot be removed, it is enough to make a cut on the back of the dress.
You can find cute and easy ways to make your own outfits on the Internet, and then improve them. Perhaps your own ideas will appear. Masters create real masterpieces: they model hats, fabulous jewelry, charming umbrellas and handbags. The game becomes a real art.
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Simple outfit analysis
Let's look at several options for making a dress from newspaper in the master classes below.
Option one
To work you will need:
- newspapers;
- scissors;
- measuring tape, ruler;
- needle and thread;
- a simple pencil;
- belt.
Instructions:
- To begin, unroll two sheets of newspaper, place them together and make a tight accordion. In total you need to make four such blanks. Then mark the waist line on the resulting accordions and sew on a sewing machine. Put a belt on the resulting top.
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- Cut the top of the top into a semicircle shape. Straps can be made by folding sheets of newspaper like an accordion, without unfolding them, and sewing them to the top.
- Make the skirt by stitching single sheets of newspaper. To make the skirt more interesting, make the folds of the desired width.
- To make the skirt fuller, sew a peplum to it. You can make it by cutting a sheet of newspaper horizontally in half and folding it like an accordion.
The outfit is ready!
Second option
To work you will need:
- newspaper;
- scissors;
- scotch;
- glue;
- stapler;
- dress;
- salt.
Progress:
- Cut strips of newspaper 12 cm wide. Fold them horizontally 4 times. Make a neckline out of them, to do this, sew one strip to the shoulders of the dress and form a V-shaped neckline.
- To create a corset, you need to prepare a solution. Pour water into a container, add salt and PVA glue. Cut long strips, treat with mortar and glue around the body. There is no need to touch part of the back so that in the future you can change the size of the corset using a lace. Then let the top dry completely, then make holes in the back and thread a lace or satin ribbon through them.
- Continue gluing strips to fit the shape of the dress.
To create a voluminous outfit, you can make several layers. To get a fluffy skirt, the newspaper can be folded like an accordion, then straightened and glued to the product.
Show your imagination and create an extraordinary outfit!
Third option
We will need:
- newspaper;
- scissors;
- threads, needle;
- stapler;
- bra.
- To create the top of the product, cut double newspaper. Put on a bra and sew newspaper to it. Wrap it around your body to create a corset. Make the cut you want.
The basis of the outfit can be made not only from newspaper, but also from fabric, garbage bags and magazines.
- In order to create a skirt, you will need a lot of bags. Roll the newspaper into a cone shape and secure the corner with a stapler. Connect the resulting bags together on the base to make a skirt, as in the photo.
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- To make a large collar you will also need paper. Place several newspapers on top of each other and cut a circle out of them. Inside the circle, make a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the neck. Make a cut from the center to the edge of the circle. Attach bags between sheets of newspaper, like on a skirt, to make the collar voluminous. Sew both parts of the collar to the bra cups.
- The image can be complemented with flowers made of paper, nails made of newspapers, whatever your imagination allows.
This extravagant outfit is perfect for a theme party or Halloween.
From newspaper you can make not only dresses for women and girls, but also fancy dress costumes for boys. You can make a robot or dinosaur costume out of cardboard.
A cowboy costume will also look very original. And without a doubt, the child will receive a prize for the best outfit.
You can also use a variety of paper to make accessories for costumes, for example, pirate hats, a dagger, flowers, crowns, horns, etc.
