Reclaimed Paper Wedding Dress
This was a very simple and fun project that started out with some coffee filters that had gotten wet in soapy water. Not wanting to throw away the filters, I set them out to dry and then stored them for a future project. Although this happened a few years ago, I saved them and they were still in good shape. I have been crafting with recycled manila folders for a long time because this sturdy cardboard lends itself to a lot of recycled craft projects. While cutting out a doll form for another project, I got the crazy idea to use the coffee filters as a combination of collage and paper mache.
The soft fluffy feel of the coffee filter gave me an idea. I decided to tear up little thumb-nail size pieces, gluing only a tiny edge of the torn piece to the cardboard dress form, and leaving the rest of the torn fluffy piece hanging freely on the cardboard. When gluing the torn rough-edged pieces very close together, the overall look of the rows started to look like light fabric ruffles on a dress.
I then decided to stop at a certain point and glue beads to the top part of the dress. I traced the top part of the cardboard form onto plain paper and cut out that paper shape. I drew different designs and held them up against the top row of ruffles until I found one I really liked. I then glued bigger filter pieces to the top part and all the way down to the dress hip area as a base on which to glue on the white beads. I glued the white beads following the drawn design and was happy to see the beads were staying in place, and better yet, I didn’t have to sew on each bead, (although I love hand sewing ) .
The simple veil was made from two small pieces cut from the same cardboard manila folder. I cut out a one inch oval shape, poked a hole in the center of the oval shape and cut out an opening leaving a 1/4 inch ring. I then folded one (shorter) edge of the oval shape forming it into an L shape. I then cut out a smaller oval shape from the cardboard and cut (about 1/8 inch) from the bottom edge (of the longer side of the oval shape). I then glued the smaller oval shape (straight edge down) to the larger oval shape making sure the flat side of the L shape was lined up against the straight edge of the smaller oval shape. I cut small coffee filter pieces and glued them entirely over the brown of the cardboard veil. I then glued on the same white beads to the front of the veil in a pretty pattern. I cut out a piece of white tuling I had in my remnants box, basted one edge and trimmed a complimentary shape by placing it near the dress, and then sewed the basted edge around the back opening of the cardboard veil. For picture purposes, I displayed the veil near the dress by taping a small piece of cardboard behind the dress neckline.
The frame we used for this project was made from recycled pieces of wood leftover from other projects and stained with a dark brown latex stain. Although I reused coffee filters, recycled manila folders and embellishments, one can make this project using any kind of paper and cardboard. This also makes a great project to work on with family and friends. So always remember to just have fun and create your very own piece of art.
Reclaimed Teddy Bear
This recycled teddy bear project started from a beautiful but slightly damaged teddy bear that we bought at a craft store sidewalk sale in our neighborhood. The bear was a little dusty but nothing a little soap and water couldn’t remedy. The only thing wrong with this bear was that the eyes were ripped out and needed some kind of patches or replacement eyes. So I decided to start my next project with this bear because it had a nice color and the body joints were flexible. I was inspired to make a dress for the bear from an old deep pink polka-dot dress of mine that I had wanted to recycle for a future doll project. The bear was the perfect size and shape for this reclaimed fabric.
The bear washed nicely and after drying it thoroughly for several days, I laid the bear flat on craft paper that was larger than the bear. I took a pencil and traced an outline around the bear and marked the paper at the shoulders and legs (to determine the length of the dress). I then cut out the pattern, placed it against the different sections of the old dress to decide the best possible area to cut.
The old dress zipped on the center back and after placing the bear around different areas, I decided to try placing the actual bear inside the shoulder/sleeve section of the dress and found that the slight curve of the dress’s neck fit snugly around the curve of the bear’s neck and the dress’ floppy sleeve hung loosely around the bear’s wide belly like a skirt. There was plenty of fabric to fit all the way around the bear and more than enough dress fabric left over to make sleeves and a small purse. I designed a little purse and hat on paper.
I carefully cut the bear’s dress from the shoulder/neck section of the dress, made a few minor alterations and hand sewed the fabric to complete the back of the bear’s dress. I then traced out sleeve patterns, cut them out on the dress fabric and sewed the little sleeves to the bear’s dress. I then put the dress back on the bear and it fit very nicely. From my box of beads, I found many pearl beads I had left over from another project. I sewed a few pearl beads onto each sleeve cuff.
Next I traced the purse shape onto a thick piece of chip board and cut out more little cotton pieces from the cream colored blouse to cushion the little purse shape, then cut the dress fabric out for the little purse. For the purse strap, I cut a strip of cream colored cotton making sure to measure the strip length by wrapping it around the bear’s paw. I rolled up the strip and hand sewed the strap ends, one to each inside corner of the purse. I then covered the purse with the dress fabric and sewed the seam to one side of the purse. I placed a bit of cream colored fabric in the top center opening (and over the chip board insert) of the little purse and sewed more pearl beads onto the top and corner sections of the little purse.
Using matching tan colored thread, I sewed close each eye opening where the button eyes had been ripped out. In my remnant box of fabrics I used the same cream colored cotton blouse that I used to make purse parts. This particular blouse had a wide thick cotton band around the top and bottom edges. I cut out two circles on paper and held them up to the bear. After trial and error I found the perfect size eyes. I then traced the paper circles onto the blouse’s wide band and cut out two thick cotton circles. I sewed on the eyes and used a black dye fabric marker to color in the eyes. I then used white fabric paint to dot the center of each eye. The eyelashes I used were leftover from Halloween and I used fabric glue to affix them over each eye.
I found an old pearl necklace and pierced earrings, which I used to adorn the bear. I decided a cream colored shawl would look nice against the cream colored polka-dots, so I knitted a shawl using cream colored fun fur and size 11 knitting needles. I cast on 7 stitches and kept knitting until the shawl reached the length I liked on the bear. I also made the deep red lips on the bear by hand sewing a small length of deep red chenille yarn to the bear’s mouth area.
The hat was made from part of a recycled brown (thick cardboard) accordian pocket folder. Again, I measured and cut a big circle out from craft paper, put the cut paper circle on the bear’s head as this would measure the brim of the hat. I then made a couple of adjustments to the paper circle, traced it on cardboard and cut it out on the thicker cardboard. I cut the center of the circle in the center of the hat, rolled a smaller strip of the thick cardboard slightly inside the edge of the open hole (used glue along the edges), cut the a circle from the same chip board to complete the crown of the hat (also using glue to attach the circle to the crown). Next I used a remnant piece of cream colored fabric to cover the hat. I used a small strip of the polka-dot fabric to make a band around the rim of the hat.
Although I used this damaged bear to work on this project, you can always use one of your own bears or an old doll. Just remember to have fun creating your own piece of art.
Reclaimed Calendar Floral Plate
Welcome! This collage floral plate is made from using a 2012 reclaimed calendar and a thrift store clear glass plate. As you may have read on a previous post, I have made these collage plates from old magazines and brochures, which I keep for their wonderful designs. This past year, I was given a very beautiful floral calendar from one of our local businesses. The calendar featured different floral designs every month that lent themselves perfectly for this project.
Although I photographed myself using big scissors, I also used small scissors to cut out all of the flowers. Once the flowers were all cut out, I had fun placing them in various positions side by side on a sheet of waxed paper (or you can use any type of surface). I took pictures of some floral arrangement positions I really liked, but once I found the floral arrangement I really loved, I took a picture in case I accidentally moved the waxed paper and lost the floral arrangement position.
I then used a small paintbrush to apply the Mod Podge glue to the center of each flower and onto the glass. The glue dries in about a minute giving you a small window of time to reposition the glued flower (if you need to). Gluing only the center (leaving the edges unglued) allows you to lift the edge of that (glued) flower and place the next flower over or under that flower’s edge. You can then carefully lift the plate and look at the placement of the (unglued) flower to see how you’d prefer to glue the next flower.
This is a great project for anyone that wants to make their own little art piece, and also great for children to make for their rooms. So just have fun and create your very own piece of recycled art.
Reclaimed Doll Dress On Form
Throughout the years I have bought several interesting dolls at craft shows and garage sales. One of my doll’s had a dreary dress and for the longest time, I’ve wanted to make that doll a prettier dress. To make it easier to work on the dress, I decided to make a dress form as close as possible to the doll’s size. The form started out from a piece of reclaimed aluminum foil that I rolled up into an oblong shape. I then took old newspaper strips, made paper mache and wrapped the paper mache strips around the foil. Paper mache forms are sold at most craft stores, but are usually smaller in size. I needed this form to be approximately the same size as the doll, so making my own form was the best option and it also gave me a chance to use up some recyclable items I had lying around the house.
I was quite happy that the form I made was very close in size to the doll’s size. I then needed to make a stand and a base. Once the form was thoroughly dry, I drilled a small hole into the bottom center of the form and into the square wood base I had found in my garage. Using my hot glue gun, I put some hot glue onto both ends of an old pencil and stuck the pencil into the drilled hole and into the base. Once the hot glue dried, I used a light tan acrylic craft paint to paint the paper mache form.
I had picked out a beautiful deep satin red fabric from my old fabric remnants to make the doll’s dress, a color that I thought looked very nice in contrast to the form’s tan color. I then decided to use acrylic craft paints to create a harlequin black and white pattern on the base. Once the base was painted in white and the paint dried, I cut out black little squares from an old calendar I was about to recycle. By trial and error, I found the right size little squares for the harlequin print on the base and used a pencil to trace the little squares. I then used black acrylic paint to paint in the little squares. Once the base was thoroughly dry, I was finally ready to make the dress.
As you may have read on some of my previous posts, I love to make miniature dresses for dolls or just as art pieces. This project started out as a form for my doll’s dress, and although the red satin fabric lent itself to a much fancier dress than I intended for my doll, I decided to keep this evening dress as an art project on this stand. I used small snaps to fasten the back of this dress, so I plan to remove the dress, make a different style dress for my doll, and place the red dress back on this stand permanently as an art piece. To add a little sparkle to the top center of the dress, I used a small earring (a partner to the one I lost), but you can use any piece of jewelry you’d like.
So although I intended to use this form to help me make my doll’s dress, I was happy that I made an art piece to place in my sewing room, yet I will still be able to make my doll’s dress, and then display the red dress on my shelf as an art piece. Even though I chose to make my paper mache form, you could buy one and make your very own piece of art. Remember, just have fun and enjoy your crafts.
Reclaimed Fabric Jester Doll
This little jester started out as an idea I had to make a medieval style doll about five years ago. I have always been inspired by the medieval style clothing from some of the great classic movies. The colors, the style and flow of the fabrics have always been a fascination of mine. A few weeks ago, while looking through my fabric remnants, I saw beautiful colors and lush textures that inspired me to make a jester doll.
Completed Jester Body
First, I had to create the doll’s body and since this would be an abstract cloth doll, I decided to use the fabric from an old cotton sweatshirt. I cut a lengthy portion from one sweatshirt sleeve and rolled up the cut piece forming a firm makeshift torso and sewed the edges to the rolled up portion. Next I cut smaller pieces from the same sweatshirt, rolled up the piece to make an arm in the same fashion as the torso and repeated these steps to make the other arm. I then sewed each arm piece to each side near the top of the torso. I followed the same procedures to make the legs and sewed them to the bottom portion of the torso.
The head was challenging, but I used the same sweatshirt remnant from which I cut one lengthy piece. I rolled one long piece into a rounded ball shape and when big enough in proportion to the body, I pinned it in several spots and started sewing along all edges to secure the ball shape as much as possible. I cut apart old sheer knee high stockings and placed a piece over the round head shape, stuffed more cotton pieces at the base to make a neck and started sewing that part to the body. Next I looked through my remnant box and found a small piece of soft white cotton that was large enough to sew over the entire head. I took brown colored sewing thread to sew the jester’s eyes, eyebrows and nose. I used red sewing thread to make the lips. I then used brown curly wool trim to make the hair by sewing down the strips to the head.
In my remnant fabric box, I found a beautiful cream colored cotton fabric, which was large enough to make the jester’s tunic, sleeves and pants. I spread the fabric out on a table and laid the doll flat over the folded fabric. By eye, I used a pencil to lightly trace around the doll creating a pattern on the fabric and (leaving a generous 1/2 inch seam allowance). I cut out the drawn pattern to sew the doll’s clothes. When I finally finished the jester’s clothes, I used a maroon colored permanent fabric marker to draw and color in a harlequin pattern onto the tunic. I had a roll of cream colored lace trim that perfectly matched the cream colored clothes. I used cream colored sheer cotton to separately make sleeves and connected them to the tunic at the shoulders and around the armholes.
I also found a beautiful maroon colored velour fabric piece in my remnant box (cut from an old jacket of mine) and saw that it was perfect in size to make a cape for the doll. Using a matching maroon colored thread and needle, I basted long stitches about one inch from the cape’s top edge hemline. I sewed smaller single stitches down each side of the cape, placed it over the doll’s shoulders, and sewed a bottom hemline on the cape. Next, I decided to make a hat for the jester, so I took another maroon velour remnant and cut it into a trapezoid shape. I sewed together the longest edges forming a tubular shape (leaving the top and bottom ends open), and sewed the smaller opened side to the jester’s head (through the white fabric and hair), flattened down the rest of the tube while puffing out the fabric, which piled nicely forming a round puffy shape, sewed tiny stitches to hold the folds in place, and continued to form the hat as I went along. Then I sewed the center of the hat down through the center and hid those stitches under one of the folds of the last layer. I was very pleased with the results.
I adorned the harlequin pattern on the jester’s tunic by sewing on some maroon colored beads. I also made the jester’s boots from the same maroon velour fabric and sewed tight stitches to create the curled points on the boots.
Just like in some of the old movies I’d seen, I wanted the jester to be holding a mandolin. I looked up a picture of a mandolin on-line, drew it onto a piece of regular paper and figured out an appropriate size mandolin by holding it up against the jester. Once I figured out the correct size in proportion to the jester, I traced the mandolin pattern onto heavier paper and again onto corrugated cardboard. Next I measured where to make the center hole on the mandolin and used a paper punch to do so. Using acrylic craft paints, I painted the mandolin details onto the heavy paper pattern and let it dry.
Next, I worked with the heavy corrugated cardboard mandolin and neck cutouts and glued them together. The lower back portion of the mandolin body was rounded (as if made from a hollowed out gourd). I achieved that look with paper mache (which I made from scrap paper towel strips watered down with white glue) and affixed that small round shape to the mandolin’s back by wrapping long narrow mache strips from the back and around to the front of the mandolin’s body. I then placed the mandolin on a piece of waxed paper and near the heating vent to dry. Once it dried overnight, I was able to remove the mandolin from the waxed paper without any problem. Next, I glued the painted mandolin paper veneer over the face of the heaver paper mache mandolin piece and painted the rest of the mandolin to match the already painted top veneer.
I cut small rectangular corrugated cardboard pieces to make the bridge and nut pieces on the mandolin, then used bright yellow sewing thread and fabric glue to adhere the strings onto the tiny rectangular bridge. Once the strings dried in place, I cut (with sharp scissors) the ends off of rounded toothpicks to make the tuning heads and pushed those cut pointy ends (dipped into a little glue) and into the head. Once they dried in place, I took one string at a time, dabbed glue around the tiny tuning heads and with tweezers, began wrapping each thread around its corresponding tuning head and cut off the excess. Once everything was dried, I placed the nut in place, and used glue to line up the strings evenly in place.
Last, but not least, I made the jester’s hands from flesh colored polymer clay. I rolled each finger and made some slightly longer or shorter matching the sizes for each hand. I made the palm part, a longer wrist part, pierced the end of the arm part with a toothpick (so that I could later sew the arm to the sweatshirt arm). I then attached the fingers onto the hand part and held them in front of me and while mimicking playing a guitar, curved the hands and shaped the fingers. I carefully placed the complete shaped pieces onto aluminum foil and baked them in the oven (carefully following the clay manufacturer’s instructions).
Although this project took me over a month to complete in my spare time, it can be done in several days with the right amount of time. And although I chose to make a jester doll, you could give it a try with any doll you’d like. So just have fun and create your own reclaimed fabric doll.