Altering A Childs Dress Form

How cute would this child's dress form look in a nursery or a little girls room?

When I saw that Barr Display had children's dress forms I could not wait to take one home and play with it!  In case you are wondering:  Yes, basically all I do is play here at The Polka Dot Closet

I started with a child's size 4-6 yr form

I wanted to try transferring rose graphics onto a form, but I will be honest with you, it always makes me a little nervous to "Practice" on expensive dress forms.......But, whew...it worked!

I started with a vintage post card that had a rose bouquet on it.  Now, I am not a computer whiz.  I have a Mac with a program called "Pages".  This program allowed me to remove the background behind the flowers and to alter their size.  

After creating a variety of sizes, I linked the rose bouquets together to form a random pattern.

I copied my completed graphic onto Transfer Artist Paper (or TAP) with my ink jet printer.

I then had to trim around the flowers (this took forever), pin them onto the form, and iron them on.  

Now...these people don't know I exist, but, the reason I always choose TAP paper instead of T-shirt transfer paper is that the TAP paper is transparent. 

So...if I did not trim close enough to the graphics (like the flowers in this project) it's not noticeable once they're ironed on.  Also, you cannot over-iron TAP.  If I go over an exposed graphic that I previously ironed on, it won't melt off.  

I purchased my TAP paper at Jo-Ann online. It costs over $2 a sheet, but worth every penny for a special project. 

The skirt was made from the crinoline of a vintage wedding dress that I hand dyed.  I then ruffled YARDS of the tulle from the dress to make this cute little bottom ruffle.

I used satin from the dress for the the waist band that ties in a bow at the back.

 I finished off the form base and cap with a white crackle finish

I think this would be so cute in a nursery or a little girls room.  Goodness, I can see a little girl playing dress up; dressing her form with the outfit she has picked out to wear to school the next day! Of course, they are great for sewing and hemming clothes. 

I am partnering with Barr Display for the November 2, 2013 Fancy Flea in Plant City Florida.  We will be bringing a few of these child forms to the Flea.  

If you are interest in purchasing a child form that is unaltered or one with roses, you can email me or contact Barr Display 800-222-2702 

Can you guess what I am working on next?  

        I love having a boy.  But...it sure would be fun to have a girl.... JUST to dress her and decorate her room!

OK, I have to get back to playing!

  

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying with