Trying Out Paper Dresses
So, I decided to give paper dresses a shot. Saw some pictures somewhere, looked kinda neat, thought why not try my hand at it. Didn’t seem too complicated at first glance.
First thing, gotta get the stuff. Just grabbed whatever paper I had lying around. Some old wrapping paper, a bit of newspaper, even some plain printer paper. Found some scissors and tape. Had glue too, but figured tape would be quicker for a first go.
Getting Started – The Messy Part
Okay, so I started cutting. Tried to make a top part, like a little bodice. Just kinda freehanded it. Cut out a rough shape. Then, for the skirt, I thought maybe pleating would work. Took a bigger piece of newspaper and started folding it back and forth. Looked okay, I guess.
Tried taping the pleated skirt to the bodice piece. This was trickier than I thought. The tape was showing everywhere, and the paper kept wanting to rip where the tape was tightest. The whole thing looked pretty wonky. Not quite the elegant thing I saw in pictures.
- Cutting shapes was easy enough.
- Folding pleats took a bit of patience.
- Taping it together? That was the real challenge.
Figuring Things Out
Right, that first attempt was rubbish. Decided to switch things up. Used the printer paper this time, thought maybe it’s a bit sturdier. Instead of pleats, I tried gathering the skirt. Cut a long strip, then kinda bunched it up along one edge and taped it carefully from the inside of the bodice this time. That hid the tape better.
Also realized cutting a simple template first might help. Sketched a basic dress shape on one piece of paper, then used that to cut the real pieces. Made things a bit more consistent.
Making One That Kinda Worked
So, the process that felt a bit better went like this:
- Sketch a simple dress shape (top and skirt) on scrap paper.
- Cut out that template.
- Trace the template onto the chosen paper (used wrapping paper this time, nicer pattern).
- Cut out the bodice piece.
- Cut out a long rectangle for the skirt.
- Carefully gather the top edge of the skirt rectangle. I did this by making small folds and pinching them.
- Apply tape strips to the inside top edge of the gathered skirt.
- Carefully press the taped skirt edge onto the inside bottom edge of the bodice.
- Added simple straps – just thin strips of paper taped inside the top.
It still wasn’t perfect, mind you. Paper is flimsy stuff. It tears easily, doesn’t hold complex shapes well without a lot of support (or glue, which I still hadn’t tried properly). But this one actually looked like a tiny dress. Put it on a little doll figure I had. Looked okay for a quick craft.
It’s definitely a fiddly process. Requires patience. And the end result is obviously super delicate. Wouldn’t want to actually wear one, haha. But as a way to pass an hour or two, messing about with paper, it was alright. Learned that tape placement is key and starting with a plan, even a basic sketch, helps a lot compared to just winging it.
