Seems like every body's got a dress form these days. Dress 'em up or dress 'em down--but for heaven's sake, dress them in
something!
That's how my March project for the
Whisker Graphics Design Team came about. Miss Gray was a bit chilly and to ward off the drafts, she got a frilly paper tutu made of
Pink Polka Dot Bigger Bitty Bags.
Need one for your shapely gal? Here's how I did it.
I used 24 Bigger Bitty Bags for my size 2 girl, and began by cutting the open end off the bag so they were straight across, then slitting the sides of each bag about 3/4 of the way up. Next I cut each bag the same 3/4 length up to get four strips.
Curl each strip around a round dowel or pencil
and separate the two layers for maximum curl! With the bags that will be the top row you'll be attaching to the tutu (I used 6 bags each for each row), cut your slits about an inch from the top. (As shown below)
For my Miss Gray, six bags make up each row that I glued (glue gun) onto a paper base made from a paper grocery sack, which I just sort of wrapped around, glued together and pinned onto Miss Gray. Make slits at the top of the paper bag base and glue to form "darts" which will hug your gal's waistline. I made mine a "wrap around" tutu so it can be removed. I did that by leaving a slightly overlapped slit all the way up the back of the paper bag base.
Then start gluing the bags, starting at the bottom of the paper base, row by row. When you get to the back where the overlap is, try to glue the Bitty Bag so that one of the slits on it is positioned over the slit in the paper bag base. Then you can cut the Bitty Bag to match the slit in the paper base, allowing it to open when/if you remove the tutu from your dress form.
When you start with the second row, "brick" those darling bags so you'll have layers that hide the paper base.
Work all the way up to the last layer, using those bags you slit a little higher so the tutu will have curls all the way up to the waistline. As with the paper bag base, you will need to either cut or fold to "pinch in" those Bitty Bags to fit her impossibly slim waistline. Finish her off with a ribbon tie (I used coarse pink tulle) glued to the top, leaving enough material to make a big bow in the back.
Bitty Bags come in lots of different colors and sizes, so there are lots of variations to be created; all make for sweet beginnings, or a sweet way to cover an "end"! Hurry over to the
Whisker Graphics blog to find out about a $25.00 credit towards product!
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