Manniquin Christmas Tree: A Woodland Fairy

Last year, I posted about the Christmas Tree that I made using a mannequin. 

  Well, she's changing into a Woodland Fairy Christmas Tree.   


First, I started with the evergreen base that has tiny twinkle lights woven into the evergreens.






I made an apron of sorts with ribbons. Then I hand sewed silk ferns onto the ribbon bands. There are 4 different shades of ferns.

This shows the fern and ribbon apron being added to the skirt of the Christmas tree.

Remember that the evergreen base is peeking through the ferns and ribbons. I tested it, and the lights still shine through both layers.

Now to add the beautiful top. It's made with a camouflage fabric that features the woodlands trees and foliage.  Then an overlay of golden tulle softens the overall appearance.  Sandwiched between the layers are golden trim,  burlap ribbons, and preserved spanish moss. 

Next, comes the cummerbund made from Birch bark with applied moss. 

It adds that bit of elegance.  Of course the cummerbund is accented with a burlap flower, pine cones and evergreen branches.  No lady should have such a beautiful gown without a bit of jewels.

And a bit of flounce in the rear of the garment to add more whimsy and elegance.

 Isn't she a fantasy come to life...I really don't want to send her back to my client. Perhaps, I just have to enjoy our creative adventure together and send her on her way.

Smiles,

Deborah

My Mannequin Christmas Tree: Details About the Creation

One of my blog readers, asked: 

"How did you create the layers?"  I thought I would share my answer to this question with you all.

In this picture,

notice the wide burlap ribbon around the waist. First that ribbon was secured and then I began hanging garlands of pine branches with a few small pine cones wired into the garlands.  I used corsage pins to x the garland to the ribbon, sometimes going through parts of the plastic covered wire. 

If I used real pine branches, I thought about using duck tape to create the waist ribbon, and then stripping the limb free of all foliage right at the end of the branch. I would then use more tape to tape the branches to the duck tape waist ribbon. 
Additional layers were created with sheer wired ribbon strands and batttery powered lights (cool lights). I circled the waistline with the end of the lights, and made sure the battery box ended up in the rear beneath the bustle.

THE TOP

 Part of the secret of this design is the sewn top.  If you look at first picture again you can see how the top fit over the ends of the greens, lights, and ribbons.  I used commercial velcro tape to overlap the edges of the top.(See the strip of black tape on the fabric on the picture above. The top is laying on the table and you can see the velcro. )  I also lined the top with a heavier fabric to give it strength to hold it's shape and not show the bulk under the waistline edge.

The bustle of ribbons and fabric flower were created separately, and added as the last step to the creation of this fantasy Christmas tree. 

Future plans for Glorious are to change up her top..

..remember, I used velcro to close the edges of the top,

 into a Fairy.  

Her wonderful pine garland skirt will be perfect.

What about an Easter creation with a skirt overlay like this:

Or maybe she'll turn into an angel, watching over the family.

Smiles,

Deborah

My Mannequin Dress Form Christmas Tree

I've been dreaming of creating a Christmas Tree using a Mannequin Dress Form.  A local interior designer, Joyce Konstantinow, who is the owner of Blooms and Rooms in McHenry gave me the opportunity to create this original design.

Look at this beautiful bustle made with 

a sheer champagne ribbon

 and burlap ribbon.

Here I am creating ... "Glorious."  (Of course, we had to name her.) The next layer added some sheer ribbon curls that peeked out of the pine garlands and battery powered twinkle cool white lights.

(If you want a few more details about how this Christmas Tree was created, I wrote another post about it.  Just CLICK HERE to read more about creating this project.)

October 2016 Update:  I just finished my New Christmas Tree Mannequin design: The Woodland Fairy. I posted about it here. 

Smiles,
Deborah