I’ve been drooling over vintage and not so vintage mannequins for a while now.
I’ve seen directions on how to make your own mannequin and even attempted to make my own with newspapers and tape. Let’s just say I gave up on that attempt. It was a major fail before it was even half done.
But a few months ago I came across this at my local goodwill.
I couldn’t pass it up and to make it even better it was half off the day I found them.
So for $2.49 I had the base for my mannequin.
Hmm, maybe if I had a good base I could make my own mannequin of sorts. It won’t be like the vintage ones on cast iron stands but it would be mine.
I wasn’t sure how I wanted to cover the clear plastic to make Missy (Yes, I named my mannequin Missy.) more like the vintage image I had in mind. I thought of book pages, sheet music, pattern pieces, canvas or kraft paper might do the trick.
I came across some free canvas and lightweight cotton material at the local SCRAPS shop and decided to use it to cover the plastic form I had.
Initially I didn’t think about the back side but when I realized one of the pieces would cover the back in one piece I decided to start with covering the backside.
I started with the largest cotton material and set Missy on top. Then I got out some cheap school glue and watered it down to thin it out and make a decoupage glue. Now is a great time to stock up on glue for your own decoupage projects with all the back to school sales going on right now.
I roughly trimmed the fabric to fit around the plastic form and cut a few slits around it to help make it a bit easier to form around the curves.
I then just slopped on glue and tried to smooth down the material the best that I could.
A word to the wise…. don’t use your best scissors for this if unless you don’t mind a bit of glue to clean up afterwards.
So once I had the front covered it was time to let Missy dry.
Here is the back side.
I know Missy still needs a bit of work but I’m not sure what the finished results will be quite yet. Here is how she is, still hanging out drying.
It is fairly humid lately so even with 12+ hours of drying it is still not dry all the way.
Missy is not finished yet but for now, I’m happy with my $3 mannequin.
Well, happy enough for now.
Supplies:
Plastic Mannequin $2.49
Glue $.40
Fabric free
Total cost: $2.89
My own so called mannequin….. priceless
June
I usually link to these fabulous parties:
Love the mannequin! What a great deal. Thank you for the sweet comment on my blog. Just started following yours & look forward to seeing more of your deals & projects!
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