St. Patrick's Day Dress Form

"May God give you...for every storm a rainbow,

for every tear a smile, for every care a promise

and a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share,

for every sigh a sweet song, and an answer to each prayer."

Greetings lasses (and lads)! It's that time of year where EVERYONE is Irish at least for a day! Despite the fact that I don't have an ounce of Irish in me, I love St. Patrick's Day! This time of year as a child, I always wished I was Irish but I had to be content with the corn beef and cabbage dinner my very Puerto Rican mom would prepare once a year (with arroz on the side---of course). I was secretly jealous of my Irish classmate who knew how to step dance. Today, I enjoy watching the competitions. I really like the music and the energy of the whole experience but what I love are the beautiful dresses that are worn by the competitors. So much detail goes into the making of a dress and the BLING!!! The sparklier the better!

This year, I decided to add to my small St. Pat's display and create my interpretation of an Irish Solo Dress. While researching, I discovered that these lovely dresses come in a HUGE array of colors and designs. They're just beautiful but I kept mine fairly simple. The results are below:

This dress form stands about 10" tall from top to bottom. 

I could have chosen just about any color of the rainbow

but since it's St. Patrick's Day, green was the obvious choice.

Once I got the design down, the dress was fairly 

simple to construct. The satin sleeves were the

most challenging for me. Not being a seamstress,

I had to take a crash course in pattern 

making then do it on a miniature scale!!!

The  bodice of the dress is decoupaged with 

some beautifully marbled handmade paper. 

The shamrocks are stickers from a $1 store.

The under skirt is accented with multi colored fringe 

I found at Goodwill for $1.99. Under that is a 

glittery lime green tulle underskirt.

The base is made from a round coaster. The dress form stands 

on a vintage wooden thread spool and is surrounded

by various St. Patrick's themed colors and 

embellishments. The glitter hat was a pick I

found at AC Moore. The gold coins are $1 store

stickers. The flowers and doily are from my stash.

She fits in nicely with the rest of my decor. 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Blessings,

Melissa