So you want to create a dress made out of nature eh?  I do too! 

I was down the Pinterest rabbit hole and stumbled upon mannequin dresses that people were creating for all kinds of reasons.  To showcase in store fronts, display in their homes for the holiday season, to show off flowers and greenery at garden shows, etc..  I knew instantly I wanted to make one too but I didn't want to put it on a mannequin for display.  I wanted it on a model to do a photoshoot with!  Not only that, but I wanted to create a different dress so I could have one for every season.

Challenge accepted.  

I searched all over the internet to find the best tutorials and how-to videos and blogs on how to create such a masterpiece and after my research I came up with my own version.

I wanted to use as many real, raw materials as possible, which can get quite spendy so I was constantly hunting for sales on greenery and even checked out the local Michael's and Hobby Lobby stores to see if I could find sales on garlands and greenery during the holiday season.  Pro tip....most craft stores have sales on seasonal items when they first stock their store and then the day after the holiday is over.  Anywho, I fell in LOVE with this beautiful cedar branches and trimmings at my favorite garden center, Phelan's Garden Center, but it was $12/bundle and the bundles weren't that big so that would have been quite the hefty price tag.  I sadly passed.  

A week later I ventured into our local Colorado Springs Home Depot to look for some of the fake green garland that I was thinking about using as well as chicken wire and just happened to snoop around the garden center and I think I literally yelled with joy and embarrassed my daughter when I saw that in a giant crate was the same cedar I fell in love with but in a HUGE garland of it and 50% off!!  $10 per giant garland?  I think so!  Bought a ton (I think 6), went to Michael's and hobby lobby because now I have my main ingredient and I'd better get to work before it dies on me since it's real.  

Here's the rest of what I bought that day:

birdhouses (I bought seasonal ones from Hobby Lobby so there isn't a link anymore)

birds

pinecone snowflakes

chicken wire 

birch bark

Hula Hoop

Hoop skirt cage

Cedar pine garland (again, seasonal so there is no link for it)

I also had the following items at home:

Cardboard

Jute

2 belts

wire 

wire cutters and gloves

Mannequin to hold everything up

Random bits of moss

You can view the reel I made for Instagram HERE to see a sped of visual of my process of making the dress.

Now, to explain!  

I put the hoop skirt cage not the mannequin.  I secured the hula hoop to the skirt cage with wire to give it as much form and stability because chicken wire sucks to mold.  The skirt cage was used mainly as a base to form the dress but also to keep my model a little protected from any wire poking out.

Next up, wrap the chicken wire around the mannequin, curse a lot because it's annoying, and I did 2 different chunks of the wire so they kind of criss crossed in order to keep the waist smaller and then let it get broader toward the ground.  I cut the wire off around the bottom to keep it all one length.  I used wire to keep the chicken wire attached to each other and to the hoop skirt.  I then cut off as many poky areas as I could because no one wants to injure their model.  

I looped a belt from the front of the chicken wire to the back on each side to secure it like suspenders over the shoulders because with all of the greenery the dress was heavy.  It's easier and wayyyyyy lighter if you take the weight off of your hips and evenly distribute it to your shoulders.  This also allows the dress to be shorter or longer depending on the size of the model.

Next up, I cut apart the cedar garland and piece by piece wove the branches/cuttings through the wire skirt starting from the bottom to the top all around the entire skirt bottom.  This takes a while but is totally worth it!

I used wire to secure the birds, birdhouses and pinecone snowflake mixture to different areas of the skirt.  I added a little extra cedar here and there to cover up any wire.  

Just to make it easier to get into I actually cut through the wire down the back of the dress and folded it to the sides a bit to form a V shape (think how you would cut an area for a zipper down the back of a skirt) because I had to kind of stand on one foot and hop into the dress if you will and by not having the wire there it was a bit easier.

The corset was constructed out of one of the most useful materials known to man.  An amazon prime cardboard box.  I started with a long rectangular piece and then wrapped it around myself to see about how long I need it to wrap to the back of me and cut it to the correct length.  I put holes in the back and thred jute through the holes to create the back of the corset just like a real one so think weaving a corset with ribbon going zig zag.  I tied that bad boy on myself and used a pen to trace the front of the bodice to have the heart shaped front to it.  I cut the front out to create the heart shape and then put it on the mannequin top and tied it.

The birch bark I used for the corset was not exactly how I pictured it.  It was very stiff and not bendable.  I was thinking back in my youth when chunks would fall off of our trees in our yard and we'd use them to draw on and to craft with and I remembered it being a lot more flexible.  Anywho, I realized that there were layers to what I had so I tried to peel off the top most layer so it was thinner and little more flexible.  I used hot glue to secure it to the cardboard corset and added mossy bits I had lying around here and there.

To cover the belts that were used to hold up the corset I decided to use leftover cedar and create kind of a shawl structure by using a string of jute and tying the cedar clippings to it.  Instead of tying the shawl in the front I  draped it over my model and pulled the string under the belt to tie it in the back so it looked like it was a part of the top of the corset. 

Annnnnddddd end scene!  Just kidding! Sort of.  Definitely try it on before going anywhere to photograph that bad boy.  Definitely check a thousand times for any sharp wires poking out or anything that could cause pain and make it as comfortable as possible-your model can wear high waisted sweats/pants to protect their hips.  Definitely have an amazing vacuum on hand to vacuum your floor as the whole process is messy as hell.

If you are using real greenery it will last longer if you keep it outdoors or in the cold as if it's still in its natural home.  Heat kills it fast!  

Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below!  This was a true labor of love but I love crafting so I had fun.  I think the results were awesome.  My husband thought I was nuts but once he saw my pictures he applauded me!  I can't wait to do one for every season this year!  See you in the spring!

Model Credit: Ashley Hammerling

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