How to Make a STYLISH BALLERINA COSTUME, ENTIRELY OUT OF PAPER & MATCHING PAPER ACCESSORIES

Hi! Welcome to this instructable. If you are here, you are probably any/all of the following

a creative soul
looking for a quirky fancy dress idea
searching for a DIY Halloween costume using paper
trying to do something fun and interesting during the corona virus (COVID-19) lock-down
or an ardent fan of Instructables - Its such an awesome community for people who love to make things, isn't it?

And you have landed in the right place. I had made this Ballerina paper costume for my lovely daughter for a dress up competition. I had so much fun making it and I am so thrilled to share it with you.

In this instructable, we shall made

a stylish one shoulder ballerina costume
a matching bracelet
a pair of matching studs
a matching hair accessory and
a pair of tie-up ballet flats

All of these ENTIRELY USING PAPER!

Supplies

1. Sheets of thick paper
2. A simple sleeveless dress and footwear for size reference
3. Pencil
4. Scissors
5. Paper punch
6. Glue
7. Double side tacky tape
8. Bobby pin
9. Stud base
.

Step 1: Designing the Top Portion of the Dress

Using a sleeveless sample dress as size reference, cut out the top portion for the paper dress using one color of paper.

Simply fold in one of the shoulders of the sample dress before cutting out the paper to create the template for a one-shoulder dress.

Leave about an inch or two length of paper on either sides and above the shoulder line and add a double side tape at these positions

This will help to overlap the edges and secure the dress in place.

Step 2: Designing the Bottom Portion of the Dress

Use a A3 size sheet to cut out the template given

Make as many as needed based on the waist size (for my 5 year old daughter who has a medium body frame, i needed a minimum 6 of them)

Arrange them such that there is sufficient overlap to avoid any wardrobe malfunction.

Glue the flaps onto the inside of a waist band cut out from paper.

This shall go around the waist and secures at the back at the waist band by using double side tacky tape

Bottom flap.pdf
Download

Step 3: Embellishing With Paper-punch Circles and Paper Strips

Curl long strips of paper using a pencil to create an interesting and flexible border, along the neckline

Use circles punched out using a paper punch to embellish the dress and give a sequin effect.

Its really up to your imagination to embellish in random or following a particular pattern. I chose to embellish the top portion to resemble dispersing slender lines and the bottom portion to resemble parallel slender curves

Also use long strips of paper to embellish the belt region as per your imagination

Step 4: Make a Few Double Colored Roses to Embellish and Accessorize

Make 1 large, 2 medium and 2 small Double-colored roses as shown. You can check out the step by step instructable for it here.

The large one shall be used at the shoulder. It shall add in interesting highlight to the dress design, besides hiding the overlapping seam.
Glue a bobby pin or any hair clip to the bottom of a medium size rose to make a simple and stylish rose hair accessory
Glue stud bases to the bottom of the smaller roses to make simple and stylish studs
Glue the other medium size rose to the one end of a strip of paper and wrap it around the wrist to make a stylish bracelet