Sunday, December 3, 2017

How to Make a Christmas Tree Topper Angel

I like to mix up our Christmas decorations from year to year to get a new look from ornaments and decorations I already have and love. I figure it is time for our Christmas tree angel to grace the top of the tree after several years of big fluffy bows.

Here's the BEFORE. Keep reading to see the AFTER!

Girlfriend is in some sad shape! Her wings are chipped and broken, her bust looks weirdly chesty, and she has always been too tall to sit properly on the top of our tree.

I hit the shops to ~~drool over Christmas tree decorations~~ find an elegant angel wearing a sumptuous brocade dress. I must be the Goldilocks of Christmas tree angels because I couldn’t find one that was Just Right.

I noticed that almost every angel in the store has the same face as the Christmas angel I already own. Since I honed my sewing skills as a kid making doll clothes, I knew I could satisfy my inner tree topper Goldilocks by repairing and making over our current Christmas tree angel into something elegant and fantastic!

Extreme Makeover Christmas Tree Angel Edition

I carefully removed the angel’s dress with a seam ripper so I could use it as a pattern for a her new clothing. I realized her weird uniboob was batting hot glued to her chest. That was the first thing to go. Not to be a prude, but I really don’t think my Christmas tree angel should be artificially stacked like a lusty, busty, brick house.

While I had her under anesthesia for the plastic surgery, I also gave her a height reduction by measuring and cutting a few inches from the bottom of her cone. Now she is to scale for our Christmas tree and won't tilt to the side during the holiday season.

Her name is Delores because in this state, she reminded of the character in Westworld (learn more about one of my favorite TV series here!), which I was rewatching while working on this project. (Disclosure: I am including affilate links in this post for your convenience.)

I glued the angel’s wings back in place with E6000 (learn more about my favorite will hold anything forever glue here) so she won’t fly sideways because that must have been very uncomfortable for her.

I took my inspiration for the angel's dress from Rosemary Clooney’s red and white dress in the movie White Christmas (you can watch the movie here!). I think Rosemary's dress is festively elegant and desperately wish for an occasion to something like it in real life!

For the under dress, I drew diagonal lines one inch apart with a tailor’s pencil on a white fabric rectangle and sewed along the lines with red thread using a decorative stitch I never get to use for anything on my sewing machine. I repeated the process in the opposite direction to make the diamond stitch pattern. I glued small green craft gems similar to these at using E6000 Fabric Fuse (it has the same sticking power as regular E6000 but is specifically made for not bleeding through or making fabric stiff after it dries) each interaction for a little glam and to hide any stitches that didn’t line up when they met 100%.

I tied the front piece onto the angel with green crochet thread like this, and tacked the top of the under dress to Delores's chest with a couple of glue dots (you can get them here) as well as the red brocade back panel of her underskirt.

You know those decorative stitches you can’t find a good use for on your sewing machine? Well this is just the project to give them a spin!

I cut and sewed new sleeves using the old sleeve as a pattern, hot glued fake white fur trim to the hem, and hot glued each sleeve into place.

The drawstring/tie is a loose running stitch. We won't see it when when I'm finished.

I cut and sewed craft wire into the bottom of the over skirt to give it a smidgen more weight to stay in place when I put Delores on top of the tree.

I used an over locking stitch on all of the raw edges even though it wasn’t necessary since I was covering the edges in fur trim. Again, because I wanted to play with stitches I don’t normally use.

Time to put on the over skirt!

I hot glued white faux fur trim like this kind to all of the raw edges of the dress, criss crossing them in the front and back to make the bodice so the dress looks like a fashionable robe unlike her original lumpy sack.

I gave Delores wings an upgrade by covering them in white feathers with hot glue.

Christmas tree angel makeover AFTER!

I kept her nosegay as is because it stands out better against the contrasting color of her new red dress.

Lastly, I put her on top of the Christmas tree and gave her the voice prompt, “Delores bring yourself back on line.”

Then Delores told me about her world.