Full Color

Acorn Pixie Pants and a Stuffed Owl Paper Doll Outfit

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Poppets Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Unisex Children’s Clothing, Fig & Me Dolls, Untied Shoes, and Twig & Tale Sewing Patterns

poppet-modern-unisex-blue-color

When I was in middle school, I never tied my shoes. I wore hiking boots all day. Whenever people told me, my shoes were untied, then I would tell them that, “It’s okay. I like living dangerously.”

The truth was that I was just forgetful and they had a tendency to become untied.

So, I was thinking of that when I drew this set of Poppet paper doll clothing.

I was also thinking about gender neutral children’s clothing which seems to be a trend. I think the pants could be worn by a boy or a girl, though all the Poppets are girl paper dolls. They are based off this pattern from Twig and Tale. I wanted to stick with the nature theme, so her pants have acorns on them and she has a stuffed owl. I don’t know why I’ve been on such a stuffed animal drawing kick. I did a bunny last time and an owl this time.

I guess I just like drawing stuffed animals and that is probably okay. Her owl is purple.

After this, the next two Poppet pieces in progress are both historical. I have a bunch of 1920s stuff in the works for them and some Edwardian looks too. I think today’s outfit would go well with last week’s explorer outfit and this one from 2014.

As usual, if you love the blog, then think about supporting it on Patreon and I always love to hear what you think in the comments.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Ancient Greek Fantasy Gown Paper Doll

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Ancient Greek Dress, Corsets, Lyres and Pale Aqua

A ancient greek inspired paper doll fantasy gown with a corset and lute.

So, I have been spending some time with my big paper doll index and I have noticed there are a few tags with very few items in them. I don’t think everything has to be even, but I was surprised at how few Ancient Greek Inspired pieces of paper doll art I have posted. The last one was back in 2013. So, just like I created an Astronaut and a Ninja recently to try to flesh out those areas, I decided to dabble in the world of Ancient Greek inspiration.

Therefore today’s fantasy gown was inspired by Ancient Greek clothing, particularly the peplos which was women by women and fasten at the shoulders. Because I have a fondness in my heart for corsets, I added one over the top and her accessories are a scroll and a lyre, because everyone needs a lyre, don’t they?

Plus, they didn’t have codex format in Ancient Greece, so scrolls it is.

Other paper doll light tags include Russia inspired, cyborgs and ballet. Which one of those should I work on next? Let me know in a comment if you have an opinion, just remember: I always reserve the right to ignore suggestions and, of course, things take a long long time to go from idea to finished paper doll.

If you want to see more of that process, then become a patron where there’s behind the scenes updates.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Explorer’s Outfit with a Bunny Companion

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Poppets Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fig & Me Dolls, Stuffed Bunnies, Oliver & S Sewing Patterns and Adventures

Poppet paper dolls are off exploring with her faithful bunny companion. Free paper doll clothes to print in color or black and white.

I have fond memories of exploring as a child. I was lucky enough to live in a small town in Alaska with lost of wilderness around me, so it wasn’t hard to just hike back into the woods and feel like you were in some secret place where no one had ever been.

So, the Poppets are off exploring today in this outfit designed for the occasion complete with a bag to carry back treasures in and a bunny companion.

I had a stuffed bunny as a child named Mr. Bunny (I still have him) and so I have always had a fondness for stuffed bunnies.

Today’s paper doll’s shirt is based off an Oliver + S sewing pattern called Hopscotch Skirt and Knit Top. I’ve always had a fondness for Oliver + S, because they used to use paper dolls in their pattern packaging.

Her shoes were inspired by this Fig & Me doll’s shoes.

So, my question to all of you is this- Did you have exploring adventures when you were a child? And where did you go to have them?

As always, if you love the blog, then think about supporting it on Patreon.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Ninja! Paper Doll Ninja!

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Ninjas, Obi Belts and The Lack of Ninjas On the Blog. 

A paper doll ninja outfit for the Marisole Monday & Friends series. Free to print in color or black and white from paperthinpersonas.com

Sometimes, your paper dolls just want to be Ninjas. To solve that problem, today’s outfit is a free printable paper doll ninja outfit. Everything I know about ninjas I learned from watching Kung Fu movies in college which means I really don’t know anything at all. Mostly, I tend to think that ninjas fall into the “vaguely Asian feeling assassin/spy territory” and I can live with that.

Part of my decision to draw a ninja outfit for the Marisole Monday and Friends paper doll series came from the realization that I hadn’t done very many ninjas over the years. Last time I did one was 2014 and she was less ninja and more scantily clad Asian warrior chick.

The general idea of creating an all black paper doll outfit doesn’t hold much interest for me, so I brightened up my Ninja paper doll outfit design with some red trim.

I did seriously consider making the outfit all white, because the color white is associated with funerals in China. However, I didn’t think white would be a very logical color for a sneaky stalker of the night to wear. Along with the outfit, there are some accessories. I did some throwing stars and knives, because they are cliche.

And a kusarigama which translates to “chain-sickle.” I omitted the chain for both space and practicality when cutting out the pieces. So, I guess mine is just a sickle.

Please think about becoming a Patron and supporting the blog continued existence. Not up for that? Then tell a friend about it. That’s super helpful, too.

Well, what do you think of today’s paper doll ninja? Let me know in a comment.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Margot as a Raven

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Ravens, this Gold Corset, and 18th Century Hair Styles

An elegant Raven inspired masquerade costume for a paper doll with matching shoes and a mask and wig.

I love Ravens. I grew up in Southeast Alaska where there are a lot of Ravens. We also had a fair number of Crows, but I hate Crows for being loud and annoying, so I refuse to draw a paper doll gown based on them.

So, this is a Raven Masquerade dress that Margot, of the Marisole Monday & Friends paper doll series, is modeling.

Ravens are some of the smartest birds in the world and they can do fairly complex problem solving. No unsurprisingly, they show up a lot on myth and legend. In Tlingit stories, Raven is trickster who frees the sun, moon and stars. In Norse mythology, the god Odin is depicted as having two ravens serving as his eyes and ears. They are named Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory). In Ancient Greek myths, ravens are associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy.

And of course, there are always the ravens of the Tower of London who, should they ever be removed, would foretell the fall of the Kingdom of England.

So, if you want folklore heavy animals, it doesn’t get much better than the Raven.

This is the most fitted of the gowns. There’s something mysterious about Ravens and I wanted the masquerade gown to capture some of that mystery.

Here are some instructions for the wig, if you’re not sure how it works.

If you like the blog, please think about supporting it on Patreon.

So, I am curious, what is the favorite Masquerade gown so far? Let me know in a comment!

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Meaghan as an Owl

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Owls, Victorian Ballgowns, and Platform Sandals

An owl masquerade dress for Meaghan of the Marisole Monday & Friend's paper doll series. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween always feels like it is a holiday ripe for paper doll activity. It’s all about costumes, after all. So, while I abandoned themes last week, I will be returning to them this week. Each day this week there will be a different Marisole Monday & Friend’s doll and her bird themed masquerade ballgown.

Meaghan is starting us off with an owl themed paper doll masquerade dress which was the first of the dresses that I designed. The sketchbook page of this gown on Instragram went up a few months ago, but it can take a long time for things to be finished. My goal was to capture the idea of an owl without being specific to species, so the buns on her head are supposed to be like the owl’s ears and the layers in the skirt give a sense of wings.

Due to the width of the skirt, I would strongly recommend adding some floating tabs to the back of it. Her wig is designed to work with my usual method of pasting the back to the front and leaving a pocket for the dolls head. Here are the full instructions. I really should do full instructions on floating tabs, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Now, tomorrow there will be a flamingo and after that, I haven’t decided which ballgown will go up next.

If you love the blog, consider supporting it’s continued existence on Patreon.

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Sprites: Some Norse/Viking Inspired Fantasy Outfits

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Sprites Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Viking Dress, Medieval Clothing and Celtic Knots

A pair of viking inspired fantasy outfits for the Sprites paper doll series, both for a male paper doll and a female paper doll. Also available in black and white for coloring

Now, I’ve done a historical viking paper doll before for the B&B paper doll series and I suspect I’ll do one again, but that is not happening today. Today, I decided to play with viking clothing in an entirely fantasy realm.

I tend to do my laundry in the evenings. I never seem to remember to start it before I go to work, so I am writing this post to the rhythmic noise of the washer cleaning clothing for tomorrow and the dryer doing the same.

The truth is that I designed these outfits so long ago, that I don’t really know what to say about them and listening to my washer is not very inspiring on the blog post writing front.

I guess what I’ll say is this: One of the most interesting things about doing the Sprites is getting to think about what to draw for a boy and then what to draw for a girl. That’s also one of the more challenging aspects of the process. These two outfits are really tied together more by their color scheme than by their design motifs.

Want to support the blog? Think about becoming a Patron.

Looking for a Sprite paper doll to wear these outfits? Pick out a Sprite paper dolls here.

Poppets: Floral Border Printed Vintage Inspired Paper Doll Dress

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Poppets Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Bow-Tie Blouses, Mary Engelbreit’s Flowers, Colorful shoes and the November 1954 Betsy McCall Paper Doll.

A beautiful vintage inspired paper doll dress with a floral border. Heavily inspired by paper dolls like Betsy McCall. Free to print in color or black and white.

Personally, I can’t imagine putting a child in a cream colored dress and not expecting a disastrous spill/stain or something to happen to that dress five minutes later, but part of the pleasure of paper dolls is that reality doesn’t actually have to enter into it. Plus, the Poppets are based on ball-jointed dolls and not real children, so presumably pieces of resin are capable to keeping out of trouble.

One of the things I really love about this dress is the floral border. It was a later addition to the design. Originally, I was just going to do a wide stripe, like I did on the coat-dress from Tuesday. However, I didn’t want to repeat myself so soon, so I decided on some Mary Engelbreit inspired flowers along the hem.

The November 1954 Betsy McCall paper doll had two dresses with ties around their necks, but I’ll confess that I spent a lot of time looking at different Betsy McCall paper dolls and they all start to flow together after a while. Each page also has a little story on it. I tried to read a few, but stuff written for children in the 1950s, just isn’t that compelling to me.

So, next week will begin my first week of different pieces from different series posting. I am nervous and excited. We’ll start the week out with a Retro inspired astronaut and continue from there.

Remember, the blog can be followed on Twitter, and if you want “behind the scenes” then think about joining Patreon.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Poppets: Heading to the Seashore in a Nautical 1950s Inspired Paper Doll Dress

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Poppets Paper Dolls}

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Sailboats, Maritime Signal Flags, and Satchel Bags, like these

I grew up on the coast. On sunny days, which aren’t that common in Southeast Alaska, you could watch from the living room the sailboats as they whipped up and down the channel. I remember watching them as a child. There was a large marker warning people that there was a shoal, but people often ignored it during sailboat races and so, once in a while, a boat would end up stuck in the mud until high tide.

None of the boats on today’s paper doll skirt will likely have that problem.

The color scheme of today’s Poppet paper doll dress is based on maritime signal flags. When my father was studying for some sort of nautical exam, we spent time together looking through the signal flags and I’ll always think of those colors when I think of nautical inspired paper doll outfits.

When I was studying in England, I got a brown leather satchel, a lot like our paper doll’s red version. I carried it for many years, bit eventually the leather split. I’ve always loved how a nice satchel looks.

As always, I’d love to hear that people think in the comments.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Poppets: A Vintage Purple Paper Doll Coat Dress

{View Larger} {View the PDF} {View Black & White} {View the Black & White PDF}
{More Poppets Paper Dolls}

A vintage inspired purple coat dress for the Poppet printable paper doll series in color or black and white. From paperthinpersonas.com

In my original plan, today’s dress was red and had a Scotty Dog on the skirt. Then you know what I learned? Scottish Terriers are hard to draw.

So, after one too many deformed looking pups, I decided to go with a nice simple stripe along the bottom.

My mother told me once that when she was a little girl in the 1950s, she had one school dress for each day of the week. So, when I created Monday’s paper doll, my idea was for a week of school dresses. Each dress will have some school accessories. (Okay, mostly books. I like drawing books.)

Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations Include: Sport Socks, 1950s Coat Dresses, Children’s Vintage School Books and Failed Scotty Dog Doodles

In my head, I imagine this as a winter dress, probably made of a heavy wool. I went back and forth about the color, but settled on this dark grape purple, because I like purple. I also think purple is a fun winter/fall color without being totally an obvious choice.

Thoughts on today’s dress? Leave me a comment if you like.

Lastly, if you like the blog and want to support it, than consider becoming a Patron.

Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.