I have always wanted to decorate a Mannequin but I was never lucky enough to find one. I always knew it would be a Steampunk mannequin because I am steampunk mad at the moment. So when I spotted this half mannequin in a thrift shop I could not control my excitement.

I paid the man the $30 that he asked and popped my mannequin under my arm and left the store.  As a was walking out to my car this elderly gentleman commented, “Is that a gift for your husband”  I commented No, it is for me to play with.  I am not sure who was more embarrassed. lol

I wanted the mannequin to look like patchwork metal in the front. And for the back, I wanted it to look like she had been unzipped to expose her inner mechanics.

How to decorate a Mannequin Steampunk style

**This post may contain affiliate links. Which means I earn a small commission on links used at no extra cost to you. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.**

I must warn you from the start that this is not a quick project, it took me a week to complete.   But with two new puppies, I am confined to my kitchen all day so I had the time. This was the mannequin that I used.  It was a lightweight plastic one, that was hollow inside.  If your mannequin can open at the bottom it is a great idea to put a bag of sand inside to stop it fall over while you decorate it.

Cutting your leather

If you have scraps of faux leather laying around it will be great for this project.   This was the most time-consuming part of this project. I literally sat for about 8 hours measuring and cutting my leather.  The thought did cross my mind to just cut random shapes but my OCD said NO! It had to be straight patchwork style.

After hours of cutting, I came across a scrap piece of leather the shape of Australia and then the penny dropped. I had recently made a cushion and added a map of Australia to the surface which I cut using my Cricut vinyl cutter.

So here are your options, a cutting mat and cutting wheel = 8 hours. Or a Cricut or silhouette cameo vinyl cutter which I am guessing would be about 30 minutes to cut the lot.  I am still kicking myself.

To take the effect one step further.  I wanted to add so holes to the leather to give the effect that they had been stitched together.  To do this you can use a tracing wheel.  It does not show up very well in the photos but it does look great.  Once all the faux leather was cut I used the tracing wheel and a ruler and ran it through the leather. This was also very time consuming but worth the extra work.

What glue to use

I tried a few different types of glue to do this project. A hot glue gun worked for the edges but nothing else. It left lumps under the leather that will show through later which will spoil the look.  Mod podge took forever to dry and had to be washed off.  Tacky glue did work but there was some waiting time.   I also tried  E6000 and similar but it ate into the faux leather.

In the end, I used Crafter’s pick “The ultimate”. This glue is more expensive than all the others but it holds well enough to continue working all the time. I did have to go back at times and push the leather down on the curves.

Making the tie-up sides

You need to 2 pieces of leather the length of the mannequin from under the arm down to the bottom. Cut them thick enough to cover the sides, then cut one in half.  I used a cheap shoe eyelet punch to add the grommets for the leather cord.

You can now glue the two smaller pieces to the bigger one and thread the leather cord through.

The belt was made in the same way, using a recycled belt buckle.

Glue the faux leather to the mannequin

Start by adding the section in the middle.  I had to cut mine to shape because of the curves on the mannequin. If you don’t cut it to shape it will cause a bulge under the next layer. Which will spoil the look.  When glueing the leather you have to cover the whole surface with glue to make sure it sticks down flat.

Next, I started to layering and overlapping the patches.

The boobies were a bit tricky, I did try a few different ways but this was one that worked best.  I cut a circle of leather big enough to cover the boobs first. You can then cut them into a Pizza shape and glue them in place, I did have to cut some even smaller.

I was left with a gap, but I knew I had some beads to cover them up.

Next, glue the lace-ups to the mannequin, then add more patches to cover up the seams. If your mannequin is curvy like mine you will have to add slits in the leather, so they glue flat to the plastic.

Do this to both sides.  Don’t worry too much about the glue residue the gesso will cover that later.

To make the outfit look like a uniform, I tried to add some patches to look like lapels.  You can keep adding overlapping patches until the surface is all covered.

This is how mine looked after adding all the patches. Some patches look like they are lifting but once the glue gets really tacky they just push back down.

The large zipper down the back was recycled from an old mattress cover. I used hot glue to stick that down and added more patches to cover it up.

Adding the studs

Steampunk is all about gear, cogs and rivets to name a few. To give the appearance of rivets I used half beads which I added one by one. This process was super tedious, but it does look great after.

You can add the beads to every corner of each patch.

To make to boobies sparkle I used these self-adhesive crystals.  As it turned out they did not stick, and I had to glue them.

To hide the tatty leather around the boobs, I used upholstery studs from my workshop. I did have to drill the tips first and used hot glue to secure the stud.

Decorating the back

My mannequin had a curve in her back, so I knew when I added the charms they would not sit flat.  This will cause an issue if bumped because they will break or fall off.  To prevent this from happening I made some charms using epoxy resin and moulds. My steampunk ones are among these, I make them all in one go.

The benefit of using the resin charms is that they can be heated up and moulded into shape. You can use a hairdryer to heat them up. I used hot glue to add the resin charms.

The metal steampunk charms and bits and bobs I used were all attached using hot glue.  Once you have covered the base you can start layering some of the charms. To fill the gaps, I used beads from recycled jewellery. The wooden gears are all poppy craft products. The plastic pipe at the bottom was a section I cut off my greywater hosepipe.

Adding the charms to the front

I treated myself to some real quality steampunk charms for the front. They are called mitFORM charms which I bought from a company here in Australia called Random arts. The latches were ordered from Amazon.

Paint the mannequin

I used black gesso to paint the mannequin.  Because it is also a primer you get a better finish than acrylic paint. I painted everything black first.  Make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies, so no other colours show through.

Add the bronze metallic wax paste

This bronze metallic wax paste is what makes the magic happen.  I have searched for the brand that I use but I cannot find it, so no link.  There are other brands but I have not tried them.

The best way to apply the wax is with the tip of your finger.  You only touch the wax with your finger, try not to scoop.

Start by rubbing your finger very lightly over all the raised edges, the idea is not to cover all the black. You want the raised edges to be darker than the rest.  This may be awkward at first but once you get the hang of it, it will take no time at all.  I did this in less than 10 minutes.

You do the same process for the leather just press down even lighter. The only way I can describe it is as if you are tickling someone.

When you go lightly it only skims the surface, so you get this effect.

Do the same with the back, but in the smaller gaps, you can use a small paintbrush to add some wax.

Making the arm gears

These I made out of corrugated cardboard box. I printed the image onto paper and glued it to the cardboard. Using a craft knife you cut around the image.

I glued all sorts of random junk onto them as you can see from the image below.  I did add some texture paste to the gear, so it looked more rustic. They were then painted with the gesso and highlighted with the bronze wax paste.  The great thing about this technique is you can be messy, and it still looks great once painted.

Seal the finish

The gold wax paste will have to dry for 12 hours before you can seal it.  This will make the colours pop even more.  If you don’t seal the wax it will turn slightly dull over time. I added 2 thin coats of clear acrylic spray as a sealer.

Close up of finished mannequin

I hope I have covered everything if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment below.

Here are more Mannequins that I decorated.  This first was decorated using recycled aluminium drink cans.  I embossed the cans using a method the same as in this project. 

Projects you may like

This cow skull was decorated in a similar technique, I just added lots more detail.

Recycled wine bottles decorated in a Halloween theme and given a mixed media makeover.

If you are looking for any of the items used in this project, please consider using our links. By clicking on the links we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Which helps us come up with new and exciting ideas to share with you.