Have you ever been playing with a tissue paper cocktail umbrella and wondered if it were possible to make your own version? Thanks to top papercraft designer Angela Dodson, it is now possible as she walks you through the process in our guide to how to make a small paper umbrella. And, like the cocktail version, these small paper umbrella more up and down too, using a clever sliding mechanism of rolled paper secured with decorative washi tape.
Angela tested various weights of paper and found that a weight of 120gsm to 150gsm paper works best at this size, to give a balance of ease of folding and strength for the moving parts. The papers used throughout are from various ranges across the Simply Creative brand, but any pattern or plain paper will work as long as it's similar weight. Angela has cut and scored the paper shapes you need for your paper umbrella with the help of her Brother Scfan N Cut, but you could easily cut and score these by hand too, using our small paper umbrella template. But if you do have an electronic cutting machine, we're including the small paper umbrella SVG files for you to download to get you going straight away!
These templates have been designed to be cut at 100%. However the shapes can easily be resized to suit your requirements. If making them much larger then you may find that a heavier weight of paper is better suited. Experiment with different coloured or patterned papers, for classy designs or more fun and bright pops of colour.
Push the lower stem though the centre hole in the mechanism piece. Gently ease it up onto the slider piece, you might need to push the slider down a little, until the centre tabs are on the adhesive tape, press them firmly to adhere.
Wrap washi tightly around the slider piece, over the tabs to secure them in place, all as previous.
When glue is dry, test your umbrella by sliding the slider on the stem to open and close, you may need to press the folds a few times to ensure they are nice and firmly in position.
