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Stitching & Crafting Room:  Cheap homemade dress form  |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 18 2015 : 08:31:55 AM
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I came up with the cheapie idea of using long strips of posterboard (not thick mat board -- I mean the cheap stuff that flops) about 6" wide and as long as needed to wrap around my bust (once above and once below gives a close-enough rendering of your bosom shape), torso, waist, and hips. (You can tape two lengths of the pasteboard together if you need more length, as I do (ahem). Holding the overlapped ends together in front of you, mark with a Sharpie to show where to tape them when you remove them.
When joined together, the strips become firm circles and stand on a table without support. (You might need to use scissors to even up the bottom edge. Don't use your good sewing scissors!) If you want to create a more realistic form for, say, the dip in your lower back, you can just crease the pasteboard in.
This seems way easier to me than the messy old duct tape method, and you can do it without a helper! |
Edited by - Rosemary on Jan 18 2015 08:34:20 AM |
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2015 : 10:57:42 AM
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That is a fantastic idea! A few years ago, I thought about doing a form out of duct tape. Kinda the same method. The article I read had you wrap yourself in plastic wrap first and then the duct tape and then cut one side from the armpit down. Have you seen the rising cost of duct tape? Your way is much cheaper.
Catherine
Sister #76 (2005)
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt.
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2015 : 1:41:56 PM
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| My method doesn't require two helpers! |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16373 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16373 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2015 : 2:13:46 PM
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We're going to have to try it here. Thanks!
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2015 : 5:11:00 PM
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Virginia, do you watch Project Runway? My daughters and I try to catch it when we can or watch the re-runs. Every time I see the dress forms that they pin their patterns/fabric to I think to myself, "Just one of my legs is the size of that whole body form". hee hee
Catherine
Sister #76 (2005)
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt.
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2015 : 06:00:54 AM
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| Catherine - LOL!!! Thanks for launching my morning with that funny observation. I'm off to the gym in half an hour, so there's that... |
Edited by - Rosemary on Jan 19 2015 06:07:44 AM |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2015 : 06:07:18 AM
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Yikes, MaryJane, I'm honored! For the record, the tape I use is the wide stuff in a hand-held dispenser that you use for sealing packages for the mail. The bosom strips should be narrower than the ones used for the torso, et cetera. Everybody's dimensional needs will be a little different. For shoulders, just cut some 3 or 4"-wide pieces and bend them over in the right spots.
After posting this yesterday, I got the idea of punching a hole in the back and running an opened-up coat hanger through it, with appropriate crimps, so it can hang at body level from a door. Helps with hemming. It's lightweight, so the hole should...er...hold up. This would also allow for a piece simulating your neck to be attached to the coat hanger at the right level above the shoulder pieces.
Thanks for plowing through, MaryJane :) |
Edited by - Rosemary on Jan 19 2015 06:11:48 AM |
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Joanna
True Blue Farmgirl
94 Posts
Ontario
Canada
94 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2015 : 2:08:18 PM
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I was just researching this topic a few weeks ago. Thanks for the idea!
Joanna - Sister #5965 |
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Stitching & Crafting Room: Cheap homemade dress form |
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Cheap homemade dress form
