* duct tape dress form
Posted on December 31st, 2008 by amy. Filed under Uncategorized.
My mom is a very accomplished seamstress, and I’m fortunate that she still enjoys sewing for me. There is nothing like a custom-made garment! Since we live so far apart, fit has always been a challenge. There have been a lot of phone calls asking, “could you measure the circumference of your left bicep?” Mom decided she’d like to have a dress form of me, and while looking into commercial options, she stumbled on the many great descriptions of duct tape dress forms. Using the instructions at Threads Magazine and another duct form dress form description at Etsy, she hit the hardware store and we got to work.
We wanted to make sure there was some neck coverage, so I began with an old, close-fitting turtleneck and lengthened it by serging on an old t-shirt. Then, we started wrapping, 3 layers in total.
Once the wrapping was done, we cut it off (be careful not to cut your bra strap!) and stuffed it with the combination of an old pillow and fiberfill. Dad traced the bottom and cut a piece of plywood to fit, and mounted it on a pipe. The stand was recycled from a high school award plaque. We cut the pipe so that it would be my height.
Mom’s innovation was the addition of the arm. We find that the armscye is typically a tough region to fit (especially if you are from hearty Midwestern stock like me!) She has sewed for me since we made this, and she said that it really increased her confidence. And, a shirt she made recently proved the usefulness-it fit perfectly!
We also did one for mom (these are also a big help when sewing for yourself!) We realized each has its own personality, so we named mine “Rhonda”, and hers “Lulu”!
13 Responses to “duct tape dress form”
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December 31st, 2008 at 7:44 am
So clever!
December 31st, 2008 at 8:42 am
That’s pretty awesome. Such a good idea!
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Ha! I love it. I tried to do something similar once… to much less success.
January 4th, 2009 at 1:03 am
I love that you guys named them!
January 17th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Wow! That is so clever…what a good idea…
January 17th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I’m glad I stumbled across your creative way of making a dress form. I am going to try it for myself. Great Idea!
January 27th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] Do you struggle with fitting your sewing items, due to lack of a proper dress form? You could spend hundreds of dollars having one custom-made to your measurements, you could purchase an adjustable dress form, or you could make one using duct tape, and this tutorial from Craftlog! [...]
January 27th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I made one from cling wrap (in place of the turtleneck) and clear packing tape. The trick is not to wrap it too tightly.
I also did my legs, taped together to make my mermaid tail for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldhamedia/2604297989
January 27th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I tried stuffing mine with poly-fil, and it distorted it pretty badly and was probably twice my thickness…which I don’t get because it seemed pretty tight while it was being wrapped around me. What did you so to support your ‘self’ after you took it off to make it sturdy?
Thanks for the suggestion on the stand!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:34 am
[...] dress forms are expensive. It never occurred to me to make my own, but that’s exactly what Craftlog did with duct [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Merhaba,
Harika bir fikir.Çok kullanişli.Tebrik ederim.
Türkiye/Ankara
Sevgilerimle*
June 10th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
im so late to this…. but I just made one with my mom and its so cool! ill have to come up with a cool name like you did.
December 20th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Fantastic work. You have gained a new reader. I hope you can keep up the good work and I eagerly await more of your absorbing posts.