Thank you Thank you Thank you for finally posting this most excelent article. I have refered to it many times in coments. I may be dreaming but I think that I saw online a
pant form? Why not use it for a man's shape. I used a cheap tourtier lamp base for my form because I am tall. You would have to get inventive if the person is tall rather than a stool. Fabulous for hemming clothes perfectly especially if you use one of those stand marking contraptions that spits out a line of chalk.

I did not make my wedding dress but I did make the duct tape
manequin when it was featured in Threads Magazine over 10 years ago.

What an amazing and accuracte replica of myself which includes all my lumps and bumps etc. Also I discovered that one shoulder is slightly lower than the other. I am too tall for the stool directions so I got my mits on a sona tube
(used for making deck cement supports). Cut it at the right height, put the dummy on it and steadied it over a cheap
tourtier type free standing light. Glued it all together. Put it on a rolling platform. Then to hide the duct tape I took an old Vogue basic pattern and made a skin tight cover.
At all the vital lines I took narrow ribbon, glued them down to the manequin. Instead of using a tee shirt I used a turtle neck. Filled the neck and made it into a pin cushion.

This manequin is perfect for pinning up hems. My daughter has the same odd shape as I do and I have made several things for her very easily considering she lives in a different state. It really makes sewing three dementional.

Ten years ago (?) Threads had an article on making your own dressmaker dummy by wrapping yourself in duct tape over a long tee shirt. Had a friend help me and believe me it shows every lump and bump. Perfect for hemming a skirt or dress etc. as no one wants to help you do that! I also discovered that one shoulder is slightly lower than the other. Maybe Threads will feature it again. Not only will it save you money but it is soooooooo accurate it is scary.

I had to tweak it because it I am 5'8" tall and couldn't find a proper stool to set the dummy on. I "rube goldberged" it with "sona tube" (for cement pilars) set over a free standing lamp etc. etc. Work beautifully.

ahhh, I am not the only one and I thought I was the only one.
I too have way too much fabric. Semi-organized. I read somewhere that if you fold fabric and place it in a box like a filing cabinet you can see at a glance what you have. It is easier if you stand the box on end and just stack the fabric. Ofcourse this probably wouldn't work for gigundo pieces but those sm-medium sized pieces that tend to get lost in the scramble.

My problem is that I make a mess with threads and cuttings despite the fact that I have a large waste container between my serger and sewing machine. I even have a bag around the serger and sewing machine and I am still a slob.

Usually before I sit down to sew I automatically plug in my iron so it is ready to roll.

I have 4 1/2 year old twin granddaughters; Ella and Emme. Last year I made Daphne and the ? lady from Scouby-do the cartoon. They so loved the costumes that they punched into them all year. This year they wanted a re-run and one wants to be Fred. So I found a out of print Simplicity dress pattern online and the purple/pink dress came out beautifully.

Cheated for Fred as I ordered a white V neck sweater online. So if she wants to wear the dress all year round she will have growing room.

I am a veteran of many Halloween costumes for my five children. My only regret is that I didn't save them.
On to next year!

My parents went to France in 1939 and brought back a peseant
dress and that was our official Halloween costume. Never thought to ask for something else. Wish it got saved because it could go in a costume museum.

When my daughter was in high school the band was scheduled to go to DisneyWorld in Fla for a performance. She burned a lovely iron shaped area on the back of her "uniform" white blouse. So quickly I found some matching white material and very carefully made another left back for her blouse. Whew.
She wore it for the rest of her high school band performances.

Another time I made a victorian blouse for myself to wear at a living history museum event. When I got home I realized that one of the very full sleeves at the top was not a mirror image of the other sleeve and lacked the same amount of fullness. The calico type print was very busy so I hope no one noticed, or they didn't say anything.

My in-laws were due for a visit and I wanted to impress them with eilet lace trimmed sheets. What I did was sew the lovely eilet lace on the side of the top sheet. Lucky for me it was a king sized sheet on a queen bed. I just turned the whole sheet around and no one was the wiser. I won't tell if you don't!

This is for the lady who is making the ribbon yoke for the woman with uneven shoulders. Why not put an appropriate shoulder pan on the low shoulder to bring it up to the level of the other shoulder? Just a thought. I know this was listed a long time ago and I hope the person rereads the comments.

Maybe twenty years or so a woman in our town used to actually dress like that! She was a recptionist in an office and my husband used to lovingly call her MiniMouse.
Sadly she fought a long couragous battle with cancer and passed away. I think of her everytime I visit the dentist next door and the courage to dress as she pleased in a very
conservative New England town.

I was pregnant with my third child. My two older children were four and five years old. I was trying to keep them awake
in a recliner so they could see the "event." Well I looked over when it happened and they were sound asleep!

If there is a piece of cloth, a needle, sewing machine,sissors, serger or whatever I love to fix, mend, or creae something. My ten year old grand nephew drew an amazing christmas card of a cement dog that sits on his grandmother's front porch. His aunt created an amazing christmas card out of this drawing for his grandmother to use at christmas time as cards.
I was soooooo blown away I decided to take it a step further.
I created a fabric copy of the dog on the computer and built a country french (fabric) pillow around the picture. My sister in law called me and was sooooooooo thrilled that she asked me to make four more. Lucky for me I had a big bag of country french scraps from a LA store which is no longer in business.

I also have five granddaughters including almost four year old twins girls. Last year they had a Scouby Doo birthday party.
I created Velma and ? costumes. Believe it or not one tries
to punch into the purple dress and the other one wears the
orange sweater even though the sleeves are too short. Makes my heart flutter..............

I learned to sew by my mother's knee. I made doll clothes for my Terry Lee doll and thought they were wonderful but were probably gastly. My mother never said a negative thing.
I did take a sewing class at Singer Sewing Machine Company
one summer vacation during elementary school.
I went to a very progressive school (back in the 50's) and my sewing and cooking continued. In high school I was light years ahead of everyone else. As a matter of fact the dress that I made in class my mother wore to my brother's wedding. I have continued to sew because it was a necessity especially because I had five children. Something always needed attention. Today I have a serger and a good machine.
If you can read you can sew.

My greatest achievement was teaching a young lady who had a full scolarchip to Vassar how to sew. She sewed and mended
for her "rich" schoolmates and socked the $$$ and today is a Phd.

I amazed at how many young women who don't even know how to sew a button on!

Ohe more thing. I had forgoten about this until I read someone elses comment. Sometime during one summer in elementary school I took a summer sewing course at
Singer's. I remember there was this other girl with an unusual first name and she explained the reasoning for her name. Her parents took the first letter of her other
sibilings and created a name for her. I remember during the 1980's I saw her name on the roster of a big decorating/crafts magazine. Believe me no one in the
world would have a name like that! So maybe that sewing class
propelled her into a career when she grew up.

My mother was very relaxed about me sewing using her old singer. I was quite young. It had a knee pedal. My brother gave me a Terry Lee doll and I was off and running making probably the worst doll clothes ever. My mother never said anything negative. I was hooked. Most people hate mending or fixing something but I love it. People come to me with their mistakes. My greatest joy was teaching a summertime boarder who worked for us who went to Vassar on scolarship.
She begged me to teacher her how to sew. Thus she did allot of mending for the "rich girls." And she sewed dresses for their graduation ceremony called a Daisy Chain. She made enough money to go on an overseas vacation in 2000. When
I turned 50 my husband asked me what I wanted? I quickly replied, "A serger." He said, "what?" And I said come with me. I am now on my third serger. Love it and have done so many home dec. things etc. Still need a sewing machine and
hand sewing........ I am amazed at how many people were turned off my sewing with their 7th grade home ec. class.
What a wasted opportunity. I have my mothers hand sewn
samplers with every stitch imaginable. (b. 1904) And completed when she was 12. I can't imagine kids today doing such intricate work. I had a cub scout group once and taught them how to sew on buttons. I still have my son's sampler of buttons and intend to give it to his wife who can't sew on a button! I must have come from another world.

My brother gave me a Terry Lee doll when I was about ten years old. I remember being laid up with Mumps and making the most outlandish doll clothes. I was smitten.

The following summer I took a Singer Sewing Class and made a full skirt. One girl in the class had an unusual name and I have seen her listed in creative magazines in the credits. I never became famous but have had a lifetime of sewing experiences.

I am apalled that there are people who can't or won't sew
on a button.