Amber, Last year there was an article on making dress forms and other options. There were a couple different types but nothing that seemed to me to manage the problems of an over 50 shape. Tonight I was looking for notions and I came across a site that has a dress form I had never heard of before. I was at www.sewtrue.com and the dress form is different. They send you a foam body on a form and a cover that you alter to fit your body. After you alter the cover you pull it over the foam body and you have your dress form.
Do you think you could have a review done of this product? I think it could be a great way to have dress form that really fits your body. I also know I don’t have enough experience to determine if you can really get a good form or the difficulty level to do it.
I think we all dream of a dress form that would actually be a good replica of our shape. A thought for the round table…
Thanks, Jane
Replies
I wonder if anyone's made a dressform from a plastercast? hmmmm? I wonder if there are any orthopods out there interested in trying this? Mary
Hi Mary, my future DiL and I are planning to make one next month. Instead of papier mache inside the outer plaster form well be using high density expanding foam. Should be a giggle, I'm so rotund she's going to be forever plastering Mod Roc over my ample shape. I did think of using fibre glass and resin to make the final form, but you cant push pins into fibre glass, and I don't want to have to cover it in a foam backed jersy cover.
On a site where they sell foam (I believe the name was gorilla foam) We were warned not to use it in a non-expandable place because there is no way to control the amount of expansion, or the direction. God bless you Galey
Hi Galey, thank you for that sweetheart, the forms we'll be using will be open at one end, so the foam can expand in two directions. Out and up, the foam I intend using has a predictable overall mass ratio to CCs used, and we wont be doing just one pouring, it will be at least 3 consecutive pourings in order to allow the heat reaction to stay within safety limits. What I'm using is the same foam my husband and I used for flotation inside white water kayaks, racing Canadian canoes, and recently as bedding for rocks around an ornamental stream. My concern isnt the foam, it's the miles of Mod Roc I'll have to buy to go round my less than sylph like torso.
This sounds fascinating! I hope you will tell us all about your adventure and the results. Although, you might want to keep it secret as it sounds like it could be a very lucrative new career too. Alot of us would pay well for a dressform that "fits".
Maybe you can take photos as you do each step and create a book. If you dare....I have never seen a really good tutorial on videotape for making a usable dressform. That might be lucrative too.
(My husband used to kayak before we married. Making them and canoes must be interesting.) Mary
Edited 1/19/2008 10:52 am by MaryinColorado
Reading your post reminded me of the Uniquely You dress form. Same concept. I did a search and Sew True is a site for the Uniquely You. It has been around at least ten years that I know of. It's a great concept and we sold them in a store I worked in some years back. Make the cover and squeeze it over the foam. Can't say that I know anyone personally who has used this form. Hopefully someone will chime in. Good luck.
solo
I have a Uniquely You dress form. It's great. Very easy. I did get help from another person to fit the cover to me, but once we zipped it onto the foam form, it looked just like me, and I could pin into it. It's also very lightweight, so it's easy to move around, but sturdy enough to stay put.
Berna
I bought a "Uniquely You" dress form in the early 1970s for $50.00. I fitted the cloth cover to my body but was disappointed when I placed it on the foam form. I returned the system to the store and was refunded the entire amount. (Lucky me.)Many years and several fitting classes later, I know that I have a NONSTANDARD body shape --- relatively flat front to back and wide at the hip --- and a forward-leaning neck. Try placing your thumbs together and your index fingers together: you can make a circle but also an oval. The circumference is the same. Even though the measurements were the same as on my body, the cloth cover expanded front to back and narrowed side to side on the foam. The neck couldn't begin to match mine.I encourage those with standard body shapes to try this form. It's a great idea! (Now if I can just find where I filed the info on the dress form system where you send a plaster body-skin to a company and they send you a foam form molded to your NONSTANDARD shape. I think I found the link from a Threads article a few years back . . . Help, anyone!)
kathleen8n: I so agree with your comments about non-standard body shape. While my measurements don't seem skewed, if you just do full circumference measurments, my posture is the thing that makes my body really OFF from the standard. I got that the first time I saw MyTwin that my husband made for me.
Now I really want to make a full pant form, but no one seems to have ideas on that. When I stand in profile the shape from my knees to my feet is way out behind the rest of my body. I have pretty near got a block that works, but I would like to be able to fit to a pant form.
Scrubble4
Thanks, scrubble4, for the reminder. It was My Twin (http://www.mytwindressforms.com/)
I had previously considered. The only problem now is that I'm in Western Oregon --- nowhere near Ventura! I'll give them a call. Sometime.Did you go to a seminar and have one made for you there? Or did someone make a plaster cast on your body which was then sent to the company for the foam? Any difficulty gluing the foam form to its stand while duplicating your posture?As one who had a sewing business in a former life, I can just see how your pants fit. Are your knees "hyper-extended"? One gal for whom I sewed had a similar (pants) body shape. The My Twin pants form is shown only reaching the top of the knees --- which makes me wonder: How can the pant legs hang properly if the calves are not considered? You may need your entire legs on a pants form. Their toll-free number may offer a solution.Thanks, again!
Kathleen8n: Making the dressform was one of those wonderful experiences. My husband wrapped me after I stitched together big green garbage bags to fit next to me. My husband then took masking tape and taped the plastic bags to my shape so there weren't bunches of plastic bag distorting my shape when the plaster tape was attached. It was a hot sunny day and I stood in a wash bucket of water to keep cool. He took pictures for which I forbid publishing but they are a good memory of a fun activity. He then cut the plaster cast off, taped it back together, stood it on its neck and did the foam in the garage. The foam ingredients came in the package from My Twin along with the plaster and all directions. He mixed the foam and poured it in. There was a caution that you need to pour carefully so as not to create any cavities in the foam near the plaster cast. He then cut the cast off the foam mold and there I was. I made a heavy knit covering for it to which I then attached some vertical and horizontal cords as guidelines. I have called her Priscilla, Queen of the Sewing Room which initially was my kitchen. I just kept her appropriately swathed when company came, but still most folks wanted a closer look.
He never did mount her a stand which was what I wanted. However, he had put a very sturdy hook in her neck which I attach to a ring like a jolly jumper and can twirl her around when I am working on her. Sometimes she moves more than I want and I need to hold her with my knees. After all he did I didn't have the heart to keep asking for the stand. You will laugh but he is a home renovator which means very handy with a hammer, saw and nails. Maybe it was the novelty of the other process that spurred him on with the task.
In any event, the thing about the pant form that I am not sure off is how to stand. I don't want to stand legs apart, but with my funny shaped legs I am not sure how I would get pants on and off the form if I make it to my ankles with my legs close together like they usually are. Anything less than to my ankles wouldn't really be the help I need. I am dying to get that vertical cord attached from my waist to my ankles on the form. If you have some thoughts about how I should stand or how I would get the pants on and off, I am sure either through paper taping or plaster taping and foam pouring my wonderful husband would help me again. Heck not help do it again, as he did everything last time. We had a lot of laughs.
Thanks for any ideas you might have. I know I am a bit obsessive about this, but I think you and other folks on this Gathering understand how we all obsess a bit with fit.
Scrubble4
I haven't been keeping up with this discussion but in reading your note, I had an idea. If your pant form is not going to be connected to your bodice form can you hang the pant form from the top. What I thought of was the new patio umbrella's where they cover a large area but there isn't a pole in the middle. Sort of like the old hangman's game. The other option I have seen but I have not figured out how to make it into a pants form is the way mannequins are put together. I have looked at a lot of mannequins thinking about this issue and they all have the rod going up the leg. To get the pants on the mannequin I have noticed that there is a spot where the rod comes apart and one part slides over the other and has a tightening screw. That seems like a difficult way to do it when you are working with a garment you want to take off and put back on fairly frequently. This isn't anything concrete but hopefully food for thought?jane.
citrish: Thanks for your suggestion, and yes that is exactly how the bottom works. I emailed MyTwin for more info on the pants form. My concern was how to get the pants on and off the form if it is full leg. They said they make the inner leg smaller than usual to facilitate getting pants off and on.
All makes sense to me. My husband has now put my form on a base. I am really, really pleased with it. I have in my kitchen right now as we are doing a bit of painting in my sewing room. Each time I come into the kitchen I stop for a minute wondering who is here and then realize it is just Priscilla, my dress form.
Thanks Scrubble4
I should add the mytwin he put on a base for me is my original one which is the torso with legs to upper thigh height. He mounted it so each leg has a rod going up through it. I have a hook in the top of the neck so I can unhook it for pants fitting. However I have found that I really need the full leg because of how much my knee to ankle leg extends backward.
Edited 2/28/2008 5:41 pm ET by scrubble4
Hi,
I've had many adventures in my search for a really good form. My first attempt was using a method from a very old issue of Threads, where you make a very tight toile, cut the adjusted pattern from card, remove a little width from CF, CB, and sides, tape it all together and cover it with a layer of wadding and a layer of muslin. It is supported inside by ovals of foam, and if you don't get the width and depth right, so long as the toile is correct, the clothes will still fit. A basic sloper is really just a very wide, very flat dummy, after all. I even taught classes in this, and they were pretty popular for a while.I've also been coated in plaster of paris 1 1/2 times. (1/2 because I got claustrophobic halfway through, although it must be told, my friend who is an artist was doing it and she was very slow and apparently aiming for an exact cast, pores and all) (She had done it herself - full body, head and all, once for a sculpture) The second time was with a sewing aquaintance, whose teenage sons and their friends turned up for a chat with Mum as I stood in their family room wearing comfy slippers, a shower cap and a plaster bodysuit (which she couldn't cut off - I came very close to being attached to the roof rack and being driven to the nearest hospital for release) I comforted myself that the boys would never recognise me fully dressed. Sadly, I never finished it, because I have an expanding foam phobia (far easier than a spider phobia, as expanding foam is much less common) and by the time I thought of papier mache, I'd moved countries and left it behind.Several years later came the next attempt. Paper tape. My husband was helpful, but would rather have been elsewhere. It came up loose, but useable. Then I got a size 8, Australian standard dummy like Collette Dinnigan has. (That wasn't just a sales pitch - I worked for the company that made them, and wrote the shipping order). Fine, but I'm Australian standard 16. Sigh. So I made a tight cover for the dummy, and a tight cover for me, stuffed between the two appropriately and put a zip up the back. It is really really useful, but next time, I'll use denser padding and more of it, to make a much firmer feel. It also looks really funny zipped onto skinny people (like my husband- don't tell him I told!) And, my old boss still talks about it admiringly 10 years later! I adapted a method from another old Threads issue by a former Haute Couture worker. Haute couture dummies are all padded muslin over a standard, non-adjustable form.I haven't yet tried duct tape. I've been begged to hold a workshop, but I just can't bring myself to. I think it's to do with the weather. My workshop isn't airconditioned properly, and it's been a very hot summer. I can't stand the thought of being encased in plastic for however long it takes, or being professionally liable for the wellbeing of others. I guide them towards Leanna's site http://www.leanna.com/DuctTapeDouble/. I also recently found an Australian guy who's got instructions to make a dummy for bathers. http://www.patternschool.com/bodyform.shtml. Looks good. Whatever method you use, you need a helper. Any wrapping method can be done by anyone you can coerce, but the fitted muslin needs a helper who understands fitting patterns. My verdict? I like the padding over a dummy method. As I have a dummy, I like to do them as zip- offs, but if you don't have a dummy yet, the cardboard one makes a good, cheap base. I like working with fitting toiles - it's a bit of a specialty of mine - and it can be done over time, if you can't hold a pose for too long. If you make it too small or grow some, you can use extra padding. It's very cheap, so if you shrink, you can make another. And my personal favourite reason is that by having a pattern, you can do a half scale one for experimenting on (or for decoration - even weird bodies look really cool when they are little sculptures.) Have fun - I certainly have!
Sandra
What an enjoyable read! How enlightening to find out I'm not so unique after all... in fact it's a bit refreshing and gives me a new lease on life and the will to go back to the drawing board. I did buy one of those Unique Dress Forms about 20 years ago and could not make the cover to look like me (what a surprise!) It wasn't in my knowledge base to figure out I needed a "custom" cover as I discovered years later. I mentioned my daughter in another site helping me make a "sloper". She had just graduated from Purdue with a degree in fashion technology and was full of ideas and energy. We made a sloper by draping, measuring and then out of paper then card and she showed me how to tape it together to create a form. I didn't like that much but then made the same thing out of a heavy cotton fabric and put it over my old Unique dressform. I too, put a well fitting bra on the form first and padded it out with acrylic stuffing material, just like making a cloth doll. Then I put my sloper over the form (a zipper up the back helped) and padded it out using a tape measure to make sure the measurements were ME. This made a wonderful dressform for me, but it's 10 years old and needs to be updated.
Sewanista:
"I've had many adventures in my search for a really good form."
What a great read. You should submit this to Threads for the inside the back cover story. I think anyone who "gets wrapped" has a story to tell, as it is a pretty unique experience. However, I think yours is one of the funniest I have read/heard about.
My husband and friend still think it was one of the craziest things I ever asked of them. It was a hot day with the sun beaming into our kitchen. I stood with each of my feet encased in a bucket of water to keep me cool. Wrapped first in plastic and then in plaster is a warming experience. I am fortunate that my husband is full of common sense about things that make no sense at all to me. He seemed to understand exactly what was needed to get the dummy off me, re-sewn and then blown with expanding foam. I continue to enjoy and appreciate it, but now I want a full leg bottom. The one I originally made was mid thigh with legs.
Truly, consider sending this story onto Threads especially as there is so much "Threads History" in your story.
Thanks Scrubble4
Thanks scrubble4,you know it hadn't even occurred to me, but I think I might! This, believe it or not, was the condensed version. I never mentioned my sister, who only got half a dummy (Just her back - she got too much of a shock at her rear view, felt that ignorance was bliss and refused to go any further) and I never mentioned my attempt at an aluminium foil sloper, for my friend's wedding dress. In the long run,(and it was a very long run) the dress was fine. Actually, the dress was stunning, but what she saved on the making, she spent on freshwater pearls to drape down the back, so I can't take all the credit. I suspect that by the time I get a dummy I'm happy with, the hereditary dementia I am looking forward to will have kicked in and I'll just wear everything backwards anyway.
sewanista: Please write this and submit it to Threads. I am such a robot like writer myself, usually able to explain myself but no humor or liveliness comes across the page. I have tried, it just does not seem to be me. You have it. Celebrate that gift.
The lady (Paula I think) who gave the descriptions on another post for sewing related shops to visit in NYC is another with this gift in writing. It is so wonderful for readers to learn and be entertained.
Scrubble4
I just ordered the Uniquely You. Hasn't arrived yet, but here is a review: http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/sewingclasses/board.pl?t=23577
Have any of you heard of making duct tape forms? I have a couple of friends who have done this. Basically all that's required is a form-fitting T-shirt, a whole lot of duct tape and a best friend. You put on the shirt, your friend covers your torso in layer after layer of duct tape, forming it to your shape including your breasts, which is why you want a really good friend helping. I think 4-6 layers of tape are recommended. Then she cuts you out of it by slitting it up the back. The tape will be stuck to the shirt, so you have to cut that, too. You tape the back closed again and then stuff the whole thing with poly-batting, newspapers or what have you. They say that it works surprisingly well. One friend recommended that you add a bottle of wine and use a willing spouse or significant other instead of a best friend to make it more fun. She uses hers to fit historically accurate Victorian/Edwardian costume clothing. Annie
Threads did an article on several types of dress forms. I need to find the site for it tomorrow and will post it as soon as I do. I did a duct tape one about a year ago on a "try"following those directions. It came out reasonably well and I am going to do it again someday. It takes a bit of time and patience. I think it helps to have someone familiar with sewing and what you are trying to achieve rather than the dh.
I'll get back to you. Zuwena
Also for ctirish
The article from Threads that I mentioned last night is "Clone Yourself a Fitting Assistant". I have a link that should work but if for some reason it doesn't you can check the Threads Magazine directory of its articles. The link is:
http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00002_p2.asp
Good luck. Z
Thank you, I knew about the article, I read it when it was published. It isn't a good solution for me because I don't have anyone to tape it for me and I don't know that I can stand for the length of time to do the taping. Do you know how long you need to stand to be taped? Thanks, jane
I found that the duct taping takes a minimum of 1 1/2 hours, with about another 15 minutes to properly cut you out of it. It was done by my DH who had no idea what he was doing but took directions well and mostly with a smile, being somewhat fascinated by the process. Also it was the first (and so far the only) time for both of us. It can probably be done a bit quicker and better with someone familiar with the process and with the "construction idea" but probably not less than an hour. I don't know if the paper process takes about the same time--maybe the Threads article says. From what I've been reading, the strength of opinion seems to be going towards the paper version as it is more pin-able and pins don't get "gummy." So keep that in mind also.You might ask if anyone in the Gathering group lives in your general area and would be available to help out. The Gathering folks seem to be a really nice bunch. Z
Edited 1/27/2008 11:59 pm ET by zuwena
I've done paper tape bodies for myself and my daughter. They do work pretty well. My daughter's I decoupaged, so not pinnable. But it sure looks cute. I messed mine up by steaming sweaters on her that I was knitting. Silly me. Here is a link to my blog with pics of the process: http://knittingpearls.blogspot.com/ Scan down to "Cloning Kelli." It was fun.
I just bought Uniquely You. My mom pinned the form. I put it on Sophie form - she was TOOO big. Guess ma didn't pin tight enough. I ended up trying to take in by myself to my measurements, and I think she's pretty darn close. The "torpedos" are duly smashed into my liking. I'm missing part of the stand and waiting for second shipment.
You might want to see the discussion at Gatherings 7978.1-6. I just sent off the link to the article that I sent you re Cloning an Assistant with duct tape, paper tape.
Z
I just got taped last night by my daughter....still need to finish it up...I'll let you know how it turns out..we had quite the laughs as we worked :-)
Can't wait to see it! I like the idea because if your body changes, you can make another a little cost. Annie
damascusannie: I agree with your statement about making another one at little cost. I have a MyTwin that my husband I made. I would like to make a pant dressform. I think we will try the duck tape approach. Has anyone made a pants form. Are there any tips or tricks I need to be aware of in doing a pants form? Thanks scrubble4
Please let us know when you get the dress form and what you think of it. Thanks, jane
I remember, years and years and years ago, advertisements for a metal dress form. It had a diamond shaped pattern to it and snapped up the front and the back. You put it on and then pressed it to your shape...the diamond shapes were sort of hinged and then you took it off, snapped it back up....put it on a stand...and put a cover on it. Voila!
Am I crazy or does anyone else remember this? I always was intrigued by the idea and wonder what happened to it. This had to be late 70's early 80's...if I had to guess. Does anyone have one?
I had one that may have been what you described. It was sort of like black rubber-coated chickenwire. You put it on, snapped it together and then someone else had to push/mold it to fit your body. It wasn't cheap. I had great expectations but I didn't use it very much. The wire didn't appear very thick, but garments that fit it were too large. Things just didn't fit right. You had to be careful because if you accidentally bumped it very hard it would effect the shape. I had it in the basement for years but finally threw it out.
That's probably it. Too bad it did not work well....cause a dress form that easily assumes your shape and can be easily adjusted would be great. I don't have a dress form...but I am planning on making a duct tape one in the near future.
Hi all, I have been away at my dd to see my dgc. I just read all the posts and they are great. A plaster dress form would be great if I could get my body to stay in one shape for more than a month. Thanks for the note on the messages at PR - they were good reading. If you didn't check them out - please take a look if only to see the "naked" Uniquely Yours dress form with the torpedo breasts.
Threads did an article on duct tape dress forms and other methods last summer. I am looking for one that is easy to change because I need to adjust it as my body changes. With my thyroid disease, I can be several different sizes in one year.
I do remember seeing ads for the metal dress form, I was little but the diamond shaped metal plates were memorable. My mother had a dress form and I think I saw her use it once. I don't think she was ever able to get it to be the right size or shape. Thank you to everyone who offered help. jane
Weight variations are one of the reasons I like my dress form. The form is smaller than I am. I made a cover that fits me tightly, put a bra on the form and used batting and stuffing to fill the bra and cover so the cover fits the form like it fits me.
Joanne
I inherited one of these flexible metal diamond dress forms. I have used it a lot to sew for my dd and dnl when they lived away from me.
Now it stays in a corner of the storeroom wearing a granny gown. When I find the name I will post it here. God bless you Galey
Hi, kalypsew. I had one of those "dress form" torture chambers. It seemed like such a good idea, and that it would be easy to fit and re-fit. So, my sweet mother bought me one, and when she came to visit me - this was in the late 60's or perhaps 1970 - she and my husband tried to squeeze the form to fit me. It was a most painful, process, and I couldn't stand it long enough to get the form completely fitted to me. I was quite thin, and the pressure used to squeeze the diamonds-shapes into place felt like my bones were being crushed. I actually cried, and I think I have a relatively high pain threshold. Imagine trying to squeeze a chain-link fence into shape over your body, and you've got the idea. Well, I kept that dress form for many years, always intending to grit my teeth and fit it to my ever-changing body, feeling guilty and ungrateful and wimpy for not being able to bear the discomfort after my mother bought this generous gift for me - my mother who never, never, ever would've spent that kind of money on herself. I put it in my attic, and my daughter found it when she was looking for things to furnish her 1st apartment. She used it in her entry-way as a coat-scarf-hat rack! In short, (or long, as it turns out) it was not so easy to conform the form's shape. If you think about it, it had to be rigid and not easily adjusted, so that it would hold its shape when you moved it to get out of it. Edited 1/23/2008 7:12 pm ET by Josefly
Edited 1/23/2008 7:14 pm ET by Josefly
I remember my husband using the back of a hairbrush to try to push the form snug against my body. I alternated between yelping and laughing as he tried to fit it to my body. It was a pretty funny scene. I always felt guilty about not using it and wasting the money. It sure seemed like a good idea when I saw it advertised.
Yeah, Ralphetta, it DID sound like a good idea, didn't it? As I recall, I started out laughing, too, but ended up crying and desperate to get out of that thing. It was a funny situation, though, and I smile about it now, but like you, I felt guilty for not using it. Now I realize I should've insisted that the store take it back. I honestly don't think it was usable, and I'm wondering if they came out with a better version of it that was more easily changeable, since some folks apparently had success with one.
I have the one of the older foam body dress forms that you made the custom body cover for (Uniquely you, I think). I never could get the bust right. I've actually got the torpedoes and the bust on this thing was just too flat. I recently heard a suggestion to put one of your own bras on the dress form and stuff the cups if needed. It made a tremendous difference! Wish I had thought of it sooner. Anyway, Annie is now a bit smaller than I am, so Hubs and I did the duct tape from this last weekend. The first try we could see the bust was compressed, so we started over. If you make one be careful in that area. It took about an hour. After he cut me out of it (along with a quarter inch of my bra!) I put it right over my old dress form (with my bra on it). I checked her measurements against mine, stuffing a little batting here and there and cutting a seam and lapping it a bit and now: She's Perfect!
I am confused, are you now using the foam one with duct tape improvements?
Yes. The foam dress form was about 4 inches too small in the bust, 3 inches in the waist and just about the same in the hips as I am. First I put one of my bras on her and stuffed the bra cups to fill them. Then after I made the duct tape form I put that over the form with the bra.
I'm using it tonight and its remakable how much like my actual figure it is.
Hi,
I have an over 60 gravity laden body, I purchased a Fabulous Fit dress form about 6 years ago and have been so pleased with it. I use it constantly and have tweaked it about 2 times since I initially fshaped it. You select a size slightly smaller than your actual size and then you pad it to your measurements and shape. You need detailed measurements to start with. I love the sturdy stand that it is on. It's adjustable in height. They advertise in Threads and were very responsive when I had any questions.
Peasie, Thank you, I will check them out. j
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