After an unhelpful duct-tape double, I dismissed dress forms altogether. Besides, I wasn't quite sure how a dress form would deal with my particular body shape, namely: Small bust, sway back, narrow hips, high waist etc.
But I'm beginning to think that having a three-dimensional form may do wonders in my sewing (even if it doesn't reflect my body exactly), to be an aid for basic pinning and fitting and hemming and time out.
What do you think? If you have a dress form, do you love it? How do you use it in your sewing? Or could you live without it?
I also wonder if it makes a huge difference to have an adjustable form or something I can customize to my body.
Thanks for any tips!
:)
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Ali, about a week ago, I would have said I could easily live without my dress form. Then, I had to hem a curved hem. I don't know how I would have done it without my form! I now completely understand why people adore their forms so much. That being said, I do wish I'd splurged on a Lady Valet, rather than my flimsy Dritz model. I would love a more stable, higher-end form, just for the sake of pinning & draping.
ReplyDeleteI've got a Singer adjustable dress form and I love it! I use it for hemming, for letting full circle skirts drop and for design work.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on padding her to match my tummy etc at some point too which will make her more useful.
It's like an extra set of hands. Great for pinning, hemming and hand stitching little details. I use mine often though I don't think it perfectly reflects my body shape.
ReplyDeleteI find my adjustable singer form useful for steaming finished garments. I also use it if I'm making major changes on patterns, with muslins. I have an adjustable form, which is great, even for garments just for myself. But I don't find it useful for leveling hems. Marking the seams and then measuring works better for me...if the form doesn't reflect my shape, then I can't rely on it to hem. I do wish it was easier to make the form match my shape a little better.
ReplyDeletei have an adjustable (cheap, check eBay!) dress form that doesn't quite hit my own idiosyncrasies (despite some padding i've done)....but dress forms don't squish and most of us have at least a bit of squish in us since we're not plastic and fabric. BUT in the beginning stages of sewing and some fitting stages it's awesome cause you can't pin on yourself! so i can get to the final stages of fitting and then adjust the garment to fit as perfectly as i can at this stage. i say invest!
ReplyDeleteI just bought a Lady Valet last week and I've been trying to turn her into me, she now has a bra (which my kids think is hysterical) with padding to make her a bit more droopy IYKWIM (2 kids!) and a nice big bum and tum (see previous comment!). Its still not there yet but its not bad. I was trying to tissue fit on her and then back on me on the weekend and theres still some problems, (bust too high, bum too big) but its easier to do than on yourself. It did take a very difficult session with hubby to get him to compare and contrast dummy with wifey and not something I would want to repeat but its done now and as long as we're both not too emotionally scarred then all is well!
ReplyDeleteI also have a model (or a big dolly as my son refers to it). Padding etc still needs to be completed, but I am dying to name her. Once she has a name I feel she might come to life and reflect the inner me... definitely won't be Barbie!!!
ReplyDeleteI have two dress forms - affectionately called Maude and Vera. They are great when I need to make adjustments as I can set them to the nearest measurements for me, pin and then try on to double check - rather than trying to pin the back of a garment myself.
ReplyDeleteI also find them useful when I'd making for other people as I can set the form to their basic measurements and make sure the dress is about right before doing fittings.
I love mine, I find it much easier now I have her. I made mine, but using brown paper tape not duct tape so that it doesn't deform, and then using that as a mould for the final one which is covered and hence pinnable. It was time consuming making her, but she was well worth it! Its all on my blog http://monkeysockslearnstosew.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-tape-dress-form-phase-1.html
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking the same actually, so I am very intrigued to read the comments. The reason I have been holding back is...if it´s not an exact match of my body why bother? certainly I could use not pinning my flesh! If you have a shop nearby, you could try and adjust it to your measurements and see if a garment you are working on would give you the result you want/wish. I don´t know if that would be possible at all.
ReplyDeleteI use my cheapie Singer adjustable dress form for exactly the reasons you mentioned, and it is a great help. I wouldn't want to set in a sleeve without it! I especially like designing with it- it is really fun and helpful to put a dress shell on the form and pin on different trims and buttons. I take photos with my phone of different configurations and can compare the looks almost side by side. And though it isn't my perfect shape, I have hemmed on it just fine.
ReplyDeleteI inherited my dress form, so I didn't have to invest much into it, but I do use it constantly. It wears whatever project I'm working on and helps me see how it's all coming together. I can't drape on it since the adjustable feature means it has large open spaces. I could fill them or cover them, I guess. Though it's not perfectly fit to my body, it's close enough to help me with fit, which I think it adds a lot to the quality of my finished projects. Also, it's great for taking photos of my works-in-progress and finished projects when I just don't want to get in front of the camera. One of these days I do think I'll invest in a quality, non-adjustable form.
ReplyDeleteYes, I use it all the time. I got my dressform years ago when I first started sewing, after 6 months of making things that didn't fit. It's been immensely helpful in fitting. I have a fairly cheap one that I got from Joanne's that is adjustable, but I'll probably upgrade to a better one once I start doing more draping.
ReplyDeleteI have an adjustable one - before I got her (a cheapie from ebay) I did lots of research and found lots of people had given similar advice in terms of what to buy. It seems (and this is the method I went for) that it is a good idea to get one smaller than your body and use batting or something similar to pad her out. Mine is padded and also has a bra and a vest top, and she is pretty similar to my own shape. the padding is also useful for sticking in pins (not in a voodoo like way !). They are extremely useful for checking how a garment looks and fits and are soooo useful for back fitting issues as you can pin on dolly and then try on yourself. I found mine useful for pinning hems as well, though you still need to check in the mirror before stitching up. Good luck ! x
ReplyDeleteI have an adjustable form too. If you are going to use one for making clothes you really need the adjustable type. Of course it's still not exactly the same shape as me, but it's close and it helps with knowing approximately how something will fit. They're worth it.
ReplyDeleteOh. Dress forms. I still have two halves of a body cast lying on top of a kitchen cupboard, waiting to be paper machéd. Then again, I don't really have room for a dress form. I really need to move to a bigger apartment... ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for a time-intensive but non-expensive alternative to both the commercial dress forms and duct tape doubles, LiEr made one with canvas and fabric stiffener, and it looks *really* good and is also pinnable. If I can get fabric stiffener and a friend to pin me, I think I might just dump my body cast and try this. If I find room to put a dress form... http://www.ikatbag.com/2011/08/fleur-deconstructed-part-1-plus.html
I got mine for free through free cycle! I got a male and female and then gave away the male. Check the listings ^_^
ReplyDeleteI have an adjustable Singer dressform and I love it! I got it on sale and it was a great deal. I really love having one and I use it every time I sew. It's also useful when I make burlesque costumes for my friend, as I can easily adjust it to her measurements.
ReplyDeleteThank you, all! You've convinced me, and I just brought a dress form with me. More on her soon :) So excited!!
ReplyDeleteI love mine especially for pinning incomplete garments on it. It sounds small, but then it's not crumpled on a table getting wrinkled when I don't have time to work on it. I think it's great to have, and you are serious about sewing, so why not!
ReplyDeleteThis technique from American Duchess looks like a really interesting way to adapt a display mannequin to be a custom-shaped dress form: http://americanduchess.blogspot.com/2011/05/making-workable-dress-form-or-violent.html
ReplyDeleteIt's specifically geared for doing historical reproductions, so Lauren made the form quite squishy for corseting, but it could also work for more modern purposes with less carving and some fluff in a bra. I'm planning to try the technique soon, and others have reported back that it worked very well for them, and held its shape nicely, whereas duct tape doubles can be rather collapsey. Also, I've heard that using paper tape instead of duct tape can be helpful - it gets you a stiffer, more papier-mache like form. Good luck!
So glad you asked this question! I'm holding on to a 30% off Joann's coupon for today and trying to make up my mind. I'm probably going to go for it after reading these comments. I struggle with fit across my shoulders and because my waist is almost non-existent but my hips are small(ish). 3 sizes between chest, waist and hips makes it hard to sew!
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