Duct tape forms and dressmaking

3 weeks after ordering my adjustable professional dress form, it still hasn't arrived in store yet. So, frustrated with having to wait, and making the most of having both myself and my boyfriend in town at the same time, I embarked on a (temporary) duct tape dress form.

So, armed with two rolls of duct tape, and whatever rags and unwanted clothes and plastic bags that were lying around in my old bedroom (at my parent's place), we rolled and rolled, giggled and cackled, and completed a duct tape dress form.


My first reaction was simply " really, that's me" as i realized that my boobs were too small, that my hips were too big, that my shoulders were mismatched, and that my bum was somewhat odd looking.

Anyways, after the initial denial, I set to work on a little dress that I am hoping will be ready in time for my friend's wedding. The imaginary picture in my head is a strapless dress with ruffles all over the bottom, similar to Jenny Humphrey's green dress from Gossip Girl.

When i started working on it with my duct tape dress form, I was having trouble pinning and adjusting by myself as the dress form did not have a stand or anything to stabilise it. Of course, my poor sister (aka, my unwilling slave) was forced to help me pin the ruffles in place while I fixed the darts and the bodice area.


After several mishaps where the 5kg dummy kept falling on us, we got smart and put it on top of one of my dad's bar stools (i wonder if he's realized it's gone yet??), on top of a stack of old uni books so that it was roughly my (and my sister's) height, and then taped the dummy down. Voila! It's now stable enough for me to work on it by myself and i might even try handfinishing the ruffle details later (after i catch up on this week's Grey's Anatomy).

As you can see, i'm currently confined to my old bedroom (at my parents' place) while i've been seconded to work in the city for awhile. When I head back out bush, ill be back out in my own house, and hopefully set work on that elusive craft room ;)

4 comments:

  janice

7:13 PM, November 02, 2008

the dress looks like it's going to be pretty awesome! i actually have a project like that in mind, with a plaid fabric as well (but a black watch). and i wanted to make my own dress form, too, but who knows if i'll ever get around to either. i admire your go-getter-ness!

hopefully your dress form will come soon. i know how annoying it is to be waiting for something you really want.

  Liz

12:09 AM, November 04, 2008

Brilliant improvisation!!!!! I am loving the dress!

  Christie

2:17 AM, November 05, 2008

It looks so cute! Can't wait to see it on!

  Anonymous

3:30 AM, February 16, 2010

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