Homemade Dressmaker’s Dummy
Emily and I went shopping for dresses the other day, but she didn’t find much that she liked. I thought I would try sewing some dresses for her, which I haven’t done in a long time (except for Halloween costumes). It’s a long process because I only see her about once a week so I have to wait all week for fittings. Also, Emily doesn’t fit the pattern measurements which are weirdly huge (Emily generally wears a size 2, but the closest pattern size for her is a 10).
I thought of buying a dressmaker’s dummy, but it turns out they cost much more than I am willing to pay. After checking online, I found two different methods of constructing a homemade dressmaker’s dummy — the duct tape method and the plaster method. I decided to do the plaster method — partly because I thought it would have more structural integrity and wouldn’t have to be stuffed with anything, but also because I thought it might be kind of fun to wrap someone up in plaster.
The instructions called for “Rigid Wrap” (sort of a cheesecloth with plaster embedded in it–available at Michael’s) which you dip in warm water and apply just like paper-mache. Emily wore one of her old bras, and we wrapped her stomach with a thin gauze before applying the plaster. It took about 20 minutes to harden enough to cut it off (up the sides and across both shoulders). I had to do a little repair work and then I clamped the two halves together to dry for a couple of days.
And here’s what it looks like after wrapping it in that stretchy athletic tape that sticks to itself. The tape allows you to pin stuff to the dummy. A little spray adhesive will make the first layer of tape stick to the plaster. I’m excited to try it out.
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Amy wrote,
I’m really interested to see how this works for making clothes. I have the same problem, by the way — I wear a 2, but according to pattern measurements I need about a 10, and if I make that it is absolutely gigantic. My sister and I had this problem about 15 years ago when we were bridesmaids for a cousins wedding. They had dresses made by someone there (6 hours from us) and our only fitting was the day before the wedding. My mom measured us and sent them the measurements. When we walked in the door they immediately got all huffy because it was obvious the dresses were not going to fit as they were. Long story short, we had a lot of pins in us while going down the aisle! (And they were SUCH hideous dresses too!)
Link | May 8th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Jan wrote,
I have never used a form for my limited sewing. (Generally limited to crafts and clothes for my daughter until she was about 3 yrs old). My Aunt Ruth had one (covered in foil, for reasons I do not know…)that was stored at the end of the upstairs hallway in a large and creaky old house. We have a family story involving my brother, the dress form, a full moon and a scary movie late at night that embarrasses him every time we tell it!
Link | May 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Alison Marie wrote,
What a brilliant idea!
Link | May 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Jennifer wrote,
Thank you so much!!!! I have been thinking of how to do this for a while. The store bought ones don’t cater to larger busts and less “standard” shapes. After all if I was standard I wouldn’t bother with sewing soooo much!!
I am looking forward to doing this. Should be fun with a couple of wines.
What did you use for the stand??
Auckland, New Zealand 11th Feb 2010
Link | February 10th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Silvia wrote,
I am always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please churning hold the contents. It is very entertaining.,
Link | February 19th, 2010 at 7:17 am
Grace wrote,
Is there anything you have to do to the skin before you apply the plaster? (like, cover in Vaseline so the plaster doesn’t stick to any hair, or something?)
Link | July 28th, 2010 at 5:05 am