Making of the Dress Form Part 4 of 4 - Cover

Supplies...

• 2 yards [roughly, depending on the size of the form] of jersey knit fabric [skin color is best]
• Stapler
• Needle and thread

There are many ways you can make a cover for the form. Some people drape over and create a multi-piece princess seamed cover. I feel this method is more time consuming and may not be as accurate, since [as I did] you may have shifted during the casting process and and your right side and left side might not be exactly the same. If this happened you will have to drape left and right separately. So I feel like stretchy jersey knit fabric is best for the job.

Draw side seam lines on the raw form. Drape the fabric over your form like you are covering it. Pin it just enough so it stays put while you turn the form over. Pull the fabric tightly and staple it to the base of the form. Turn the form back over and start with the front. Staple the sides to the form, right before the side seam line [the staples are just to keep things tight, they will be taken out when it's all done]. Make sure you have everything nice and tight, including neck and bust, on both sides [make sure the fabric is not loose over them, you want this to be a second skin]. Cut the fabric as close as possible to the side seam lines. Repeat for the back. Use thread and needle to sew the two sides together [contrasting color is easier to see]. Take the staples out [be careful not the rip your fabric].

Next work on the shoulder seams, making everything nice and tight just like the side seams. Sew together the arm holes. And finally make the base of the form tighter. That may mean you have to sew the excess fabric together.

To make things pretty and useful, I covered the arm holes with contrasting fabric and made a pin cushion for the neck [very helpful when draping].

Next are the center and princess seam lines. Mark the center of the bust with a pin. Measure the front of the form [from side seam to seam to seam], divide and mark with chalk. Straight stitch along the marked line. Do both front and back. Then divide the front half in half again and mark the princess seam. Repeat for the back. Mark at your natural waist and straight stitch over it. Do the same for the hip line.

And it's DONE!

Comments...since I've had the form, draping and pattern making has become such a breeze [speed and convenience]. There are really so few corrections that need to be made to fit me perfectly. The time and effort spent making all this was well worth it.

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Making of the Form Part 3 of 4 – The Stand

You can find everything you need for the stand at your local hardware supply store. I went to Home Depot and the total cost of the stand was $22.

Supplies...

• 2 inches of wide Velcro
• Cardboard  a little larger than size of the form base
• Masking tape
• 1 - 1 inch by 10 feet PVC pipe
  Cut into sections: 4 - 4 inch | 1 – 2 1/3 feet | 4 – 8 inch

• 1 - 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe [you only need 2 foot section]
• 1 - 1 1/4 in. PVC Slip x Slip x Slip Tee
• 3 - 1 in. x 1 in. x 1/2 in. PVC S x S x FIPT Tee
• 4 - 1 inch PVC Slip Cap 
• 2 - 1-1/4 in. x 1 in. PVC Sch. 40 Pressure Spigot x Slip Bushing 
• 1 - Flexible PVC Tubular Drain Connector
• PVC Cement

Attach all the parts together as shown in the image. Use PVC cement to secure them together. Let it dry.

Cut down the arm hole pipes to fit just to the end of the shoulder tip. Inset the PVC tube into the form and insert the arms, making it look like a hanger. Do not cement the arms. Using a hot glue gun, attached Velcro to the shoulder tip and PVC tip where they meet. This will help to keep the form from sliding around on the pipe.

Trace the pipe on the cardboad  and cut a hole [1 inch diameter]. Use masking tape to secure the edges of the cardboard so that when the form pivots, the edges do not fray and get destroyed.

Insert the tube with the form and trace around the cardboard, positioning the form so that it is perfectly vertical. [The hole might not be the center of the base, depending on how you stood when the cast was made--you might have to pivot it one way or another.]

Cut out the traced lines, place the cardboard back onto the form and secure it with masking tape all around.

The stand is complete. While not the prettiest, it is as functional and versatile as a professional form stand.

Making the cover for the form coming soon....

Update - 07.16.11...Velcro alone did not do a good enough job of holding the form securely onto the stand. Everytime I went to lift the form by the waist, the the weight of the form was causing the velcro to separate. To rememedy this I predrilled 2 holes through the form and the PVC pipe then secured it with dry walls screws.

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Making of a Dress Form Part 1 of 4 - Cast Yourself

I've always wanted a custom made dress form, but one can run upwards of $800, and the cheapies sold at a local craft store are just unusable. Also, custom made is really not an exact replica of you, just measurements and generalizations of your body. But what could be better then draping over a form that's an exact copy of you!

Supplies...

• Bulk Plaster Gauze 4in x 135 feet [at least]
• Plastic Tub
• Small amount of water
• Sharp Scissors [other sites will say you need bandage scissors, really good ones are pricey, and cheap ones at a local drug store will fall apart, halfway through]
• Plastic drop cloth
• Plastic wrap [from local supermarket]
• Plastering assistant [human you are comfortable with]
• Portable heater
• Rubber bands
• Permanent marker

Let the mummification begin...

Cut plaster roll into strips. It took about 80 - 4 x 14 and 20 - 4 x 8 inch strips to wrap me in 3 layers of plaster. I am size 2, so calculate according to your size. [Have it ready, you don't want your plastering assistant to stop and have to cut more.]

Wear a tight tee shirt. The kind that fits you in every spot, and one you don't mind parting with--it won't be so pretty after you are done with it. Also wear short tights, or regular underwear.

Stand straight. [My natural posture is to stand like a gymnast, that will not work for a good dress form. Straight as in your back straight against the wall. You didn't just do a dismount ;)].
Wrap plastic wrap from the hips [below the bum or however low you want it to go] to right under the chest. Do not wrap your chest. Why? It will flatten it and look unnatural [or like a 13 year old boy...hehehe].

Wet one strip at a time and start wrapping from the bottom up. You will need to do 3 layers. Horizontal, vertical and another horizontal. Start every new layer from the bottom. [Do not wiggle. As a matter of fact don't breathe].

The plaster will start to become colder as it dries. You will start to feel confined and very uncomfortable. Your natural reaction will be to do only 2 layers so this goes faster, but that won't be enough [the cast will fall apart in places when you try to cut it off].

The cast should feel dry to the touch. The portable heater will help speed drying and will keep you warm at the same time.

When all that's done, mark at the sides of the cast [some say to cut at the chest and back, I don't think those are good places]. Try to find the center of the mass and cut the cast in half at the sides. [While the cast dries, it attaches itself to your shirt. So your shirt will get holes when the form is cut away].

Once the cast if off you, gently put it back together, wrap it with plastic wrap around the waist, use a rubber band around the neck and arms, stand it [do not lay] and let it dry for 24 hours.

time....We had to do two casts. The first one didn't come out as planned. Posture and chest came out deformed. It really looked nothing like me. It also took about 3.5 hours from start to finish. And my back was killing me since I stood like a gymnast the entire time. For the second cast, we knew what went wrong and corrected all the issues. It also took "only" 1 hr 20 min to wrap and another hour for drying.

tips...Several smaller cut strips work better around the armhole and neck. Try to cast on a non-damp day, as the plaster will dry faster.

options....with or without arms. Without is true to a real form. An arm can be made separately.

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