Thursday, July 15, 2021

Bootstrap dress form

 New project.... after years of looking at my dress form from the moulage class in 2010, with it's tatty neckline, armholes and hem, It's time for a new one.  Moulage class pattern

Let's not even think about the fact that these are no longer my dimensions.  On the website the ordering process was pretty easy, I took my own measurements, and entered them into the order form.

The pattern was complete by the end of the day, and off to Office Depot to print, (note to self, they close at 8pm during the week).  I requested the pattern have the seam allowances included, and picked the PDF format.  I have seen where others have requested Adobe Illustrator version so they can make changes in their software as needed. I took note of the final dimensions and provided this when I dropped it off for printing.  There is a 10cm x 10cm box for scale, but they didn't use it relying on the finished print dimensions.  It turned out ok, and I checked the box, and it was spot on.

Don't know if any of you have been to Joann's but it looks like they are retooling, so when I walked in to buy the cover fabric, I was delighted to see a cotton canvas for $5 a yard, 2 yards are required for my size, and there might be a wee bit left over for part of a bag. Originally the plan was plain canvas, but none was to be had.  Hope the print isn't distracting.

The instructions call for the canvas to be preshrunk along with the interfacing.  Only the canvas was preshrunk, the interfacing used is a mystery, purchased from ebay a million years ago and unsure it would survive the wash.  The layers were bonded before cutting, then as a precaution, each piece was pressed again, just to make sure.

The bust area was really interesting.  I had initially thought this would be a good idea because of the separation in the breast area, but the breast itself had a strange shape, so I added a fish eye dart to make it a bit rounder.  

 

It came together pretty easily, then there's this internal structure that holds the center pole.


I'm not sure about this form, I'll try it out for a bit and see if it works for me. It's also a bit lumpy, not to say I'm not, just not in the same way.  

 Still working on the wrap, there was more handwork than I realized.

2 comments:

celkalee said...

Wow, you have been a busy bee. I like the new fabric. Rather French I think. I few years ago I padded out my dress form for a more accurate representation. Spent $70 on those foam rubber pads.... well after using most of them Bertie (the dress form) looked very, very matronly. Much more than I thought. To be kind, I covered her with a pillow case and tucked her into a storage room. Only use now and then and she seems to be OK about it. Your girl can stand proud in her new suit. Bravo. I think your process would have been a great (Mood)tutorial. Just saying. You are too skilled to just putter, I am thinking of a new career, Ha!

Monica D said...

Looks very interesting :) I will be following! I love your fabric choice ... FIESTA!