My best friend is in town for a day or two before Christmas, so not much sewing has been going on (although I did get the Lady Grey collar padstitched).
However, one (actually two) really exciting things have happened. The first is that she wants me to teach her to sew! Soooo exciting!!!! Of course it’s going to be a bit difficult what with her living two time-zones away… but if we can ever manage to be in the same city for more than 48 hrs we’ll take a whack at it. In the meantime I gave her the Singer Reference Library “Sewing Essentials” volume, which has lots of pictures, and she’s going to see if she can procure a sewing machine, either her mother’s old one or a second hand one (if she can’t find a nice second-hand machine in Toronto then I don’t know where you can)
Duct-tape me
But the other, more immediately exciting thing was that she and the girls helped me make my duct-tape double! Tyo and I had tried previously with some paper tape, but it was wax-backed and didn’t stick to itself and was pretty much a disaster. This time we used regular old duct-tape and it went much better.
It’s still not perfect, and certainly not particularly attractive, and I think I didn’t get the stuffing quite even in the hips or the shoulders, but she does fit my clothes more or less the way I do, and the measurements all match. Currently there’s a hanger in the shoulders, but I’m not sure how long that’s going to last as the weight of the whole thing comes pretty close to breaking
Flesh-and-Bone me.
the hook already. It has a cardboard base that it stands fairly well on, too, although I think lying down on padding to support her swayback is the best way to store her. At the moment that’s not a problem but if I ever clean up the disaster that is my “sewing room” it might take a bit more thinking.
Anyway, this does open the door for all sorts of fitting adventures… Ceylon, I’m thinking of you…. 😉
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- Duct-tape me
Tanit-Isis Sews 
yay! I sort of would like to do this, except for the fact that then I’d have a body double to stash somewhere! It would be so handy, though!
Also, the thought of all the duct tape sort of icks me out – I hate the way it smells!
I’ve been wanting to find some paper tape to make mine that way because I’d heard it was sturdier. I didn’t think about there being a waxy film on it though…thanks for the heads up. Enjoy your new double! 🙂
I’m sure non-waxed paper tape exists… But I could only find one kind, and that, it turns out, was waxed. I didn’t even notice as it came wrapped in plastic. I had heard the same—more sturdy, less stretching out of shape.
Oh yay! Duct-tape you, I’ve never done it before but it seems like a cheap and fun way to get yourself a custom dress form. Fun!
You could check VV for a stand for her – a hat-rack or lamp-stand or some sort of pole could work, that way she can stay upright!
Your body double looks good.
I made one myself earlier this year and stuffing the shoulders and hips properly was about the fussiest step in the whole process. That, and the fact that the top on the inside ‘shrunk back’ deflating the dummies chest a bit…
I see dummies like this on hangers all the time, but I would keep an eye on her: you don’t want those shoulders to stretch out of shape.
Yeah that is why I didn’t want to store her hanging. I attached most of the stuffing (the core is an old rolled up towel) to the hanger so in theory the weight hangs from the hanger and not the skin, but still..
I have tried the duct tape too with my Mister… But he crushed all my bits and the result was flat and a bit useless… We should try again! And yeah for the Ceylon, it’s a gorgeous dress!
I had one! It was pretty good too until I decided to actually lace my corset up and then it was completely the wrong shape for regular garments and and PHOEY. But I found this tutorial on how to use the duct tape form to do a more sturdy and nice looking dress form:
http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/dress-form/instructions/1
I want to try it out, especially since a friend of mine gave me a free standing mannequin (size 6… i’m a 16. Its a bit small) that I would use for the “base” and then just stuff the empty spaces around it.
I had a friend do a duct tape dummy of me years ago and it was loads of laughs. It was a little less angular than I was at the time but for the shoulders and general fit it was very good. The tape does crush the figure a bit. That dummy no longer fits my figure and it didn’t survive the three cats I later acquired. I haven’t done another one yet.
It took me ages to find the right paper tape and it was not cheap, but I like the paper tape method. I like the idea of the squishability of a duct tape version, though–more like real life for very fitted garments.
oh that looks awesome!! have fun hanging out with your friend!
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