I have always always always wanted a dress form that mirrored MY shape. I started as most sewers did, working from commercial patterns and with no dress form. In college, a friend gave me a form that she’d inherited — one of those ones that allow you to dial it to (supposedly) fit your shape. Of course, as we all know those are evil — they only expand the chest/hip size and don’t take into account the (ahem) padding that goes on TOP of bones. So you can get your 40″ chest size, but you’re a linebacker with an A cup.
A few years back I was at my local Joann’s when I noticed that they had an ex-floor model of a Uniquely You at a rock bottom price. As it was near my size (slightly larger in the chest, smaller in the hips) I snatched it up and took it home. Now, Uniquely You is a great concept — foam base with a cover that you fit to YOU, put it on over the form (which should be larger than you), and the cover compresses it into your shape. Well, my attempts at fitting the cover didn’t work out too well, so I got a friend to help — we really worked with it and got it pretty darn close to my shape… BUT when I went to put a garment on it that definitely fit me, it was obvious that there was just something wrong with the form — it just wasn’t right, particularly in the bust and in the shoulders. So I chalked up this whole “dress form” thing as something helpful for levelling/hemming skirts and displaying dresses and not much else.
I’ve been thinking over the years about re-attacking this sucker but always got distracted (and frustrated because my previous attempts hadn’t worked). But when my 1910s corset project was on hold earlier this week as I waited for supplies to arrive, I suddenly got a bee in my bonnet to not just fit the cover that comes with the form but to just make my own! Drafting my own patterns has been such a blessing because suddenly my garments FIT ME (hallelujah!) — narrow shoulders, big bust, small waist, big hips — no problem — and I had the idea that if I drafted my own cover (rather than try to fit the pre-fab one) I’d be really working with MY shape.
So I ran down to Joanns and bought some cotton twill and set about drafting a princess dress shape that fit me as close as possible, plus bought a bunch of quilt batting to pad the form with (luckily – ahem – I’ve gained weight since I bought this, so most of the form was too small, so I had room to pad). Once I fit the cover I put it on the form to get an idea of where I needed padding (which was in some weird places, like the upper back).
I’ve always itched to drape, but one can’t really do it on oneself and I mostly sew for myself! So then once I’d finished my 1910s corset, I strapped it on (checking my measurements to see how tightly to lace), and after figuring out that my breasts go UP while the form’s go IN (and rectifying that by putting the corset on higher than I had originally thought, and putting some more padding on the breasts to approximate my “boob shelf”), the draped bodice worked! It fit! Oh glory day! The only remaining weird place is around the arms — the form’s arms go straight out, while mine curve forward more — but I feel like that’s a minor issue, given the fact that I draped a pattern in about 10 minutes that would have taken me at least 30-45 min. to draft.
A whole new world awaits me… I can’t WAIT to drape (rather than draft) my 1909 dress, which is pretty complicated with lots of pleats and a non-fitted overbodice. I’ll keep you posted how it goes!
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