Unfortunately for me, I am short and round. This is what "they" call an apple shape. It is also impossible for me to buy a standard commercial dressform. All the custom ones cost a fortune, plus they would have to come from the States. So, my alternative is to make one. How do you ask? By using duct tape and expandable insulation foam.
I've scoured the internet for instructions and have settled with two sites' instructions. The first site has a 30-minute video showing the proper taping technique. The second site shows how to use the expandable foam, instead of using poly-fill batting.
Why use expandable foam? Well, after reading quite a bit about duct tape dummies, it seems that the plus-sized poly-filled ones fail easily because of too many non-standard curves and pooches. And, I definitely have a pooch (thank you my darling twins). This is also why I have a difficult time with RTW clothing. The fit is awful. Baggy here, too tight there, too short on this, too long on that. Bah! So, as much as I cringe at having my body duplicated in all its bumps, it will ultimately help me sew for myself.
The first step, of course, is gathering your materials. I went to The Home Depot today and purchased my items. I am also going to be building a stand for my dummy and it will have a crude skeleton in the form. Both of these will be built from ABS tubing. Here are my supplies:
- 3 large rolls Duct tape
- 1 roll Sheetrock tape
- Expandable foam (I bought 4 cans but will return the unused)
- 1 bottle woodworkers glue
- 1" foam tape, otherwise known as weather-stripping (I bought 90')
- 1 1/2" ABS tubing
- 6 "T" joints
- 4 90ยบ joints
- 2 couplers
Here is my crude rendition of my dummy plans:
Yes, one arm is longer than the other. I want to have a full arm on one side for full-length sleeves. So, tomorrow morning the taping begins.
