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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Little Girl Apron/Mom Apron and The Dress Form

Where to start?
 
Little Girl's Apron
We had a super show last weekend.
Sold lots of aprons, baby stuff and of course, soap and bath products.
 
WOOHOO!!!
 
 Since I lost my job, I've had more time to focus on my sewing abilities,
and it seems to be paying off.
The little girl aprons are a big hit with the Grandma crowd
and the little boy's/matching Dad's BB-Q aprons seem equally as popular.
The Mom aprons and the garden aprons went over well also.
 
 
~~~~ As to Miss Mannequin ~~~~
 
 
She is un-molded and awaiting her PVC pipe innards.
 
Till next time,
happy creating!
Bonjour
 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Vintage, Dressmaker Sewing Machine

My new find...
~ The vintage Dressmaker DeLuxe ZigZag Sewing Machine ~

Vintage Dressmaker Sewing Machine
Vintage Dressmaker Sewing Machine
 
 
1960's?
I've got myself a little sewing factory going on.
 
 
 
The vintage Singer Touch & sew. 1970's
 
 
The not so vintage Sears Kenmore. 2003
(I think the Kenmore is getting jealous).
 
With both a soap factory and a sewing factory going on over here,
the house is, shall we say, getting a little full!
 
The DIY dress form is still in the works.
Part 2 is on it's way.
 
Our first show of the season is this Saturday at the Waxahachie Civic Center,
maybe I'll sell enough to justify buying two "new" sewing machines.
 
Till next time, happy crafting:-)
Bonjour

Monday, March 4, 2013

DIY Tutorial Making a dress form from masking tape and cheese cloth/Part one

Spring shows are fast approaching and I've been doing quite a bit of sewing.
I purchased this dress form last fall on Amazon, perfect for displaying my aprons.
And it cost next to nothing, using my rewards points.
I want another one, but alas, I have no more reward points to use.
What's a girl to do?

A google search for DIY dress form, of course!

Purchased form/Getting started
There were many ways to go about it....
Tee shirt, duct tape, paper mache.....
I chose trash bag and masking tape.
I purchased two different sizes of tape and got to work.

Taping front/Taping Back
 
I cut a small V in the center of the bag, put it on my form
and started taping the neck area first.
Next was under the bust, then the X from front to back
and then the waist.
I was careful in smoothing the bag over the form's contours and
switched back and forth between the two sizes of tape when needed.

Several layers of tape
My goal was to put on as much tape as possible.
It took me four hours to tape her!!!!
If you look at the first photo you see she's on a tripod type base,
no place to step for holding her in place while taping. 
She and I "danced" around my craft area most of the afternoon.
 
Almost done!
 Let's get that booty covered!
Protecting stand and floor
 
After I finished taping her, I taped some bags at the "hem" to protect
the base from the messy glue job that was sure to follow.
 
I wasn't sure what I was going to use next.
Paper? Muslin?
 
How about a cuppa while I think about it?
 
Then I remembered I had this bolt of cheesecloth.
A freebee from my old job, YES!
 
Glue and cheesecloth

 It's settled then, cheesecloth it is!
 

I started out by cutting large pieces from the bolt of cheesecloth,
and then cutting those into smaller pieces.
Using a paint brush, and starting at the neck,
I applied a bit of glue to the form, laid the cheesecloth on top of the glue,
then painted on a little more glue.
This approach seemed easier, less messy,
than soaking the cheesecloth in the glue.

I just glued, draped, and trimmed my way around,
util I reached the bottom edge.
I gave her one more layer of cheesecloth, top to bottom,
then set her in front of the fan to dry over night.

I felt like a crazy doctor, putting a full body cast on a patient!

Today, she gets more cheesecloth, and I shall ponder,
how to stuff her and how to attach a stand.
There's a few ideas rolling around inside my head,
we'll see.
 Stay tuned for part two.
 
Till next time,
Bonjour