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