Customizing Matilda; Part 1

I have needed a dress form for a long time. Years ago I made one of those duct tape forms, but I had no way to actually use it. I had no stand to put it on so it hung on a hanger for years, unused, before it was eventually thrown out when my mother sold her house.

I had been hoping and saying someday for my own dress form since I started making my own clothes again, especially after taking some classes in Apparel Construction and Tailoring at Johnson County Community College. They have a fabulous Fashion Design and Merchandising Dept. So then this year for my birthday my fiancé got me one. It's an adjustable form. Fine. Only problem is, it doesn't go up large enough for me. *sigh* So I need to pad it to fit me. 

Before I get to far, I need to name my dress form. She came with a sticker which had the name Celine, but I think that was just a brand name. I've decided to name her Matilda because I like the name. It seems to fit.

So how do I make Matilda a second me. I kind of had an idea, but couldn't quite figure out something that would work.  Luckily for me the crafting class website, Craftsy.com (I'm a member, it's a free site and they have some free classes) has a class on making a dress form fit you called "Customize Your Dress Form." It's a great resource. 

To start I opened all the dials on Matilda to their maximum and then I measured and compared them to my measurements. One thing I need to figure out is how to lengthen her torso. Her center back measurement is 1 inch shorter than me, and her center front is 3 inches shorter. Hummm, this is going to take some figuring. More on that later.

So I watched the classes and went to work. I covered the openings with craft paper. The video recommends using oak tag or cut up file folders (same.thing). But I didn't have any and, being the impatient type when I want to start something, I went with what I had to hand, craft paper, the kind used for scrapbooking. I had it so I used it. The video also recommends using duct tape to attach the paper, something I can totally recommend. I used painters tape. Mistake! Painters tape is meant to be peeled off of the surface to which it is attached. Every time I brushed against it with my hand it kept wanting to peel off. I had already planned to put a knit fabric cover over Matilda before covering with padding, and now it turns out the cover was a good idea. It helps keep the tape from peeling off while I cover Matilda with the padding. The picture on the right of Matilda covered with the knit fabric was taken before I put the craft paper over the open spaces.

Now to make the outer cover for Matilda. It's recommend in the video that you use poplin for a cover. I like to go inexpensive and you can't get any more inexpensive than muslin. I suggest a middleweight quality muslin, not too flimsy yet not too stiff. You also don't want to pick a fabric color that will be too different. You want one that will look nice when the form is just standing in your workroom but won't clash with whatever fabric you might work on. That's another reason to use the muslin, specifically unbleached muslin. The natural ecru color is a nice neutral color.  If you wanted another type of fabric, broadcloth would be good, too. Most broadcloth comes in solid colors so you could go with a nice light gray or another color in a pale tone. Prints are not advised.

And then there's the pattern to use. It's suggested that you use a pattern with princess seams that go up to the shoulders both front and back. The video recommends a Vogue pattern, V8828, and three McCall's patterns, M6076, M6887, and M5847. Though the last one is out of print and may not be available at your fabric store. It is, however, still available on the McCall's website. I'm using a Connie Crawford design sold by Butterick, B5538. It's a blouse, but it fits me, I know because I've made it before, and it has the proper princess seams. Connie Crawford designs mostly for curvy, plus size ladies, however she does have sizes for Misses sizes, 3 to 20w. The pattern would have to be lengthened, but it's workable.

Among the other pattern companies, the only other pattern I found that has the correct princess seams is from New Look patterns. They are part of the Simplicity pattern company. The pattern is New Look 6299. It has a flared skirt which isn't necessary for the form cover. But that will be taken care of in the fitting process. 

Okay, so now what! Cut out the pattern. Because I'm using a pattern I've used before I didn't have to do any adjusting to my pattern other than adding to the seam allowances. All commercial patterns produced for home use have a 5/8" seam allowance already added to them. The video tells to add another 3/8" around each pattern piece so that you have a full inch of seam allowance. This is to make fitting easier. I didn't really pay attention to that part and added a full inch to the 5/8" and ended up with 1 5/8" seam allowance. OOPS!!! Oh well, at least I know I have enough room.

So now to sew it together. Using a basting stitch, which for me is the longest stitch on my machine, and a 1" seam, I sewed the cover together. Since it was late at night and I needed to get a zipper because the one I had was way too short. You'd think a 30 inch zipper would be long enough. Nope. So I just draped it on Matilda. Oh Boy, was she going to need padding out. So when I want and got the correct size zipper (a 36" upholstery zipper that was the last they had in stock) I also picked up another roll of high-loft quilt batting, just in case I needed more. If not, then I can use it on a future quilting project.

This is a work in progress, and as such will be a multi-part blog. Next time I will tell of the zipper installation, my darling fiancé helping me with fitting process, and possibly the padding of Matilda. Stay tuned for all the riveting details. Or as my favorite news commentator Rachel Maddow says with some of her stories, Watch this space. Ta-ta for now.

Cela