Who are you calling dummy, Dummy?
Historically, the part of dressmaking that I'm worst at is fitting bodices. So I worried, going into this big dress project, how I would get it to fit right this time. Luckily, I came across this post while doing research, and decided it was perfect. A duct tape dress form.
I bought a cheap t shirt, some duct tape, and talked my baby sister into being my slave. My dress form was made over my chemise and corset, for a historical fit.
At about this stage of the game we ran out of duct tape, so I hid this under a hoodie to walk to the store for more. Ultimately there were supposed to be three layers of duct tape, the first, shown above, it mostly horizontal, with some shaping. The second, shown below, is vertical.
The third layer- shown here in light purple paisley, just covers everything again. You can see, below, where I ran out of duct tape again. The decorative rolls just don't hold as much tape as you'd expect them to.
Once the third layer was (mostly) finished we cut through all the layers to remove it. (Be extra careful not to cut your corset laces at this stage. Yes, voice of experience.)
One thing I will say about duct tape- it does not breathe well. It was such a relief to get that thing off.
We stuffed my dressform with fiber fill, with foam board to fill in the holes at the neckline, arms, and hips. My dressform has a hanger in the shoulders, and a cardboard tube down the middle that will (eventually) be fitted onto a base to make it stand at the right height.
And here she is, all dressed. (In my underwear.)
