Adjustable dressmaker dummy

taurusgb

I am not new to sewing but dressmaking is a skill I am yet to master. I'm sick of shopping for clothes and finding nothing fits properly so I want to try making my own garments but am not a standard size or shape, so am thinking buying an adjustable dressmaking form would be a good idea. I want to be able to make tops, jackets, trousers and dresses, so does anyone have any recommendations and tips for pitfalls to avoid please?

Linda32

Hi, my Mum makes her own clothes and she swears by her dress makers dummy. She doesn't wear trousers but she makes everything else.

nuatha

I bought Herself one a few years back, its been regularly used, most recently a ballgown, last year a wedding dress. It probably goes without saying that you want one that will easily adjust to your measurements.
Herself has added a wheeled base to hers - partly to raise it further from the ground (less bending) but also it makes it easier to turn while working on a design (She would like a larger sewing room, and has been dropping hints about taking over my office) but also to manoeuvre into a corner out of the way.
She has an Adjustaform Diana.
HTH

[Deleted User]

I have an adjustable dressmakers dummy, bought it many years ago and have just finished padding it to my measurements now. They adjust to a certain extent but definitely are not one-size-fits-all, having said that then the nearest smaller size is a great help and better than nothing. I used batting and other materials and now have a pretty good likeness of me. Lots of info online about how to set about it, called dressform generally eg
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/review/readreview.pl?ID=1013

First thing I did was make a large loose pillowcase type covering to go over the model, to hide it from view. I am happy I did it but it did take me several months and was daunting, however just a bit at a time and it eventually got done. I made a stretchy zipped tight outer cover that I can take off if padding needs to be removed in future, I know I won`t get any bigger

krlyr

If you're not entirely sure about it, you could always make your own dressform to practice on before investing in a proper one.
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Your-Own-Dress-Form

grandma247

There are some good blogs out there that help you to alter your dress form to your exact size by adding padding in the right places and then covering the whole thing with stretch fabric to finish it.

esmf73

Try ebay. Just got one for £50 which believe me is cheap!!!