Tall dressmaking dummy

Peana

I wondered if anyone could advise where to get an inexpensive tall dummy.  I'm long in the body and always have to adjust patterns for height.  I've been dressmaking for a couple of years and feel it would be useful, especially for draping fabric and upcycling existing clothes.

I checked out a buying guide which said that it's important to check the body length as it's hard to adjust for with padding.  I've tried searching online but I'm struggling to find the right thing without having to get an expensive adjustable mannequin.  Surely there must be a cheaper alternative?

Any ideas?

kimwp

Ive seen videos where someone wears a t-shirt they don't care about and then get a friend to duck tape them until there's enough to provide a reasonably stiff shell. Then cut it up the side and pad it out to create your own. I imagine it's a bit fiddly

Peana

Hi Kimwp, thanks for the suggestion.  I've seen similar things which I may turn to as a last resort (also with papier mache and carboard), but I hoped I'd be able to get something with a stand as I'm not sure what I'd attach a diy torso to.  I wonder if it's possible to cut a foam one and half and extend the trunk that way, although I worry that I'd totally mess it up and end up with nothing! 

kimwp

Peana said:

Hi Kimwp, thanks for the suggestion.  I've seen similar things which I may turn to as a last resort (also with papier mache and carboard), but I hoped I'd be able to get something with a stand as I'm not sure what I'd attach a diy torso to.  I wonder if it's possible to cut a foam one and half and extend the trunk that way, although I worry that I'd totally mess it up and end up with nothing! 

Would it work to try to extend the trunk from the bottom or would the waist be wrong? I think you have to pad out any dummies to get a good fit anyway, so if that might work, it's worth a try as you won't be cutting it in half

Peana

That might work.  The proportion from bust to waist will be off, but if I get a much smaller dummy and pad it more fully maybe I can get around that.  It I still struggle maybe I could then resort to cutting it.  Thanks for the suggestion.  

Unfortunately a lot of sites online don't give decent measurements just a vague 10/12 or 14/16 so I'm not sure how 'off' the measurements will be before I start.  I'll try some more digging.  I have seen that if a dummy is too big in the wrong places you can actually file off the polystyrene, so maybe that would work in combination with extra padding.

kimwp

Best of luck. You might find if you email the companies with your measurements (or maybe a Reddit dressmaking thread), they might be able to tell you what the actual dimensions are and whether you'd be able to add on to get your size.

alicef

I bought an adjustable dressmaker mannequin from L1dl some years ago - it wasn't terribly expensive and I use it a lot.  Ebay often has inexpensive adjustable forms as well.