Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Free dress form

Who has boobs like this anyway?Wondering what to do with all those seed catalogs you got last month? Looking to start sewing your own clothes and need a cheap dress form?

Well, here's all you need to do. Check out this article, Clone Yourself a Fitting Assistant, to get the basic idea. Rip the pages from your seed catalogs into strips and, using a little flour and water or faster drying starch, cover your body from your neck over your torso. Like one of those balloon papier-mâché projects you did as a kid. Except you are the balloon. You can wear a shirt underneath or plastic or go au natural (grease up first, though). You'll need someone to help you and cut you out of it once it's set.

If papier-mâché isn't your style, you can make a dress form using duct tape (on top of a shirt, or you'll be regretting it later) that is almost as accurate. You will end up using one or more rolls of tape for this version, which isn't exactly as environmentally friendly as newspapers or seed catalogs.

So, why spend several hundred dollars on a dress form when you can make one for free?

19 comments:

The Chatty Housewife said...

I think I would wear a bra. Since I would wear a bra with all the clothes I would make, it would only make sense!

just ducky said...

1. Who has boobs that huge and are they real? OMG!!!

2. I don't have enough seed catalogs or duct tape to cover my huge butt...now what do I do?

:)

Wendy said...

Sounds like a "belly cast", which I had done when I was pregnant with my last two children ;). We used those paper-mache strips that you can get at a craft store, though. Being "buff" underneath really is the way to go, as it's pretty messy and any underclothing would get stuck in the goo - except below the waist, I'd probably sacrifice some underclothes, because other things getting stuck in the goo wouldn't be very comfortable :).

I like the idea of recycling the catalogs. Pretty smaht ;).

Rechelle said...

Those boobs... something is messed up with those boobs... That's just not natural!

Anonymous said...

Hey Crunchy...

Do you sew?

I've made a couple of dress forms with the duct tape method in the past when I was sewing weddings and proms. Works pretty well. If I ever have the need to make a new one, maybe I'll try this method.

Unknown said...

I like this. I like to sew but the patterns never fit me quite right and I am not skilled enough to alter them properly.

Tara said...

Um, I think this model might have been better off wearing a bra underneath. I'm not sure how you fit around a set of jugs like that. Jinkies.
Of course for some of us, ahem, it wouldn't matter if we wore one or not. :-)

Anonymous said...

That photo is alternately hilarious/disturbing/hilarious. But it's a good idea.

Jennifer said...

What a good idea!! (And what a disturbing photo!)

Anonymous said...

strange boobs ya got there Crunchy!

Crunchy Chicken said...

FYI - those are not my boobs. They are someone else's strangely modified Marty Feldman prosthetic boobs.

Anonymous said...

I have one of these dress forms -- made with paper packing tape instead of duct tape -- it was leftover from making my moms. Great for those who want to make their own clothes -- of if you just want a nice, life-size duplicate -- one tip, it's a great diet/exercise booster because seeing yourself in 3D can be a little unsettling, yet motivating

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

ha! it's like the belly cast i had done when i was pregnant. :)

thanks for clarifying that those aren't your boobs. i was wondering. ;) hehe

Olive said...

wow. those are some mammaries!!

Abbi said...

I think I will stick with measuring. It is a great recycling idea however. How funny!

April said...

Oh, Crunchy. I have a horror story about getting stuck in a plaster mold. It was not pretty. You have to do a bit more than just 'grease up'...... let's just say I should have had a Brazilian wax before I decided to make a plaster mold of my buttocks.

Anonymous said...

Vaseline, ladies. LOTS of vaseline. That's how I made my belly cast when I was pregnant. And DH had a fun time "prepping" my body with the grease, lol.

Seriously, though, I want a dress form for knitting patterns (so far every sweater I've knit has been too huge) - I love the duct tape idea!

Shannon & John Frederick said...

I have made a duct tape form but am interested in this paper mache technique. Any ideas on how to make it pinnable?

Anonymous said...

Want to make it pinnable? Try spraying the inside with that foam they sell at the hardware stores for insulating cracks around windows and pipes to keep cold air out of the house. It comes in a can and has a plastic tube you use for reaching hard to reach places. The foam goes on like a spray and expands as it dries. The stuff is sticky and messy so wear long plastic gloves. If you don't all of the inside covered the first time, you can go back in and spray on a second coat. Once the foam is dry, it is ridged. Nice thing about the foam, it keeps its shape better than trying to stuff the inside with polyester batting. I've used this stuff for backing paper machie projects. You can use the foam to hold a pole/stand inside the form so it will stand upright.