Sunday, September 29, 2013

Dress Form Makeover

I did it!  I recovered my dress form!
I've been putting it off because I knew it would be a difficult.
It turned out to be one of the most challenging sewing projects I've ever done.


I found her at a thrift shop a few years ago.
I was so excited to find it but not so excited about the purple color.
I wanted to use it for photographing my hand knit and crochet items.
But, purple doesn't go with most of them.


The Acme label is fun...


But, the purple had to go!
I started creating a pattern with tissue paper, pins, tape and a pencil.


Next, I used used the tissue as a pattern for some white muslin.
I roughly cut it out and pinned it onto the dress form.
I made more adjustments, sewed sections together and tweaked until it worked.


Then, I trimmed the muslin pieces (with seam allowances) and un-stitched them to use as a pattern
for the fabric I wanted to use for recovering.  I still had to do a lot of tweaking to get it just right.
I did a LOT of sewing and seam ripping!  When I got all the pieces sewn together and just right
(with one side left open), I slipped it on the dress form, smoothed, stretched and pinned the final
seam together.  Luckily, I was tired that night and left it until the next day.  That created a crease where it was pinned and I was able to take it off the next day to fold it over and press it into place.
I put it back onto the dress form and that folded edge made it much easier to hand stitch together.  
Lastly, I made gathered fabric flowers to fill in the armholes.

Ta da!


I think the total cost to re-cover her was about $6!




 I imagined the flowers and ruffles from the beginning.
I absolutely love how it turned out.  So frilly and pretty!



 I'm excited to have a neutral dress form to use for photographing my future projects.
She's very pretty to look at too!   :-)

18 comments:

Patty Antle said...

I LOVE this! I have one of these dress forms and want to do this!

Michelle said...

I like the way this turned out. Very classic!

Anonymous said...

hands down the most talented lady I know!

Delighted Hands said...

I am impressed! She looks very classy now. I'll look forward to seeing her in the future modeling your knitted creations!

Art and Sand said...

WOW! She looks great and I can't wait to see a lovely knitted shawl on her shoulders.

I especially like the flower arms.

gilly said...

Oh wow, that's a work of art! Great job, well done - and I just love the added touch of the fabric flowers. Just simply gorgeous!
Have a great week,
xx

Quinn said...

Very impressive! What a tricky project. Your result is beautiful - and unique!

roxie said...

You totally rock! What a brilliant piece of work. I would have just grabbed a rattle can and spray-painted it. The roses and ruffles are inspired. Applause, applause!!

Cindie said...

What a great idea - it's incredible. The flowers and ruffle are the perfect touch. I just might have to follow your lead at some point and over my mannequin - the fabric covers (A black and white one) are shiny and not great for photography.

Sandra said...

nice job! I'd do this to my dress form, except I actually use mine as a dress form for multiple people, so sadly, I'm stuck with the maroon covering!

Sel and Poivre said...

Oh how fun with the ruffles! Beautiful job - obviously well worth the effort!

Lenora said...

She is beautiful. What's her name?

Unknown said...

Wow, that is wonderful.

September Violets said...

You've done an amazing recovering job! Love the frill with the very rustic looking fabric, and the flowers in the armholes is so cute ;) What a wonderful way to photograph your beautiful knitting. Wendy xo

Benita said...

Wow! I am seriously impressed. She looks so much nicer now and you are right, the cream will look better than purple modeling your creations.

~Damita's Pretty Wrap~ said...

Wow you did such an amazing job!!! I love her! She is sooo pretty! Such a cute idea for the arm holes too!! :) Happy sweet day to you! xo Holly

KarenB said...

You went to so much work, but the result was well worth it! Like I said on Instagram, she's the prettiest dress form in the land. :-)

judith said...

She's beautiful! I love the ruffles and roses!