Top ten crafting necessities...#8

Can you believe I have only done 2 of these and I already had to look back and see what number I was on?
My dad says I'm special.

Onward! My next crafting necessity is..........................................

A Dress Form

I wish I could say that I had been using one for years, patterning my own clothes with it, etc. but that would be a lie.  I just discovered the magic of this a few months ago, and now cannot imagine my life without it.

There are many options in the world of dress forms, from adjustable to dress sizes, and ranging just as much in cost.

I debated a lot in dress form shopping, and originally wanted an adjustable one, so that I could use it to make clothes for myself and others (if I happened to be in a generous mood).

The problem(s):
A) They're expensive, no matter where you look
B) I'm built just like my dad...which would be great. If I were a dude. So, I'm tall, slender-ish, and absolutely curve-less. (My sister took all of those...bitch).  After measuring myself and comparing it to the size charts for the adjustable dress forms, I realized that they didn't adjust to fit long-legged, short-waisted, curveless (and bustless) people. Super.

I thought about buying one and padding it, etc. but seriously? If I'm spending the money, it better be right as is.

I decided to do the next best thing...make one myself! I looked up tutorials on how to do it, and thought, hey! I could do that.

I just hadn't gotten around to it until one night when my sister and I had met up for one of our wine drinking/crafting nights (heavy on the wine, light on the crafting) and we thought it would be a grand idea.

So I went on a pie run, and picked up some duct tape and a clearance t-shirt (that is the only perk of having a super Wal-Mart).

We followed the tutorial here.  Well kind of.  If there had been less drinking and we had, I don't know, taken some time, the result might have been a little better.  But it worked!  My dress form is a little, uh, lumpier than I would have liked, and my shoulders are a little uneven, etc.  However, my final cost was like $8, so I can't complain.  (I do have plans to make a sober version soon).

I just made mine with a hanger at the top, but my next one I think I want with a stand (for ease of draping).

AND you can use it to make clothes for people of different sizes too...I made my sister a dress on it, and though it didn't fit right, it was nice to have the "person" to pin on.

I draped a cocktail dress on it that I was going to wear to the open house at my sister's salon, finished the dress, tried it on, and realized I looked like Jane. Of the Jungle. Not good.  This was, of course, the night before the event.  Fashion crisis.  BUT because I had my handy dandy dress form, I was able to whip another one out in about an hour (structurally/design-wise, not my best work, but this was a way time crunch):

It was a Tim Gunn "make it work" moment. (Sorry about the mirror/cell picture...I took this to send to my sister to get her opinion).