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After watching tons of you tube videos and reading others tutorials on making your own dressform out of duct tape I decided to go for it.  It's a lot cheaper than the alternative and more true to your size, not to mention loads of laughs if you do it with someone you like.

First step my husband made me a stand using a huge wooden spool that wire came on.  We had it leftover from when he ran electricity out to his shop.  I wouldn't let him throw it away because I knew I could recycle it somehow.  He cut it down an bit and used an old piece of pvc pipe to mount in the center for the pole. Almost forgot we bought some rollers for $5 at Lowes and mounted those on the bottom so I can easily move it around.  You can also make your stand out of an old floor lamp, umbrella stand, pvc pipe, etc. So next was the actual wrapping of duct tape.  Make sure you wear an old shirt you don't care about because your not getting it back!  I had an old long sleeve turtle neck which worked perfectly.  It wasn't quite long enough so I just taped some extra fabric to the bottom. 
I wanted my form to be white so I had Ryan first use the silver duct tape then had him put a layer of white over the top.  We used 2 rolls of silver and 1 roll of white. Ryan wrapped me too tight in parts. My arms started going numb and I felt like I couldn't breath at times.  So being the funny guy he is he started cutting jokes making me laugh. It's hard to control your bladder when your wrapped tight in duct tape.  I thought I was gonna pee my pants. After your wrapped cut it off in the back, tape it up, stuff it with old newspaper and mount it on your pole. I used a hanger inside mind to make it easier to hang on the pole.  Also after I had it stuffed and mounted on the pole I took insulating foam (Great Stuff foam from Lowe's) and filled in the gaps.  I just felt around on it and any empty spaces I felt I cut a slit, stuck in the foam tube and sprayed, sparingly!! This stuff goes everywhere.  So 2 hours and a panic attack later here is the finished product......I added some zebra duct tape and fabric around the bottom to make it pretty :) If your considering making your own dressform I suggest you watch this youtube tutorial by Tish.TV  DIY or read this Threads article.  Total cost for my dressform was $21!!

NOTE:  After using my dress form a couple times I ended up having to cut the arms off at the shoulder.  It was too hard getting things on and off the form with the arms.  So I recommend only taping to your shoulders.  Also after a while the duct tape gets sticky and will leave glue on your pins.  Pad your form out with batting to avoid this.


Tags: Handmade/DIY, tutorials



