My new dressform

Hello everyone!!

It has been a while since my last post.  I was so hopeful I would finish an adorable outfit for my daughter, but I never did.  In fact, I have not used my sewing machine even once since the month of March!  Nor have I been able to enjoy my beautiful sewing closet/room.  Well, it is time for that to change!

So about two weeks ago, I decided to put my "good intentions" into action, and I signed up for my first Craftsy course.  If you have not heard of Craftsy yet, it is a website that offers online instruction for things such as knitting, sewing, photography, cake decorating, and more.

The class I signed up for is called Sew the Perfect Fit (all classes are on sale until 12/02/13).  It uses Vogue pattern 8766 to teach you how to properly fit a dress to your body.  It walks you through the process of creating a muslin test garment, and provides helpful instruction that can be applied to fitting future garments.

I am debating on making the yellow dress or blue one.  Maybe both!

I am so excited to get started I can hardly stand it!!  I originally planned for my hubby to be my buddy, and help take my measurements and such, but as I watched the online lessons, I saw that it was going to be too involved for him to effectively do.

So, instead I decided to create an inexpensive dressform to use for the class (and other projects):

Somehow, when you ask your kids "Who wants to duct tape mama?" they really get excited.  In fact, I had them chasing me around most of the day asking me, "Mama, is it time to tape you up yet?"

The whole family got in on making this dressform, and it was not as hard as I thought it might me.  The only nuisance was how restrictive I felt in the duct tape, and how I almost had trouble breathing.

Those things aside, I like the end result.  The measurements are spot on, and I can't wait to use this for the class.

Here is the link I used for making the dressform.  I spent a little under $20 for all the materials, and used an old T-shirt as the foundation for the duct tape.  I stuffed the inside with crumpled plasic bags and polyester fiberfill from Walmart.  I will add an update in a future post about how effective it is to use.  

Anyhow, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!  

Stay sew-filled!