I'm putting a dress form on my Christmas wish list, but I don't know which kind is best. I think I have it narrowed down to four.
1. Fabulous Fit dress form (though I'm pretty sure this is a good $200 out of my parents' price range)
2. Uniquely You dress form (I've heard you either love it or hate it)
3. Dritz Twin Fit dress form (I like that it seems the back length is adjustable, since I'm pretty sure I have a longer than normal torso, but the dials seem huge, and the stand doesn't look sturdy)
4. Family Sew "The Fashionmaker" (cheapest one, at under $100, and looks to be adjustable in every way, except possibly torso length) *I can't find any reviews of this one!*
I'm guessing my parents will want to keep it around $200. Which might mean, if they go for #4, they might even spring for the Fabulous Fit padding system, if that's something worthwhile. Please everyone who has experience with dress forms, let me know which is best!
We're still using the duct tape forms but they are starting to show their age. We're also thinking about some of the commercial forms to replace the homemade jobs.
Jon.
Oh, I want this!!
Fabulous Fit padding system (http://www.fabulousfit.com/fitting_system.html)
Thanks for mentioning it; I knew about their dress forms but didn't know you could do the pads separately. I have a form here that I've wanted to do this to but planned to try just fiberfill, etc. This is so much better!
I bought a standard display form in my size (covered in jersey knit).
When I got it I adjusted her measurements by adding bra pads and fiber fill in the areas where she needed it.
I paid $80 for mine on ebay and I got it within 4 days. She comes on a height adjustable pedestal.
Auryn, that's what I have, too (shown here (http://www.kc-store-fixtures.com/adult_classic_forms.php), the one labeled A). It *says* it's a RTW size 8, which is what I am, but it's actually much closer to a size 2. I bought a snug-fitting shaper top (http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=16f44aa&DeptID=70659&CatID=71428&SO=0&x5view=1&Ne=5+3+11+8+1031+586+18+904+949+833&pagesize=1&shopperType=G&N=4294953582&Nao=0&PSO=0&CmCatId=70659%7C71428) for it, meaning to pad it with fiber fill, but I think the Fabulous Fit system looks way easier.
gem,
when I did mine, it literally took me all of 30 min and thats because I was being ocd about the way it looked- I wanted it to be perfectly smooth. But then again the size difference wasnt that great- my size 10 mannequin is a true 10 ( I triple checked the measurements before buying it- mine and the mannequins)
Auryn, when you got yours on ebay, was it by any chance from http://myworld.ebay.com/dressformmall/ (http://myworld.ebay.com/dressformmall/)? I'm debating about getting this (http://cgi.ebay.com/Mannequin-Manequin-Manikin-Dress-Form-F18-20W-BS-02-/370191039823?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56311afd4f) one from them, along with the fabulous fit system (which I found for only $69 on allbrands.com)
PS. For others who might be interested - my aunt wound up getting me the Family Sew Fashionmaker for Christmas, and we're going to send it back. The stand is super wobbly, and the "padding" over the flimsily adjustable plastic shell is so thin, you can hardly slide a pin into it, let alone stick pins straight in.
Lady R, have you seen this thread on Pattern Review (http://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingDiscussions/topic/11684)? It's 33 pages, but there's a ton of info. Be aware that there are strong advocates for some of the really expensive models.
The dress form I had before losing weight was a relatively inexpensive model I found on ebay. It looks exactly identical to this Singer (http://cgi.ebay.com/Singer-Adjustable-Dress-Form-Sizes-10-16-Red-New_W0QQitemZ280608381306QQcategoryZ4836QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5949077155327697594), actually, and it was around that price. I found it adequate, and I still use it for hemming, but it probably has the same shortcomings as your Family Sew. At the time, I ordered it because I was in between My Double sizes (too small for the plus and too large for the misses), and this one had different sizing that spanned my actual measurements. The dials are quite stiff so adjustment is difficult.
I got my Fabulous Fit system for Christmas (!!!!), so I'll be padding out my shop mannequin (linked above) in the next few weeks. The problem I have with the shop mannequin is that it's only about 4' tall, so I need to figure out something for the base if I want to do whole gowns/hemming.
Lady Rebecca,
that is exactly who I got my dress form from.
My Vicotoria and I are still getting along great, unfortunately I have had to add a little more padding to her recently as I have not been very diligent with my work out routine.
Perfect! Thank you, Auryn! I think we'll be ordering her later today. :)
And Gem, let me know how you like the fit system! I'm really excited to try that out.
Ive heard someone used a old Christmas tree stand to get some height out of her dress dummy.
Rebecca can you wrap your dummy in quilters batting and cover her in a t shirt to make using her easier? I dont think it would add too much bulk.
My dress dummy, Lucy, was like a size 4, and I used quilters batting and an old bra to make her the size I wanted. I just put an baby doll tee over the top and that made for a smooth line. I have to say Lucy has been performing well that way.
I agree with Adriana, the quilters batting would give you some padding but not nessasarily bulk.
Before I heard about the Fabulous Fit system, I had purchased a shaper T that I was planning to put over the padding. I still think it would have worked really well (although I've seen dress form padding instructions that say you must use a woven, as a knit cover will distort). I had this one from Penney's (http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=16f44aa&DeptID=70659&CatID=71428&SO=0&x5view=1&Ne=5+3+11+8+1031+586+18+904+949+833&shopperType=G&N=4294953582&Nao=21&PSO=0&CmCatId=70659%7C71428). Most of the "shaping"/control is at the waistline, though, so it might not work for people who need to add quite a bit of padding there (mine goes elsewhere. Sigh.).
It's here! It arrived in the mail today. I've decided to name her Antoinette. I can't wait till the fit system comes. :)
Here she is:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs754.ash1/164571_542448901573_68202342_31437145_5036433_n.jpg)
oh, wow, that is awesome!!! I'm using the one that you sent back, and it works, but not terribly well. The fit isn't right, either. I'd love to upgrade to the one you have. I'll have to look into it, after I figure out what to do with my machine.
It's actually cheaper than that other form, too. Including shipping, it was $102. And it got here in about 4 business days.
Well, last night I started working with padding out my mannequin using the Fabulous Fit fitting system. It's not perfect yet, and I still want to do quite a bit of adjusting to it (if not a whole new run from the beginning), but for a first try, I am pretty impressed! I tried my pink corset on it, and it's darn close to how it fits on my body.
There are a couple of issues I need to sort out, and I don't know if they're my figure issues, or issues with the form, or issues with my technique. I have a low bust, and I used a combination of scooching the bust pads downward + padding up the shoulders to get the proper measurement--but that made the shoulders too high (shoulder straps that are too loose on me are too tight on the form), so clearly I don't have that right yet (I think the solution is actually to add to the bust, either with batting or additional foam padding). I'm also having trouble getting the waist measurement right. I'm pretty thin through the midsection, but adding the pads to get the proper measurement gives the mannequin bulges that my body doesn't have. I think I'll have to fix that by wrapping some batting around the form *before* I slip the pads and cover on it, so the measurement is correct but the form is smooth.
The biggest problem, however, is with the height of the mannequin, which is a shop display form and therefore about a foot shorter than I am! Fine for bodices, but bad for skirts, so I need to figure out a way to increase the height of the stand. Hopefully Milord and I are off to Home Depot this weekend to sort that out.
Of course, I can't help being the *teensiest* bit disappointed that it wasn't perfect right out of the box, but what ever is? Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that it went together so well, and with less angst than I anticipated. I'm going to go ahead and work on my skirt draping this weekend, because I think it's close enough at the moment, and fine-tune the fit of the thing when I have some more time.
My wife is fortunate enough to have this dress form: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Dritz-MY-DOUBLE-Dress-Form-Mannequin-/290525041004?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a4a4516c The great thing is you can change it quickly and easily to whatever type of sewing you want to do and you can adjust it to your proper height so you can hem without help. If she is doing Elizabethan, we simply put her in her corset and then form the dress form to fit her so you have the proper shape with the corset on. If she is making mundanes she just puts on a bra and we redo it again and presto! She LOVES it!
Yeah, I don't know if the fabulous fit system was worth it for me. At first, I put a bunch of the pads on to have a general fit, but I redid it a few days ago, and I am now only using five pads. Instead, I bought some foam from Joanns, and used that where I needed to pad the form out. For the most part, the fit pads were too lumpy and oddly shaped.