When yet another of our wonderful Wellington fabric stores Sherazad, closed down last summer, instead of buying more fabric I bought myself a dress form.
My house isn’t modern, it’s an old villa furnished with a mixture of antiques and vintage, and it’s not large which means the sewing /office/ room –o- crap is one of the first things you see when you enter the house. So although I’d been thinking about getting a mannequin for a long time, I wanted an older style one simply for aesthetic reasons.
The problem with older style forms is that they tend to be one size and not my size. This one though, is adjustable all the way up to and (ever so slightly!) past my current measurements and the stand is adjustable too. I think it’s pretty and love the inside mechanisms, so cool.
Cool steampunk looking insides
However, every single piece of fabric that has been draped across it has turned to custard as they say. Nightmare projects with icky fit issues or such negative comments from the boys I lose the will to complete them. Is it jinxed? Or is it part of my larger problem, that I’m just not that good at sewing? It’s probably me, but the moniker “Dress form of Doom” has stuck.
I’m not built in that elegant shape, my lumps and bumps are in different places. I have a long upper torso and short lower torso, so adjustable yes, Nina shaped no. My problem now is bite the bullet, stick an old bra on it and pad the areas that need it to better reflect my shape, i.e. turn it into a useful piece of kit? Or stick it in the corner and admire it? I mean it may have custard making tendencies but it’s really pretty don’t you think?
SmashTheStash 