Make Your Own Dressform Out of Tape

[fourboltmain]

So there I am, in class a while back and the teacher has papers on how to make a dressform out of a trash bag and duct tape. Me, being quite the crafty one, finally got a copy of it and scanned it so I may pass the love onto all of you. But don't thank me, thank fellow TFS'er and nagging muse Titania, as she reminded me to do this.

These are all on 8.5x11 size, 150dpi. I edited the pics to be a little clearer, but it IS a copy of a copy. I have no idea where this came from, but I scanned it. I left out the first page which was a picture of it and the fourth page, which was another useless picture. I also just realized I left out the sources page... and the main part of this is the paper backed packing tape, not the clear stuff. The back of the tape should look like a paper bag. I've found it for about $7-$9 a roll, 2" wide by 60 yards.



PS: Work fast, I'd imagine the trash bag can cut off oxygen and make your subject or you pass out.

 

[hello_veronica]

Thanks for posting this! I've been interested in this for quite some time.

 

[softgrey]

thank you so much fourboltmain....
wish i had thought of this...

very cool...B)

 

[kateelle]

So cool! Going to try this sometime this week!

 

[gius]

So.. has anyone tried it yet?

I made out of brown tape, using different instructions but it did not hold its shape in time
I stuffed it, but it didn't help since the more or less I stuffed it, it changed the size each time (I was trying to make it the same size as myself)

 

[daniellat]

i did. And it was awful.

First i was super uncomfortable for a whole hour while a friend was putting the tape on me, i seriously couldnt breathe and it wasnt even that tight. One i passed thru the suffering part. The shape wasnt hard enough but i managed to stuff it with old tshirts in order to preserve the shape. It was soft but ok i guess. I wanted to make a dress with some drapery on the front, nothing too complicated but i needed a dressform anyway.

All my pins were all messed up with the glue from the tape, and my fingers were hurt because gettin through the tape was realy hard. Note to self: Dont use your best pins with this, best use the cheapes you can find because youll have to throw them alla way afterwards.

Working with the dressform was difficult and i had to lay it down and at the end of the day the dress turned out to be all uneven and a mess, still wearable but a mess. Its so much better to inevst on a proper adjustable dressform. Its not the same as having your on true size dressform but the duct tape one is not helpful at all.

 

[gius]

some girls i know work with a couturier here and they just pad the dressform to imitate their measurements^
like you can use a bra cup and fill it lamb's wool and perhaps other materials are available..

i hope it's as easy to do it to a male dress form too. i am hoping to get one...but yeah the nice thing in a dress form is that you can use pins to pin fabrics down.. your paper dress form would become full of holes

when i made my dressform out of tape, my sister had also cut my shirt with the dress form while i was in it

 

[fourboltmain]

The shape wasnt hard enough but i managed to stuff it with old tshirts in order to preserve the shape.

I think styrofoam peanuts would work better. You have to be really crafty to pull this off.

All my pins were all messed up with the glue from the tape, and my fingers were hurt because gettin through the tape was realy hard.

I've used a staple gun/staple remover before, myself. Then again, I'm not known for subtlety.

 

[ilaughead]

I made a variation one of these a couple of months ago, but it didn't turn out very well. However, now I have a very cool Balenciaga spring of '08 proportioned duct tape top that I could wear if I ever so choose to.

And does anyone know where I could find real dress forms online? I'm really looking for male forms, but the problem I keep running into is sizing. A few I've looked at only have sizes larger than what I want, and the fact that I'm not even sure what to google doesn't help. Any recommendations?

 

[roisin]

This is such a cute idea! I've been wanting to get a dress form forever, but I haven't been able to justify spending the cash just for my silly little designs. I might just have to try this out! Thanks