Meet My Twin!

She got here earlier than I thought!  I am so excited!  I bought my first dress form.  Joanns had a sale (she was $99)- so I went for it.  It is the Singer dressform #150.  Reading the reviews over the past year (I have been looking at it forever)- I knew it might not be the most sturdy contraption and there was a chance it might need to be returned...

arrived in one piece!

It is not as pretty as a custom made model (which I would love to have some day though my weight fluctuates a lot so I am not sure it would be worth the expense).  To be honest- I was a little horrified at how MUCH I had to open her up to make her my size. I ordered the small size, and I am at the large end of that small (I wear a 10 in RTW).  And then- looking at her- I thought- am I really that big around the waist? *gasp*  That shock has worn off and now I think she is pretty fine looking. *wink*

here she is- before I had kids...

A little plug for Joanns- I had held off ordering because I thought they would only ship parcel post to FPOs (military PO boxes).  That would mean it would take about 5 to 7 weeks, or more.  Instead of going by airplane- it would be on the "slow boat" to China  Japan.  But it only took about 2 weeks instead, maybe less.  Needless to say, I was over the top thrilled when the guy at the post office brought out my big box!!

One of the things I had read about the Singer dressforms is that they are hard to make the adjustments on.  Reading the directions that come with, I can totally get that.  But I figured it out.  If you have to make "large" adjustments [ie. more than 2 or 3 inches], then it is easier to start off small on ALL of the dials, and then go back and gradually increase them.  So I started at the bust, then the waist and then the hips- each time little by little. 

I made a dress for my Singapore trip (actually- I made two)- I didn't take it with me though.  I thought it was a 70s pattern- just looked and it says 1981- close enough.  It is Simplicity 9898...


 I made this dress back in high school out of red Kona cotton, I wish I had kept it.  I forgot and failed to notice when I was cutting out the pieces this time around, how LOW it is in the back!  I am not a fan of backless dresses- mainly because I high those unsightly back rolls.  I will still wear it- but I will have to wear a jacket or sweater to cover the back.  Otherwise- I love the dress, and especially the fabric and print.  I just love Amy Butler.



do you see what I did wrong?



do you see it now

Technically- I didn't have enough yardage for this pattern.  But I was determined to make it work!  Unfortunately, I cut the bodice pieces upside down!  So not only was I short on yardage, but the pattern only goes one way!  I looked up the fabric on Fabric.com's website to be sure I had the leaves pointing the right way.  For some reason I still cut the bodice pieces wrong.  Seeing that I had NO fabric left, I couldn't make new pieces.  In fact, I had to piece-meal the waistband and tie.  This is what happens when I stay up late sewing.



backside- very low back

 I have been so very busy lately and frankly I should be in bed instead of blogging.  I have another dress I made to display for you as well- though I will have to iron it first, lol.

I love her!  My sewing space in my living room, so she is standing next to my sewing table.  It takes some getting used to.  I keep seeing her out of the corner of my eye and I have to do a double take because I think there is someone standing there. LOL!!