I put the man into Mannequin!

Meet Mrs Doubtfire. She's my new sewing stunt-double. She's here to help me along on the dangerous road to becoming a Refashionista. I'm hoping her presence will help me to actually accomplish a few things in the dress-making department.

Over the last week, I've avoided the sewing machine. I think I'm experiencing a bit of craft-depression. A combination of too many UFOs piling up, too many new ideas and directions catching my eye, a sense that I lack real purpose or direction, frustration at my amateur abilities.

Oh, and the 5-ish hours of broken sleep a night aren't helping.

But I wanted to finish the weekend having accomplished something creative, or at least precursory to creativity.

Enter the DIY dressmaker's dummy. I have a pile of garments that need a bit of tweaking if they're going to be wearable in the near future, and I feel that a mannequin to hang them on will make playing around with reshaping and fitting so much easier. But I don't have the bucks to fork over for one of the adjustable mannequins, plus I'm really trying to be a DIYing, upcycling, clutter-punker!! So I checked out the tutorial on Threadbanger (thanks Kylekin3!) and decided to go for it (with modified materials).

And now for the public shaming: Mannequin progress shots...

Donned an oversized old t-shirt. Asked the Beloved (in breathy voice) to wrap me in packing-tape. He was less interested when he realised it was a craft-related project, but by then he was committed.

Why yes, I do feel highly attractive, thanks for asking. And no, I don't know where my waist went, either, but if you see it, tell it to come home...

Stuffed Mrs Doubtfire (and all her devastatingly exposed lumps and bumps) with fabric scraps and an old pillow, trying to replicate my own figure and resisting the urge to just pinch the waist in a few inches, or flatten out those abs...

We made the mount out of a coat hanger and an old extendable duster handle, and inserted it into the base of a freestanding fan.

Decided to preserve Mrs D's modesty somewhat with a singlet. Oh, and her waist needed cinching in a bit, hence the belt.

I do hope Mrs D will be helpful in my refashioning endeavours, and get me over some of those procrastination hurdles. Meanwhile, she makes a fine coat stand. Personally, I'm just chuffed to have put my money where my mouth is, and made something new and useful out of some of the junk already cluttering up my home.