Sunday, June 21, 2009

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.


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19 comments:

  1. I am SO DAMNED IMPRESSED! Am in a similar UFO/sleep deprivation and mid-wintry ditch myself. But you have tackled and come out a winner with a doozy of a project. Onward and upward Mrs!

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  2. I have been meaning to do this for so long I've forgotten when I first came across it. You've inspired me! Thanks, and see you THIS Friday ;-)

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  3. this is awesome... thanx for sharing.

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  4. What a triumph! Great job!

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  5. That's so cool! I need one of those myself... my vintage mannequin is a size 8 - way tooooooo small!

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  6. Yeah! Great job. I like that your Mannequin is adhering to the rules of the body shape bible.

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  7. The mannequin looks great Gina. I've seen that tutorial too its pretty amazing. Good luck with your clothes refashioning. I remember my grandmother had the most beautiful jade coloured mannequin (she was a seamstress) that she often used. I wish I could track it down.

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  8. Oh this looks fantastic - I hope it really does the trick.

    I've always wanted to try making one of these but wasn't sure how it would go. Be really interested to see how she holds up. I do have a mannequin (a gift from my grandma when I was a kid) and it's by rights my size, but useless in every way! Shoulders too wide, bust too "nothint", waist too high... just kind of useless!

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  9. brilliant job!

    I'm just catching up on blog reading & emails (will send through some stuff re: kids pants pronto-ish)

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  10. That's fantastic. Very clever, and the story of making it made me laugh too. Especially the part where the Beloved was wrapping you in packing tape!

    Hope your craft depression disappears soon. My studio revamp helped clear out mine.

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  11. I just LOVE it - and love that you shared it with us!!!! I saw this in a book I got from the library last week - funnily enough all about refashioning items. I didn't know if I could be bothered to do it but then I looked on Trademe and even 2nd hand the mannequins are so expensive. You've made me think that maybe I *should* do it this way! x

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  12. Mrs. Doubtfire looks great. I bet she will be very helpful to you.

    I'm too planning to make my own Karin-shaped-mannequin, but I guess I have to wait a little longer until my figure is stabile again, after giving birth and breastfeading and all. Although I have to admit I really, really could use one now already. Hmm, I could make two ofcourse...nah, too lazy for that.

    Oh! *insert lightbulb* I could make one with inflatable boobs. How does that sound? ;-)

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  13. What a fantastic idea! I don't know if we'd have enough packing tape around here to make one... (!). The sleep thing is the problem. No sleep just means torture. End of story! Hope it ends soon and you get back to your 8 hours!!

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  14. yay! I am so glad that helped :) hooray!

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  15. Wow, wow, wow... this is awesome Gina. Now while Mrs D looks fabulous in her jacket and scarf, I look forward to seeing her in one of your creations very soon.

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  16. This is a great idea. I never would have guessed you made it from the way the first photo looks. It's great!

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  17. I have to admit with much shame, my dummy is sitting on the desk and I haven't used her once. I got mad at her when I decided she looked pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that is my own fault and not so much hers... LOL

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  18. I want to make one of these for myself, but I'm afraid to look at the result. No one should have to see that. :-)

    I don't think your "dummy" is as lumpy as you think. The pic of you all wrapped up looks quite uncomfortable though.

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  19. Wow! I'm impressed. I've been thinking I need one of these but don't want to spend on one. I'm going to look for 2nd hand or get inspired to make one like you. Thanks for showing me it is possible :-)

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“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
~Albert Einstein