How useful is it to have a dress form when making up the coat? I have a somewhat stooped posture and a dropped right shoulder, otherwise I'm about a US 40, at 5'-10" and 158 lbs. If it is generally useful - not just a place to hang the coat - (1) what features would be most important, and (2) are there any recommendations for suppliers/models here in the USA. Thank you, David.
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for those of you how are able to understand German: hier the link to a turorial.
Today, I finished my personal dress form. Quite time consuming but worth the effort. It has a hard and pretty stable body. in my opinion a great tool to analyse your own figuration.
The only seam allowance/s is on the shoulders as the ribbing comes in a tube.
It looks good, but I'd be concerned about the raised seam allowances getting in the way. The DIY forms I've seen that used a zipper have always installed it so everything is flat. It's also usually in the back. Maybe it's not as important for a menswear jacket which doesn't require an extremely close fit and doesn't involving draping. For many types of fitting, it's important to be able to pin directly to the center front and center back. That's one of the reasons adjustable forms aren't recommended: there's a disc in the center.
I did something similar to jeremymarkbarnett. Made the duct tape form, filled it with expanding foam, put it on the stand of a broken steamer, covered it with quilt batting and covered it with a tube of ribbing. It is great for me to use with pattern alterations. The big issue is that it isn't as squishy as I am. Being so short waisted, it is much better than a non-customised form.
This pattern maker created a sloper from Saran Wrap. She wasn't recommending it as a formal drafting method, rather it was an experiment in moving from 3D to 2D as well as a chance to learn something about one's shape. Here's her follow-up post.
When I decided that I would try to make a suit for myself I thought that a body form/mannequin made to my precise shape would be useful. It might not be but in case anyone is interested this is how I made it....
I used the method of wrapping oneself in clingfilm (or rather getting my wife to do so), then being wrapped in sufficient layers of gaffer tape to hold its own shape. Cutting this off with a vertical cut up the back and then cutting it into as few shapes as possible that would enable each piece to lie flat created the pattern pieces to which i added a seam allowance. I then marked the pieces out of calico and sewed it together with a zip up the front, and stuffed it firmly.
The end result is a pretty accurate replica of my shape and allows me to get a reasonable idea of fit as a rough error check. I appreciate that experienced tailors would not need such a thing but I think it might still prove useful as I progress. It was good practice anyway for accurate seaming and how to create a 3d shape from flat pieces....
I had a great one that I left in NYC as well as a US heavy iron shown in The Making of a Coat. My old assistant Uji has it. Though the last time I ask, she replied “you mean my iron”. Guess it found a good home.
I invested in a fair-quality dress form a couple of years back, and I personally found it to be extremely useful from a beginner's perspective. I think maybe when you're fitting other people, it's easier to see what's wrong with a garment. But when you're fitting yourself it's a lot harder. Also, the form allows you to experiment with moving the cloth around/pinning etc. which you can't really do on yourself. I would say it's a good investment for a beginner.
OK - out goes the muslin! Yes, I was making one too - even though I knew it wouldn't drape right, etc. I was using it to check that the draft I made didn't have any gross errors before I cut the real goods. Basically a dry run of how good (or bad) I am at following video instructions. I have found a few minor items, but no show-stoppers.
I did have a concern whether the inlays would cover my stoop adjustment, but after comparing an adjusted vest pattern I made previously to the current draft I think I'll be alright.
I swore I would never make another muslin - all that work and nothing to show for it - yet I did it again. I just have to get used to the fact that trying to perfect a pattern so it will fit without the "fitting" stage is a fool's errand.
This runs counter to my professional training, but measuring cloth to the 1/1000th of an inch just isn't going to make a better fitting garment. Learning how to fit it will. I hope I make it. Thanks again Rory.
It’s down to the individual to decide what they are comfortable with. The idea of this forum is so students can post images and I can assess what is needed to get the fit right. If you follow the system and leave the suggested inlays there’s not too much that can go wrong. It’s a lot more work putting together a muslin that just won’t hang, drape, fit, stretch or shrink the same way that the finish garment will do. My suggestion would to to work towards the first fittings, even if it’s more than one. Get the experience with canvassing off and making the pockets, basting the shoulder, collars and sleeves. With the inlays there you should have enough to get the fit right no matter how far of course one finds themselves.
I know you guys need more info from the drafting perspective. I can put together a good video on it, only to be crucified for not having notes to back it up. It’s a no win for me, but sure I can throw it out there and watch it come back regardless.
Women’s wear do a lot of draping and shaping on stand, that’s why they pad it out. Never heard of it round Savile Row. A good stand can help between pressing when drying out. There are a huge selection of sizes for menswear. Women have boobs and hips which can vary the proportions depending on height. Men’s figures aren’t as restrictive. I see little advantage in padding out a men’s form based on my drafting system.
Hi David, I bought a cheap one from eBay don’t think it cost more than €30. It has a foam body and a wooden stand, stiff breeze would blow it over, but all in all it’s decent.
Thank you all for your insights. KHW-I am working alone, yet the effort to create a "body double" seems daunting. Your post was a great summary of information that I had seen in bits and pieces during my internet wanderings, most of which came from RTW, fashions sites. That said, JB's suggestion does look interesting. I think for the time being I will push ahead and see how my first-off turns out and then re-assess. Thanks again. David
As Rory wrote, most tailors doing his type of work don't have forms. But if one is working alone with no one to help with the fitting I can see how a form might be useful. At the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I took some menswear courses, there were forms, but the students were learning primarily RTW methods to create designs for large numbers of people, not for individuals. They would draft several slopers (pattern templates), fit them on their standard forms, and then develop them into patterns. The brand was Alvanon. They were nice forms but I believe they're very expensive. I think less expensive brands like PGM make them.
I'm a woman and bought a used Wolf women's professional dress form and had it padded to match my shape. If you buy a form, ideally, it should be sturdy, pinnable, and have wheels. With women's forms, collapsible shoulders are desirable because it is easier to get garments on and off. I can't remember if the men's forms had them. I made men's shirts and jackets, which were placed on the shoulders and buttoned. For trousers, we didn't use the forms, and anyway, they were torso forms, not full body forms. Don't buy a cheap adjustable form, they're more trouble than they're worth. People who plan to pad their form usually buy a form two sizes smaller than they are so they can pad up. I've seen a number of good reviews for the women's version of the Bootstrap form pattern and some negative ones. I didn't realize until reading Joe Burkard's comment that Bootstrap also made a men's version.
I read somewhere once that some tailors used to make forms of client's body shapes from paper tape. I imagine they were used mainly to capture the general shape. In women's home sewing, some people make forms from duct tape and occasionally, paper tape, but they're rarely satisfactory. They don't capture the shape of the body, they can't be pinned, they collapse in on themselves. If you try to make a form like that you need a spirit of adventure and low expectations. Some very ambitious people have created forms by molding their bodies with plaster and then filling the molds with an expandible foam that hardens. That's quite a project.
@David C - I made a form with the bootstrap fashion made to measure mannequin. My mother-in-law has one and she 'suggested' I make one when I started. I am pretty happy with how it came out.
https://patterns.bootstrapfashion.com/diy-dress-form-sewing-pattern/made-to-measure-modern-fit-mens-jacket-sewing-pattern-mens-dress-form.html#.X8pB6mhKiUk
Most bench tailors don’t have dress forms. When checking the roll of the collar they usually just slip the coat on. Dress forms are mostly used for display purposes.