Mrs. Devil occasionally sews up her own outfits. She’s made some excellent things, from formal wear to a bunch of whimsical costumes. She doesn’t do it often enough to call it a hobby, but that could be situational more than interest. She has a good machine, scissors, etc. I was thinking I’d get her a dress form.
First, am I right in thinking it’ll be useful? She knows herself, but I’ve seen several times she’d pin something up then take it apart again to get things ‘right’.
Second, what do I look for in a dress form? Singer has a slew of them, but I have no idea if that’s all I need to find. Also, since this will stand idle in the guest room for long periods, I was wondering if one of the more decorative forms would be of any use or mainly for show.
Most are adjustable now, but that’s a nice feature to look for (sadly less decorative). You want a foam or fabric covered one, so you can stick pins in it. You want one with hips and a rear if possible, and a high neck is a bonus.
It’s not a dress form, and can’t replace a dress form, but I have to say for draping pants and sleeves, I’ve been greatly assisted by my department store mannequin (thrift-store find) Dress-forms are great, but it’s damn tricky to drape a nicely-fitted pant-leg or sleeve on your own self.
Check the sizing carefully on the forms - dress pattern sizes DO NOT match vanity (aka women’s clothing) sizes. You may look at her clothes and at her and think that she’s likely to be a size 12-or-under. You would very likely be WRONG. Go to a fabric store or to the specific dress-model online and find out what the actual size ranges (in inches) are for various versions.
She’s never used a pattern, so not sure how to approach the sizing. I can look through her wardrobe and find a bunch of sizes, but those are notoriously unhelpful, no? Do the dial gizmos on the Singer forms do much more than make small adjustments?
You’ll get several inches for each dial, but not much more than that usually.
If she doesn’t use patterns, then you’ll probably have to be sneaky and use a tape measure around the waistline and bust and hips of some of her (non-stretchy) clothes. (Or if she’s a heavy sleeper, then measure her… ) Find out how many inches those are individually, and then check with the websites or a fabric store to see which form can be altered to match them.
Hmmm… I take it I can’t just measure her pants and take an average. Maybe I’ll tell her I’m into some sort of weird bondage. Maybe play a bit of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy wink wink.
ETA: Actually, maybe I’ll just take advantage of Amazon’s liberal return policy if I get it wrong. Any idea what common pants/dress sizes this relates to?
WTF. Her closet is full from a recent trip to Eileen Fisher. Great, I thought—recently sized things! M? PM? L? Sure, medium and large (an equal mix of both, keeping this frustrating), but PM?
PM seems to me to be likely to mean Petite Medium. So it’s designed for someone who is shorter-- I think I’ve heard Petite is usually designed for less than five foot four inches.
It is exceedingly unsurprising that many of her clothes are a mix of sizes–even with new clothes, mostly from one designer. Some may be a matter of style preference-- one might be ok with a mostly skin tight turtleneck, but prefer that a button down shirt doesn’t gap at the buttons. (Or one might prefer a looser turtleneck, but not plan on actually buttoning the shirt). Some might be a matter that the various articles of clothing are cut differently–I know I’ve heard complaints that black jeans are often skinnier than blue jeans.
If I were you, I’d order the medium sized dress form, rather than the large, and take advantage of the return policy if needed. (Most people, probably especially most women, would rather you think they are slimmer than they are.)
Ask her to measure her bust, waist, hips, back-waist length, and hip-depth. The best dress-form will cover her size and have some give (a little extra or a little less) for each measurement. Ideally, her measurements will fall near middle of the range of sizes the form allows for, but then, nothing is ideal in this world. I find that If the waist to hip ratio is < 0.7, some dressforms (even with the correct size) are diffcult to adjust, or leave large, unslightly gaps where the shells meet, so you might want to keep that in mind. Alternatively, if the form is meant for her alone, you can always get her a custom made foam or duct tape dress form…
You should really consult with her first about sizing. If it’s not close enough to the same size as you, it really won’t be helpful. For me, I’d love a dress form, but my bust is about an inch or two smaller than the standard size for dress forms. They always say that you can pad the dressform out, but when I have to pad out absolutely all of the dimensions, it’s really not worth it.
How much do you want to spend? There are custom dress form makers.
If you decide to spend money like that, perhaps giving your wife a card or ‘dress form’ decoration with a note that you’ll buy her one as perfect as she is, would be a better idea so she can get one exactly to her measurements.
