I have recently started sewing and I am loving it. I’ve wanted to learn for the better part of 20 years and either never had the time or couldn’t muster up the patience to slog through the learning phase. Instead I’d jump into stupidly hard projects (probably even for an experienced sew…er? Sewist? Seamstress? Is that still a thing?), fail miserably, and throw the half completed project away in a fit of rage.

I just couldn’t see what I was building, like I couldn’t visualize it and the steps needed to get there. I just knew that I wanted an evening gown perfectly fit to my body without knowing how to work a sewing machine, how to do pattern work or how to use a commercial pattern, and without knowing how different fabrics worked.

This time around though, I am finally taking the time to learn the steps. To start small. To enjoy the process of learning a new skill. I’m working up to my big project (a Renaissance dress and cape) using what I have on hand. All that material from failed projects in the past, thrift store clothing that I’m working to overhaul (so far I have one wild success and one total failure but I only wasted $0.75 and some time on that one), and super discounted fabrics and remnants.

While making one dress (sort of a fail and success hybrid- I really like some parts of it and some parts are…not so good) I needed to fit a bodice to myself. It is surprisingly hard to pin something on the backside of a dress while wearing it and surprisingly hard to give instructions to someone else on what to do for you when you’re still muddling through it. What I really needed was a dress form.

Dress forms are super nifty. Some of them are adjustable so you can change the bust, waist, and hip measurements to fit a variety of shapes and some are permanently one size. Dress forms allow you to drape and pattern out pieces on something that is almost exactly the size and shape you want the final product to be. They let you see exactly where and how some piece is fitting while you are still in the construction phase. Plus you can stab all of your pins right in there to securely hold things and it doesn’t matter because it’s not your skin under that fabric. Awesome.

But. Dress forms are expensive. And if you’re like me and just starting out and are prone to getting really into a hobby and then abandoning it in 6 months, or you don’t have $100-$350 to spend on a proper dress form, or love a good DIY, or just need one for a small short term project, or need a cheap way to cast your body then this DIY Dress Form could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Will this replace a full-on, bells and whistles dress form? No. No, it will not. Will it do for a while until you decide if it’s an investment that will actually be worth it to you? Oh yes. Yes, it will.

I hope this is helpful!