Sewing for yourself can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a challenge, especially if you don’t have a sewing buddy to help you with fittings. When I first started sewing, fitting myself was the hardest part of the process. My first solution was to use a dress form; that helped a lot! I got a form a little smaller than my body, then padded it out to reflect my measurements and shape. It was a bit of an investment, but it really made life easier. Then I had two babies and my body changed. The old dress form wasn’t going to cut it anymore and I didn’t have the means to go out and buy a bigger form. What now? I decided to make a paper tape dress form.
What is a paper tape dress form? Well, it’s a way of creating an exact mold of your body using strips of brown paper lined with water-activated adhesive. You put on an old t-shirt then get a friend to wet the strips and wrap them around your body until you look a little bit like a piñata. You let the strips dry, then cut them off and tape the form back together. The result is a form that not only reflects your measurements, but that also totally captures your posture and figure variations! And best of all it’s cheap. A big roll of paper tape is under $10. I was able to make three forms from one roll. While it does take some patience, the result is well worth the effort.
Here is a picture of a form I made recently of a woman with three grown children who is just beginning to sew for herself. Do you see how the form captures her shape? Try getting a shape that realistic from padding a typical dress form. This a very accurate representation of her figure that will make fitting so much easier.
Here is the form I made of my husband. I plan to do some sewing for him, and I thought this would help. He’s very impatient and doesn’t like to stand still for fittings. Now I can just use his form and he can skip the muslin fittings!
If you want to see a video of how to make one for yourself, check out Barbara Deckert’s class “Plus Size Pattern Fitting and Design” on Craftsy. One of the lessons is a demo of how to make a paper tape dress form. Also, I highly recommend that class for the other lessons as well. It has a lot of good information for sewers of all sizes, not just plus size. (I am not affiliated with Craftsy and bought the class with my own money.)
Have you made a paper tape dress form? Do you like using it?
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