Make a Dressform Cover or "My First Dressform"

Picked up a dressform yesterday. Finally! I've wanted one for over 30 years. I will only say that sometimes family members need to keep their thoughts to themselves.

My dressform is a Singer 150. She's red and she's the smaller of the two like this one they make. The larger one is gray.

Truth be told, I would prefer a neutral (gray, black or brown) dressform mannequin but after 30 years, I won't waste time complaining. I planned to get over this tiny thing until I put a sleeveless top on this gal and the red arm could not be ignored.

The net is my teacher LOL. I spend  twenty minutes read what other women have done to cover their dressform. Some started with  flesh-colored jersey (no money). Others cut up a t-shirt and cut off the arms. Followed by forming a new sleeve. Seems like too much work to me.

If I can't find a dance leotard or any clothing with the same shape as a dressform, then I want something different. And the something different that I came up with was jog/sleep pants. Now my sleep pants are black, thin with wide, wide legs. And guess what? The leg is a tube, similar to the shape of the dressform.  I cut down from the front of the elastic waistband, about two/three inches over to the other side (past center seam) and cut up to the back waistband. 

At the neck I used the pants hem. For the hips I used the waistband. You can see the hem was stitched in white thread.

 

 Funny how in a way, the pants leg almost mimicked the form.  The top photo shows neither shoulder sewn. The second photo shows that I've sewn the right shoulder. Just a procecss of pulling, pinning and handstitching. This particular form has only a slight amount of padding; pins must go sideways and not through the body. Not a helpful feature for actually "drapping or designing" on the form, like I would like to do. But I'm still not complaining lol. This form is just the first of my collection.

The leg side seam fit the form so well, I didn't need to sew that area at all. I pulled up the pants leg over the neck. Color may get in the way of display items and the neck was red.  After sewing as high as the leg would go, I cut a strip of the other leg, wrapped it like an Ace bandage and sewed it down. Looks a bit like the turtle necks I fight my Mother for wearing. That's another story. 

  Interesting how the crotch area that I cut and fitted over the left buttocks, mimics the shape of a leg on  high cut panties or a swimsuit.  But I digress. This next part, the hips is my least favorite part.

Singer 150 does not have much "body" to her. She's made of ligh weight, thin plastic and hence is difficult to get a good hold on. You may need a friend to hold her in their lap as you sew your pinned areas; especially inside the bottom edges.  I threaded a needle with very long thread and commenced sewing as best I could, an area hard to reach and impossible to see. Eventually, probably sooner than I like, I may need to finish this area another way. Because I am eager to get my Etsy clothes displayed properly, I  will worry about that  situation when the time comes.
More photos to come. I'm experiencing internet difficulties.