Five Amazing Ways to Use a Dress Form

A dress formis also known as a mannequin or a dressmaker’s dummy. Whether you already have one, or you’re still wondering what you can do with it, here you will find five ways to use a dress form. Although you might not consider it essential to have a dress form, you’ll soon find out that it is really nice to have one.

1. Get a clear image of how your handmade garments look on a 3D body.

Even if you sew for yourself, it is essential to check how your creations look at various stages of the process. Hence, it is helpful to have a dress form, as you can put your handmade creations on it to get an idea of how your garments look on a 3D body shape. It is easier that taking your clothes off every time, to check your creations. Besides, it allows you to see the clothes from different angles, without having to use the mirror.

Although it is obvious that a dress formisn’t going to have the exact shape as your own body, it is still a good choice to use one when you sew your own garments. However, the dress formis ideal to use between fitting sessions, as for getting an accurate fit, you still need to try your creations on yourself.

2. Mark an even hem

You can hang your garment on a dress formto get a better view from all sides and to be able to pin the hem accurately. Once you’ve pinned the hem, you should still try the garment on, to check if it looks balanced on you.

3. Design your own patterns

Having a dress formhelps you to examine garments on a 3D form from all angles. You can also work out where you want style lines to go. It helps you have a better view of your creations and then bring them to life. You can drape fabric onto the dress formand create the paper pattern based on how the fabric hangs.

4. Test out embellishments

Even if you don’t draft your own patterns, you can still use your dress formto design garments. For example, if you wish to give a new tweak to your garment, all you need to do is put it on the dress formand pin the desired embellishments on it, to see if they look right.

You can check how the trimming looks against the fabric or whether the pockets are placed in the right position and in proportion with the rest of the garment. You can be as creative as you want and experiment new looks of your garments.

5. Display your creations

You can use the dress formto display your finished creations, samples of patterns you’re working on, or recent makes. You can use the dress formsto showcase pattern samples at your workshop or at shows.

Conclusion

As you see, there are various ways that you can use your dress form.Whether you’re creating your own garments, you want to give a fresh look to some of your clothes or you want to display your latest creations, a dress formis always a good choice.