Paul and I are making a dressform so that I can use to sew my wedding dress.
An accurate dressform would help to ensure a perfect fit. It will also be essential for some of the freehand construction that I will be attempting because there is not a pattern available for the exact style that I want. I will work off a similar base pattern and then cut a new pattern by draping muslin fabric on the dummy.
Last night was our first attempt at casting a plaster mold.
The entire process was much harder than I thought it would be. And it took a lot longer than I expected — over three hours (not counting the setup and cleaning). We had all the precut strips and bucket of water on the floor, which was very cumbersome and hard on Paul’s back and knees. And according to Paul, the hardest part of the entire process was having to cut me out of the mold. Paul was absolutely exhausted after the entire ordeal.
It wasn’t as tiring for me, but it was definitely not easy either. Standing still took a lot of effort and energy. And the plaster was cold and heavy. It got increasingly colder as it continued to dry.
Mistakes we made that we should try to avoid next time (if I can convince Paul for a second try):
- I wiggled too much while the plaster was drying, thus expanding the mold quite a bit.
- The two layers of plaster gauze that we used were not thick enough to hold the shape while it continued to dry.
- We cut me out of the mold far too soon and it fell apart in some places. I had to replaster the pieces together so that it would dry in the correct shape.
Ideally (if this mold is usable), our next step would be to cast the real dressform inside the mold.
If you’d like more information on the process and the final results we will be attempting, take a look at the following websites:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
:-)
It wasn’t really as bad as you make it sound here for me, but for anyone who is going to try to do this, I would suggest doing it on a weekend rather than on a work night. It was a little bit hard on my back and my knees, basically because of the need to plaster around your sides while you were balancing yourself.
It sounds from the post that after reviewing the mold this morning, you think that it isn’t going to be good enough – which makes me sad, but I’m happy to help you do another one.
I will be attemping one Thursday morning. I did get the MyTwin dressform kit and I have a friend, who is a doctor’s assistant doing the wrap. She’s done the real deal on broken bones, so I figure she can do a cast. Three hours!! Why so long? I just cut up the plaster strips and that took awhile, plus it was very dusty.
Did you give up?