This is the plaster gauze dressform that I had blogged about. I didn’t have time to finish it with an official fabric covering and a stand. So I simply put one of my turtleneck shirts over it and I plopped it over a radiator and it worked out rather decently.
I am making a prototype of my wedding dress using muslin (very cheap cotton fabric). I had even gone to the extent of sewing boning to ensure a good fit.
I stayed fairly true to the original pattern, except that I had switched the gaudet (the extra gathered fabric on the side) from the left to the right side, and rather than three very large pleats, I am creating a rouged bodice.
The color differences between the different pieces of the dress are unintentional at this point. I purchased the cheapest muslin I could find which happened to be the yellow color. Then it turned out that it I needed a much wider fabric in order to make the skirt, and that was only available in white.
I wasn’t too crazy about the paper-mache, so I redid the cast, but this time around I used plaster gauze rather than paper-mache. I like working with plaster much better, especially because it is a lot less work. And the final result is tougher and has much better detail.
This is the comparison between the plaster mold of my torso and the resulting cast made from that mold.
The final cast is a fairly accurate copy of my torso except for the slightly extended belly (from wiggling and from a belly full of air because I breathe using my tummy muscles) which is about an inch bigger. The rest is just the extra 20 lbs that I’d put on the past two/three years. (I think this manequin with the love handles hanging out in all its glory will definitely provide good incentive for me to start being more active again.)
As far as the process, I don’t whether or not there is a better way to do this as I could not find any precedence on the Web for making the final casting using plaster gauze. The only draw back to my method is that you have to sacrifice the mold.
- Prep the molds with vaseline as in the prior post where I made a paper-mache cast.
- Dip the plaster gauze strips into warm water and line the inside of both molds. (Cast each half separately.) I used about 3/4 layers and it came out fairly strong.
- Leave the molds for about 1 hour for the plaster to dry enough to hold its shape.
- Peel the outer molds away from the new casts. The plaster of the outer mold should now be softer because it will have have absorbed some of the moisture. (See photo below)
- Trim the edges and pair up the front and back pieces to form a whole 3D torso. Compare measurements of your body to the new torso to correct sizing. Trim more edges where necessary.
- Tie with string to ensure that the pieces will dry in the correct shape.
- Leave for about 2 days to dry. (This is where I am at right now.) More to come…
I did a test with the back half using Newspaper. It is usable, but I don’t love it.
If you’d like to do the same, this is an overview of the process:
- Cover the inside of the mold with vaseline.
- Tear up newspapers into 4″x4″ square swatches with no cut edges. Cut edges do not look smooth and seamless when overlapped.
- Dip the newspaper into wallpaper paste and cover the inside of the vaseline-covered mold, generously overlapping the prior pieces. I covered it with four layers of newspaper strips and it was still a tad bit flimsy. I recommend at least eight layers if you want a stronger dress form.
- Leave the paper-mache to dry completely inside the mold (about 2 days).
- Separate the paper mache from the plaster mold.
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:
