Duct Tape Debacle - The Non-Tutorial

I was going to write this fantastic tutorial about my new duct tape dress form, but well, things didn't really turn out as planned. I will still chronicle the event, complete with pictures, but mind you this is probably best titled, "How NOT to make a duct tape dress form."

First of all, I am making a new costume for a show on Aug 22 and I want it be done quickly. The best way to fit costumes and clothing is with a dress form. Dress forms can cost up to $150 and I just don't feel like spending that kind of money. A friend of mine, Faedra, had made her own dress form out of duct tape and I just thought that was so cool. I found tutorials online and read some forum threads. Armed with this information and an experienced pro, Faedra came over to my house to start the wrapping.

The first step is to cover your body with a long t-shirt. Because I wanted to fit clothing around my hips, I needed to make the shirt longer. I asked the beau if I could have one of his old t-shirts and he provided. I quickly sewed the bottom of the t-shirt to the "coverall" that my dad gave me with upholstery thread because that is what was in the machine. I also cut the sleeve off of one side and sewed it to the neck of the coverall. I love my dad very much, but that Daytona Beach cover-up was donated to a higher cause. :( I also wore some gloriously tight bike shorts, as to suck me in a little, as well as the perkiest bra I own. I wanted to provide a good base.

Faedra started wrapping from the bottom up. We worked out a little system where I ripped the tape and she applied. She then took extra care around the breasts making smaller pieces of tape and contouring just so. We ran out of the good duct tape that Faedra brought after about one layer and we had to use the generic stuff that beau bought. I think this is mistake #1, switching to a cheaper tape half way through.

We wrapped for about an hour. Mistake #2, I believe, is that we did not wrap enough times. Some places were only covered in one layer of tape and all of the tutorials I read said that you needed 3 layers. We did a double check of spots showing t-shirt and then applied tape. And viola! I needed a beer after that!

Before you cut it, you're supposed to mark your natural waist and and measure from your waist down to the floor. Mistake #3 was that we didn't quite mark my natural waist in the right spot. I have a very high waist with a long torso, so with all that tape, it was pretty hard to tell. We ended up marking somewhere in between my natural waist and my belly button.

Then we cut...This is a very strange experience. There is a woman down by my butt with a sharp pair of scissors. It's ticklish and scary at the same time. Once you cut, you tape the seam together. I read after the fact that it is best to cut the seam in a zig-zag so that it is easier to line up and tape together. It took three people to do this. Two to hold it together and one to tape.

Alas, it was time for Faedra to leave so she left the rest to me. It was super fun to do with her. I think all girls who sew should have dress-form making parties together.

Anyway, I needed to stuff and find a stand, but I had no stuffing and by then it was late in the evening. The next day I went to Joann's after dance class (hence the clothing) and I bought two 32OZ bags of polyfill and one 12OZ bag.

When I got home, I examined the dress form and tried to fluff it up a little as it had lost some of it's shape. Then, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the base. Mistake #4 was that I had a hard time getting the cardboard the right shape. I couldn't think of a good way to trace it, so I kept on cutting away at it until it would jam in there. Because of the cardboard I used, it sort of warped and was crooked. I also think I needed to make it more of a circular shape as opposed to an oval shape.

So, the next mistake (#5) I made was that I stuffed it from the bottom up, as opposed to the top down. And let me tell you, I stuffed that sucker. I put in all three bags of polyfill and then jammed the cardboard and taped it up. "Oh darn, I think I need more stuffing," I thought. It was wobbly and misshapen at this point, but it was late and I needed to go to bed. I measured it and it was a couple of inches bigger than me. I kept on asking beau, "Am I really this big?" It seemed huge to me. He told me he thought I had overstuffed and I told him that I needed to so that it would stand up.

Because I was still under the impression that I needed more stuffing, I went to Joann's the next day to buy another 32OZ bag. It remains unopened. Why? Oh, because when I got home the dress form had completely split open. That's right, it exploded. I picked it up off of it's perch (the weight bench) and stuff exploded all over the room. It was hilarious and incidentally mistake #6--too much stuffing.

I spent the next several hours rethinking my strategy and reworking my form. Beau helped me re-tape the seam. Because we new that at this point, it was already a little bigger than me, he tried to convince me to overlap the seam. I was against that because I didn't want to mess up the proportions. Mistake #7, perhaps?

I decided to stuff from the top down this time. I had also read on one of the online tutorials to put shoulder or bra pads in the breast to keep their shape. And because of the icky generic duct-tape, I bought some new stuff at Joann's. Turns out I accidentally bought the decorative "Chrome" duct tape, which is ultra shiny. It works quite well though.

So I finally got it stuffed (with less stuffing) and sealed. I doubled checked some weak areas with chrome tape and remarked the original "waist" measurement and added the chrome tape around what I believe is supposed to be my natural waist. I tried to pull it as tight at possible. Beau was still telling me that I was stuffing it too much. I didn't believe him because if I didn't stuff it that way then it would lose it's shape and become all lumpy.

Anywho, after all of this, I measured. It is nearly FOUR inches larger than me. The ribcage area is especially out of whack. I could hardly believe. The only satisfaction that I got from this is the relief of knowing that, no, in fact I am NOT that large. Whew.

I really needed to test this on something for real. So I pulled out my pearl costume that I had put away for several months and I "tried it on" the silver bullet. Nope, not a good fit. I couldn't even wrap the back strap around the dummy. It still fits me. Dang. Now, I have this thing in my spare room that does me absolutely no good. I can salvage the stuffing, but I feel bad that Faedra had to help for nothing. I feel bad that I had to ruin my dad's ugly cover-up for no reason, and I feel bad it didn't turn out the way everyone says. I guess it just lost shape from not being stuffed right away and then when it was stuffed, it warped again. Oh sigh. No dress form for me. Maybe I'll try again or start saving my money for the real thing.