I tend to get more crafty over the summer and I recently completed this really fun project with a friend. I came across numerous duct tape dress form tutorials and though it was a great idea. I’m not an avid sewer but I have made a few items and I hope this will encourage me to make more. It’s the best way to get a form with accurate measurements and it’s much more affordable. Even if you don’t sew, its a fun piece for decoration and planning or displaying outfits.
So if you would like to make your own grab a friend you trust. For it will be a slightly awkward but hilarious hour of them covering your body in tape and then cutting you out of it. I’ll outline the basic tools and instructions for you. But if you want more detail and examples check out this sewing blog that has very helpful instructions on how to wrap the tape and Lydia Lark about how to finish it off and built a stand from scratch. If you aren’t interested in how to make it scroll down to see how cute an outfit looks on it.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- The help of a friend
- A long t-shirt you don’t mind sparing (I used one of my brother’s)
- 3 30-yard rolls of duct tape
- saran wrap
- scissors
- stuffing (anything you want: could be foam, plastic bags, fabric scraps, I used batting and polyfill)
- plastic hanger
- wooden pole or pvc piping
- cardboard, foam board or wood
Now time to get started! I happen to find a bunch of pink duct tape for cheap so that’s what I used, but there are so many cute duct tape prints now. The only problem is they only have 10 yards so you would have to buy at least 9 to have enough. It takes three layers of duct tape to get good structure so I suggest if you want to use a pattern get 2-3 rolls for only the last layer and use plain silver underneath.
The best way to wrap it to strongly hold the shape is to alternate directions. Start at the bottom and wrap horizontally until you reach just under the chest. Wrap it tightly but not too tight it’s hard for the person inside to breathe. And don’t worry too much a bout wrinkles, the last layer is when you can be very tight with it and smoother. Next criss-cross the tape across the center of the chest and to the back, this will define the shape better. Then continue with horizontal strips until you get to the neck. Unless you’re lucky to have a turtle neck you will want to wrap the neck in saran wrap before taping it to protect your skin. When you’ve finished the first layer add a vertical layer and finally another horizontal layer. Don’t worry if it’s not always straight. If the tape arcs on the curves of the body let it, otherwise it will make unsightly wrinkles.
When you’re done all the taping cut up the back of it, be careful to cut only the tape and t-shirt not the bra strap or shorts of anything worn underneath. Now here is where I had a hard time. Most people say to just tape the back up again. But I found when I stuffed tightly to fill out the shape, the tape on the back popped off and it opened right up again. So I sewed up the back with heavy duty button thread which held much better. I put a plastic hanger in the shoulders to maintain its shape and trimmed the ends of it with a small handsaw to match the cut off arms. I traced out the openings onto foam board that I could easily cut out and tape over to close it up. For the stand I added pvc piping to the base of an adjustable rolling chair, and I got a cabinet knob from home depot to put on the neck as a finishing tough.
This project is really an anything goes type of thing so don’t worry about if you’re doing it right. Just make it work with what you have. I’m happy with how mine came out and it looks so cute in my room. So far so good about not being creeped out by the mannequin when I wake up. I think I may recover it in blue polka dot tape or fabric eventually. Leave comments about what you think of duct tape dress forms or your experiences if you’ve made one.