New additions to the studio
My sewing studio is tight to work in. I share a basement room with little natural light with our bikes. I try to use every available space, especially as I have added two new mannequins; One half-scale and another true-scale.
The half-scale I purchased to help me learn draping and put my pattern-making skills to the test without needing yards and yards of fabric. I really enjoy that it has the upper thigh forms too. My plan is to work through the Draping: The Complete Course by Karolyn Kisel as my understanding of draping methods is minuscule.
I’ve also been enjoying reading through Pattern Magic by Tomoko Nakamichi. Her works are inspirational, and I want to increase my library with her books. Some of my designs use her techniques, and I feel this will be another area where using the half-scale mannequin will shine. Or maybe it’ll backfire because of the smaller pattern drafts and less room to manipulate the fabrics….. I have no idea and I’m ecstatic to try it out!
If it does become too complicated, I now have the other true-scale mannequin! This mannequin came to me after a family friend was going to get rid of it. Instead of the trash, the form was dropped off with me! I think living in my basement atelier is better than the landfill.
Previously I have only worked on my old blue adjustable dress form, which I have had for over ten years. However, the openings between the movable plates make creating your own patterns and pinning directly to the mannequin a bit troublesome as where you may want to pin will fall in that space. I think I’ll use the adjustable dress form to tailor items to my body and use the newer mannequin to show off my designs.
These mannequins need names…. writing mannequins or dress forms every time is confusing. Any name suggestions?
