WOW!!! It's been way, way too long. When I first started this blog, I knew that it would be a challenge for me, but if you know anything about me, you will know (or soon find out) that I LOVE a good challenge. With that being said, I am going to make a commitment to update this blog at LEAST once a week. I cannot promise that they will be all tutorials but I will post something, so....Stay Tuned!
These past few weeks, I've been challenging myself to make use of my sewing machine. Poor thing has been sitting on my shelf collecting dust for the longest time. My focus was to create some summer dresses for myself and my two lovely daughters. Since I didn't have a dress form, and I absolutely CANNOT afford one right now, I decided to make my own duct tape mannequin using my own body. A few months ago, I found a tutorial on YouTube but I didn't have anyone on hand to help me out. I knew that my husband would think I was crazy, so I didn't even bother to solicit help from him. One day a friend of mine dropped past and I immediately sucked her into my newest hair brained scheme. I knew that she would appreciate my goal because she is a lover of all that is arts and craft related, just like me. Anyway, with 2 rolls of duct tape in hand, we got to work taping me up.
Needless to say, my kids were looking at us in amazement. My son even started crying because he thought something was wrong with me. Imagine me tyring to console him while trying to keep my balance the whole time. It was so hard to move and after awhile, I was having a bit of trouble breathing. Note to self for next mannequin: Don't wrap it so tight! LOL...
Once I was sufficiently covered with the tape, my girlfriend proceeded to cut the tape from my body. This part wasn't so hard. We just cut straight up the back. After that, I just taped up the cut portion of the mannequin. I then had to tape the bottom of it shut so that I could start filling it with shredded newspaper. My kids helped me with this part. They had a ball making a mess. They started throwing the paper in the air, running under it and yelling, "It's snowing!" You just gotta love them!
This is what I ended up with by the end of the evening.
A couple days later, I went to the fabric store and purchased some stretchy material to cover the mannequin. At first I was going to cover it with paper mache but thought that using fabric would better allow me to pin fabric to the mannequin. It was a bit of a challenge for me shaping the fabric on the mannequin. Those nights of watching Project Runway finally paid off because they are always draping and pinning fabric on that show.
Here are a few photos of "Mini Me" in action at a flea market I recently attended at Clark Park.
She did a good job showcasing my crochet items don't you think?I just need to create a pole or some sort of stand so that she can stand tall! Maybe by my next post, I will figure out a way to do that. So until next time....Happy Crafting........
