Mannequin Makeover

Last weekend I spotted this dress form at a sad little yard sale and decided to adopt her.  I found out she had spent most of her life modeling second hand clothing in the window of a store that was no longer in business.  She also suffered a bullet wound at some point (although I could not confirm that)

 

My mom, a seamstress, sent me some inspiration (here) and we got to work on her new dress.  We first made a pattern out of a sheet by trimming and pinning the pieces to fit…

We then disassembled the pattern and used the pieces to cut our fabric.  I decided to use a floral pattern from her massive stock pile, I wanted something with a heavier weight that would give the cover some structure and would also be easy for me to sew.  Also, it was free.

After the pieces were cut, we turned them wrong side out and pinned them back on to make any necessary adjustments before sewing it together…

My mom suggested using a zipper in the back in the interest of simplicity.  I was supervised pretty much the entire time, and only had to rip out a few weird stitches here and there.  Luckily she also was there to sew anything complicated. 

 Now I just need to paint the stand (it’s some awful gold color) and the project will be complete! Since we made a pattern, I can make more covers in other colors and prints.  I haven’t used a sewing machine much since I was a little girl, and it was a lot of fun to sew again.  I think the final product will look great in my new closet.

*C*