When draping the back skirt, could you have just draped a circle from the waist & then cut out the yoke piece? hmmm, you’d have too much ease, though, b/c the circle would have already started to expand when you get to the edge of the yoke. If I were doing it w/o having seen your cut out circle first, I would have draped the yoke piece, then started in the center back with straight of grain & draped out from there, creating my flounces & making little slashes to release stress (above the pins) as I went. I could draw that better than write, though, so don’t know if what I said makes sense.

As for the dress forms, then first one looks like a store mannequin to me, not a dress form. I would vote for the 3rd one, but it didn’t list a collapsible hip, which might me an issue. My favorite dress forms, though are the Uniquely You. They’re made for the home sewing market, but if you’re just looking for a dress form for yourself, you can adjust the cover to your exact measurements quite easily. I’ve got several in different sizes & use them for my clients to get a close proximity to their shape by stuffing up the inside of each (easily removable) cover.

I’m still wondering about the first one; it’s not like the conventional dress form.

I’m sure many would disagree but I find drape most useful in creating new shapes and forgetting about the block for a moment, but I generally always end up drafting the details after I’ve ‘boarded’ the shell. Each to his/her own, I guess. But I did cry on the inside that one time a student draped a jacket lining…

Thanks, as always, for sharing. My fave bit:
“Squish goods together and pin. Roll edges and pin. Drop pins. Pick them up. Stab self. Drop more pins, let them lie there (then I can look forward to having pins stuck halfway into my foot). Stab self with pins again, there was a lot of that.”

If you ever write a drape manual in this manner – and perhaps someone should – I’ll be first in line to buy it.

Julia : The Studio One brand dress forms available on Ebay are good quality and reasonably priced. There are a number of sites that carry this brand, but the dressformmall site has the “make an offer” option for pricing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320134197711&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011

I was surprised they accepted my rather low offer, so this is definately a plus.

I want a dress form, but I can’t afford (or justify) Kathleen’s gorgeous one. I live about a half-hour drive from an Ebay dealer, so I can probably go and have a look/measure them (I’ll have to pad it up a bit, but I want some of it to fit my measurements). Does anyone have any opinions on either:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Female-Mannequin-Dress-Form-WHITE-F01Sarm-Metal-Base_W0QQitemZ150205858934QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4836QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

or:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Professional-dress-form-Mannequin-New-Size10-12-w-Hip_W0QQitemZ130190516265QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4836QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

This one is more expensive, but it looks a little like Kathleen’s:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Professional-dress-form-mannequin-Full-Size-10-12-Legs_W0QQitemZ130187712508QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4836QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

but I’m not sure I want a body hanging in my house. Not only is it a little creepy, but imagine what the neighbours would say!

OTOH, DD the paramedic student wants a skeleton

Because I do occasionally use pins while sewing, I use the ones labeled silk pins, fine, or very fine. They’re fairly long. They don’t leave holes in fabrics. I don’t know how well they’d work in draping, but they seem to be great for sewing. They don’t have big heads though, so unless you have fingernails, they’re not super easy to pull out.

as for a magnet to pick up pins I found the most amazing invention a few weeks ago at Home Depot. They sell this really strong magnet on a pole, it is used to pick up screws and nails, I use it in my sewing room after I have thrown a million pins on the ground….it’s fantastic! There are some like it on ebay.