In my journey to learn to draft, both flat and CADD methods, many have mentioned 1/4 scale drafting. So I went on a search to find, a 1/4 scale dress form and to my surprise they cost as much as a full size dress form! WOW I guess sewing in general is an expensive business, hobby, whatever!

I had been thinking about it and like i said with several mentions, i decided it was time to get one, but no way was going to pay $100 bucks or better for it, not to mention i have to purchase display mannequins, fabrics, and pay several other expenses in relation to my grand move out of the Home Based Business arena, but could think of a so many uses for such an item.

So we went out fabric looking yesterday. I say looking because we did more looking than purchasing! once you get a whiff of wholesale pricing it is so hard to shop retail, with anything NOT just fabric, but this fact forces me to chose my fabrics a lot more carefully since in wholesale I have to purchase the bolt, i need to make sure that others will chose it, not just me!

anywho, this is what I found….

  And being the shopoholic that i am, i had all 3 of the remaining ones and decided to put 1 back. The odd fabric one.

But anyway, I purchased them from JoAnn’s @ 14.99 a pieces, which in my mind was a much better deal than a true 1/4 scale mannequin, which i could only find in sizes 6 and at no less than $100.

This one will suit me just fine, at 14.99, it’s pin-able, she has a defined waistline, and she came with her own jewels!

The way that I made this first attempt at a dress, please don’t be too harsh, I have never made anything this small, EVER!!

but I remembered someone explaining to me how to draft doll clothing in Wild Ginger, so i applied that method.

I took the models measurements, multiplied them by 4, drafted my design in WG, added a 1.25 seam allowance (the largest it would allow) then saved style, saved pattern, and at the print screen, I selected 1/4 scale and printed. I used 11 x 17 paper and it all fit on one sheet.

I can see what my dress will look like in my fabric before hand, or I could have created a muslin for a totally new style of design to see how i like it, mix and match, what ever one would like to get those true fashion designers juices flowing! now I have not attempted to do a pants style yet. I imagine that would take some tweaking of the form itself as the dowel is not removable but I could always just pin them on just to get a peek.

This will definitely save me time with drafting and muslin making and can also be a quick fix for my instant gratification tendencies when purchasing new fabrics and experimenting with new designs.