I have a question..
...since I seem to be incapable of sewing summer gear in the midst of a snowstorm...I am seriously challenged about what to make for The DR but that's another post! I do, however, find myself thinking of sewing room layouts and things I would like to purchase to make my sewing room the kewlest room in my apt.
So here's my question? Does anyone own a PGM Pro dressform? If you do, what do you like about it? What are your dislikes? I really want a plus size version but she's kinda flat and I'm kinda round so should I buy the plus size one? Or should I buy a large size one and try padding her up?
I know that's more than one question, but oh well, I got on a roll as I started to type. The second thing is that I do still have Lulu and she will get a place of honor in my new sewing room, but she is legless which limits her. She is a Uniquely You dressform and I think her abdomen and behind more accurately reflect me...now her breasts and her back that's are another thing...*sigh*
Finally, I'm not ready for a Wolf dress form...that's on my wish list...I really want one of those later...so if you own this dressform or another you really like, would you mind leaving me a comment. Thanks!
...as always, more later!
Hey Lady,
ReplyDeleteI own a PGM dressform. Bought it used a couple of years back from a SCAD fashion design student. To be honest I'm quite impressed with the dressform. It's sturdy, has collapsible shoulders, mine has style lines, is pinnable, and adjustable by height. The proportions are off from mine but that's to be expected since it's standardized. I want to get a custom made form from Andy's. Both Amanda (Amanda's adv. in sewing) & Mimi love their's. I digress, I like the PGM form but nothing beats a custom one. A Wolf forms on my list for one day in the distant future as well:) Hope you find what you need....
If you want a Wolf, check Craigslist. I found one on Long Island one size smaller than me for $179 in good condition. My draping teacher padded it out for me. I don't have TNT patterns so the double was the way to go. I can't offer any input about PGM but my advice would be to pad a form out
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am in the market for a new form. My old one recently was the victim of a fatal freak accident. It was quite old, maybe twenty years, and served it's purpose but I never padded it so some areas were stiff and didn't quite follow my various curves and fluffs. I'm going to go with a smaller form and pad, or possibly use my patternmaking software and making a skintight sloper and overlay it and stuff the in-between part. My thoughts. K
ReplyDeleteI have a PGM Pro and I love her! You can always order the Fabulous Fit system and pad yours our to customize it.
ReplyDeleteI have a PGM, which I had to pad out because, hey, who has standard measurements? They recommend buying a size based in your upper bust measurement and then padding out the rest (I used a skin tight sloper and stuffed it with batting until it was right). It has collapsible shoulders, which is great for putting things on over her "head" and it adjusts up and down and is on wheels, for easy movement. This is my first dressform, but I really enjoy working with it. Jacki
ReplyDeletehi Jacki. Just wanted to find out if there is some type of padding under the linen cover? Or is just the linen cover and the fibre glass body straight underneath?
DeleteFlo.
Hm, I think this is my first response -- so I should certainly say Thank You, Carolyn, for being such an inspiration. I'm nowhere near as skilled as you are, but I do have hope; it's especially inspiring to see other plus-sized women making stylish and good-fitting clothes!
ReplyDeleteThat said, if I were going to buy a dress form, I lean heavily toward My Twin: http://www.mytwindressforms.com/index.htm -- rather like a duct-tape double on steroids. ;) As it stands now, since the cost of shipping the finished form or even just the plaster bandages would be prohibitive (and I hate to think how much Customs would charge!) I'll probably order the DVD and enlist the aid of a friend to wrap me. I've already sourced plaster bandages locally; now to find the proper foam.
I know I didn't answer the question you asked, but I hope the info was helpful anyway. :)
I love my pgm dressform I have 2 of them from pgm one is with the legs and the other is the dressform with a little bit of curves. Pgm also so make custom forms aswhile. I like that it very durable.You can get the Fabulous Fit system if you want to change size you can get the Fabulous Fit system for www.allbrands.com for a great price. I LOve my forms I have 3 adjustable ones in all sizes but I just love my PGM. Next I think I might get the Fabulous Fit form next because they have a form with collapsible hips.
ReplyDeletei have a uniquely you form, which is soft foam and a canvas cover you fit to yourself. i love it- since it;s soft you can pin on it which occasionally comes in handy.
ReplyDeleteI just bought a Roxy dressform on ebay last month and absolutely love it. Full body, 2 legs, 1 arm, adjustable stand...under $350. Their ebay prices are better than their store website prices, and when I bought it Tue, I had it on Fri! "dressformmall" is their seller name on ebay. Good luck (sorry I can't speak for PGM)!
ReplyDeleteI have a 20+ year old Dritz My Double (the one with the dials). She's starting to look a bit sad as her cover is starting to separate and sag. I've been thinking of getting a PGM as well.
ReplyDeleteI love my Wolf, but really, it's like driving a Mercedes. A Mazda will get you where you're going just as well. I bought a cheap adjustable form to use in London because I was not supervising our movers properly and they sent my Wolf to storage. I actually find the adjustable more useful because I've lost weight and I am smaller than my 12-year-old Wolf now. If you grow, you can pad the Wolf to make it bigger, but if you shrink, you're SOL. But I still love the Wolf, and I use it for photos whenever I can. It's beautifully made. It's just so cool looking.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere, should remember where, about someone who bought one of those long line body shaper things from Walmart and put it on the dress form and stuffed it. Could do the same with a camisole I imagine. Thinking that might not be a bad idea because my own shape is pretty unique. Whatever you buy is going to have to be somewhat customized.
ReplyDeleteI don't use my form (really a store display) for anything other than as something to support my garment while I pin the garment and fuss with it. In other words, I don't use if for fit. But this is something I could change my mind about in the future.
ReplyDeleteI have a PGM dress form that I bought for a draping class. I haven't done much draping since the class ended. But I still like the dress form because it is the only one that I own that I can stick pins into. It is also on a sturdy frame with wheels so it is easy to turn, and move around. I bought my PGM through eBay and unfortunately I bought the size that matched my hip measurement. That means the PGM bust is much bigger than my actual bust. I should have bought the smaller size that matched my bust measurement and padded it in the hip area to match me. The dress form, even in areas where the measurements match mine, is not the same shape as me. I am wider side to side. The dressform has more booty than me. You live in NY close to the dress form manufacturers. Have you ever considered having a custom dress form made? I am sure it is a bit more expensive than a PMG, but then you would not have to deal with padding and shaping over an existing dress form.
ReplyDeleteI own a fabulous fit dress form, www.fabulousfit.com, and I love it. It has detachable arms for draping or changing a pattern and you want to check the drape and style. It has collapsible shoulders, a great stand on wheels and the height is adjustable. When ordering the dress form you also receive pads for putting the lumps where you need them. You can change the waist location as well. If you already have a dress form you can order just the pads and it also has a body slip to add a dress size to your form before you add your pads in case you need that.
ReplyDeleteI had a www.mytwindressform.com and it worked well for 10 years. The problem I had with this dressform was as it aged the foam used to create it started to harden and the stand really isn't that good.
I have a Wolf knock off from Roxy Display and she was only about $250....LUV. HUH
ReplyDeletehttp://www.roxydisplayinc.com/index.html
Do you have someone to help you? Because Burda has published some months ago a method to do yours yourself.
ReplyDeleteLook:
http://reachingformore.typepad.com/reaching_for_more/2009/01/diy-dress-form-duct-tape-double-.html
and
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3631/duct-tape-dress-form-2
and
http://craftlog.org/craftlog/?p=2699
I hope you'll enjoy it!
I would love to have a custom dress form. I have an adjustable form that was padded out to match me - 20# ago. I also don't know enough to use it efficiently - also on my list.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the co-worker who was designing your studio space? g
I have a Unique Fit dressform. I made a sloper, added a bra and padding to fill out the sloper. I just re-did my sloper since I gained a new pounds,ugh. Now I just need to add more padding.
ReplyDeleteI wanted a base that I could raise to my height so I used an broken adjustable IV pole from work for the legs. I took the form off of the original stand and slide it down over the IV pole. It works well because it is more weighted that the stand that came with the form. Some people have used PVC pipe, a pipe flange and casters to make a base for their dressform.
Hi C: I agree with Erica B - you could buy the FF padding to go with the PGM. Mind you, I'm very happy with my FF dressform (I just received it last week). I'm perhaps more pleased with it than with the padding system, that doesn't necessarily match my curviness. (I'm going to modify it with batting and the FF people are kindly sending me a couple of extra breast foams to give it a bit more curve.)
ReplyDeleteFF has another item to use alone or with its other products - it's a corset called the body wrap to go around any dress form. You can then put the padding under that to give a) more width and b) more shape. It looks interesting on the website.
Finally, the one thing I learned in my dressform research is that one needs smaller size than one's actual body dimensions (to pad up, however you choose to do that) and the shoulder width and upper bust should accord to your own measurements in as much as possible.
pgm is the way to go! i'm about to buy 2 more forms from them! they are the awesome...been using the forms for years now and love it. it's price competitive and the quality is great! not a wolf, but really, who needs to spend the money on a wolf nowadays anyway?
ReplyDeletethey fully stock their sizes so you can get your form quick. i went with a custom made one with my specific measurements...if you can spend the $600 to get it, i would highly recommend it. otherwise, their standard forms would be fine. just use a bit of padding in the places where you need.
not a fan of roxy - had some run ins with them earlier in the days and myself along with a handful of friends bought a few of their forms. complete knockoffs of literally everyone. i'm big on supporting businesses who do good and knocking off someone else's product just sucks!
pgm has student discounts + an awesome guarantee. i stay with them because their product is dependable and their service is reliable - you know your product will last.
good luck!
Carolyn, I broke down last fall and had a Wolf form made. I am really enjoying fitting on it -- although I confess to not quite trusting it yet. But I should. It saves al lot of running around "nekkid" in my sewing room, pulling things off and on. That said, I'm afraid of changes to come - so I will probably need to pad it at some point.
ReplyDelete