A new form, a new blog

Hey there! Welcome to my new blog, SaMiE Designs, Creations, and Journey of Crafts! Let me give you a little background about myself. I am a mother, writer, artist, thrifty coupon cutter who also loves transforming nothing into something. Not too long ago I joined Pinterest (you can follow me here) and I have been so inspired by other blogs I have decided to create my own, all about things I've made, tried, reviewed, and more.

SaMiE Designs has been a dream of mine for quite some time now, and I am excited to get it off the ground. SaMiE isn't my given name, it's a configuration of my first name (SAra), my middle (MIchelle), and the first letter from my love's last name (English). I love it because it's crafty and original to me. It's also what I named my dress form. See:

My Design Penname, SaMiE, from SAra MIchelle and my love's last name, English.

I would like to start off with something I have just done recently: creating my own dress form out of duct tape. Someone I follow recently posted this duct tape dress form design and I was immediately inspired. I had been looking into dress forms not too long ago, of course they were completely out of my price range. The Duct Tape idea was revolutionary in my mind, and I pinned it quickly.

Approximately a week later I was admiring the adjustable dress forms in the costume shop at my work when a co-worker came in and we started talking. She told me she had used a duct tape dress form for years before purchasing the adjustable form at a yard sale for $20. (Some girls have all the luck)

I went to the store that night and bought duct tape and a long t-shirt. I picked a t-shirt with Tinkerbell on it because although no one would ever see it, I would always know, and it gives me a smile to think of Tinkerbell in my dress form. Call me crazy.

So, the idea is very simple, but I'll give you the info on how to make your own. I'll also give you some tips of things I noticed when doing it myself:

Step 1: Find an old, long t-shirt you don't care about. Or you can buy one. (Bonus points if you get a tinkerbell t-shirt)

Step 2: Get LOTS of duct tape. Also grab as many free newspapers as you can. I used about 15 copies.

Step 3: Enlist a friend, and make sure you tell them your idea for the finished product. (Unlike myself, whose boyfriend was wondering why he was putting duct tape on me for the first 15 minutes, which led to a lot of confusion)

Step 4: Put on undergarments that it would be OK if they got cut a little, then put the t-shirt on top. Put your hair in a bun as high as you can. Trust me, it hurts when it gets in with the duct tape.

Step 5: Cover the shirt with duct tape, trying to get as snug as you can, however BE CAREFUL not to wind the duct tape roll around your body. If you want to wrap it around, pull slack from the roll and place it on your shirt. It will get pretty hard to breathe if you pull the roll around your body without letting slack out. It will also pull the shirt, which could result in an uneven bottom. I used strips of duct tape of the approximate length of the area I was trying to cover.

Step 6: Try to have a few layers of duct tape on, and go over each area again to make sure it's as smooth as you can get it.

Step 7: For the neck and arms: Put newspaper around your neck and under the fabric at the arms. Repeat step 5 and step 6 so that way you have great neck and arm areas.

Step 8: When you are satisfied with the form, mark your belly button, waist, and if you wear your pants at a lower level (like I do) you want to mark that as well.

Step 9: Starting from the bottom, cut a straight line up the back, cutting through both the shirt and duct tape.

Duct Tape Dress Form by SaMiE

Step 10: Once the form is removed, place horizontal small strips of duct tape over the cut that you have made. Then duct tape the bottom, creating a "floor" to the form, making sure not to mess up the shape. Then crumble up the newspaper and fill the form, packing it tight, but not too tight to burst.

Step 11: Decorate your body form, if you chose to do so.

I have not yet mounted my dress form, but I will be doing that soon, and I will give you directions on how to do that as well. My form, however, stands up pretty well on its own so far.

At the end of the day, I ended up with this:

So, that's it. Now don't you want to make one for yourself?