I'm Taylor. And in Russian my profession is called a tailor. I really like to sew. But it turns out that a shoemaker has no boots. I've never had a mannequin that fits my figure at home. And here’s a miracle - I came across a website on the Internet that tells how you can make a clone mannequin with your own hands at a minimum cost. I'll start tomorrow...

Make your own mannequin!

"Shoemaker without shoes!". This is the fate that awaits you if you know how to sew, but there is no one to help you do the fitting. With a non-standard back there are the biggest complications. Your own double will help solve the problem - a mannequin created in the image and likeness of your body.

The first attempt at making a dummy from adhesive tape was unsuccessful, but the shortcomings of the instructions offered by the Americans were clarified.

The second mannequin was made using improved technology and was completed successfully. You can follow the well-known instructions, you can follow my path, or even better - make your own, more progressive changes to the technology for making your own double and share with everyone.

Warning: Do not start making a mannequin in a stuffy or hot room, and also be careful if the room is too cold. When wrapping, do not pull the tape, otherwise the person will become ill from suffocation and from poor circulation. Advice to the "teapot": before you start wrapping yourself, take a glass of liqueur, it relaxes.

What do you need: Adhesive tape 80-100 meters (packaging in the photo). Wooden coat hanger. A cardboard tube from a fabric store (the fabric is wound onto it at the factory). T-shirt. Polyethylene or plastic bag. Safety pin. Scissors. Wire. Corrugated cardboard. Sintepon. Foam rubber. Felt pen. Plumb. Tailor's meter. Mannequin stand. And most importantly... a handy partner.

Operating procedure:

In order to make a mannequin that is distinguished by high quality, comfort and durability, you will have to arm yourself with patience and create a comfortable environment in the room: it should not be too hot or cold, and drafts must be avoided.

Materials for work

A more complex but accurate method of making a mannequin involves the use of cling film or ordinary plastic bags, adhesive tape, medical plaster bandages, paraffin, polyurethane foam, a wooden or metal clothes hanger, and batting. Before starting work, it is necessary to take control measurements of the circumference of the chest, waist and hips - the accuracy of making the mannequin will directly depend on these parameters.

Preparatory stage

To make a mannequin, you need to undress down to your underwear so that your assistant can wrap the body fairly tightly, but without squeezing, with cling film. After this, small pieces of adhesive tape are glued on top of the film, following the contours of the figure as accurately as possible. It is most convenient to start working by moving from the hip line to the neck, which ensures freedom of breathing and good health for the person wrapped in the film.

Making a mannequin mold

Once the preparatory work is completed, you can begin creating a plaster cast. Pharmacy plaster bandages work well for these purposes: strips soaked in water are placed, crossing, on the back and thrown over the chest. Gradually cover the entire body to the waist with plaster bandages and move on to the hips. In order for the mannequin to hold its shape well, three or more layers of plaster may be needed.

Depending on the thickness of the layer, wait some time necessary for the gypsum to harden. As it hardens, marks are applied to the surface of the future mannequin along the shoulders and sides, which are necessary in the future for precise alignment of the parts. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the plaster along the lateral and shoulder lines and separate the mold into two parts.

The inner surface of the mannequin is coated with melted paraffin and filled with mounting foam: in the future, the layer will make it easy to separate the foam cast from the plaster base. Both halves of the mannequin are filled in layers with foam, waiting the necessary time for each layer to harden. A clothes hanger is inserted into the structure, both halves of the mold are connected and secured with tape.

The final stage of making a mannequin

After the foam has completely dried, the plaster mold is removed, the surface of the workpiece is leveled with sandpaper and the coincidence of the control marks is checked. To make the mannequin smooth and smooth out unevenness, you can apply a layer of gypsum putty on it and subsequently sand it with the finest sandpaper.

If the control measurements do not coincide with the original, then all errors are corrected by sanding or gluing thin layers of fabric. The final stage is to cover the workpiece with batting or padding polyester and install the mannequin on the stand.

As a stand, you can use a shovel handle mounted on a regular cross. To give a mannequin made a more aesthetic appearance, it can be carefully covered with elastic knitwear in a beautiful color over the batting.

Sewing lovers know well how inconvenient it can be to try things on themselves. The best way out is a mannequin. But purchased “torsos” are noticeably higher in price, and they are made to fit a standard figure, and we are all individual. Having rummaged through the depths of the Internet, I collected a selection of mannequins made by myself. Choose what you like best and make it, model and sew new ones and wear them with pleasure.

Option I

Warning: Do not start making a mannequin in a stuffy or hot room, also be careful if the room is too cold. When wrapping, do not pull the tape, otherwise the person will become ill from suffocation and from poor circulation. Advice to the “teapot”: before you start wrapping yourself, take a glass of liqueur, it relaxes.

What you need: Adhesive tape 80-100 meters (packaging in the photo). Wooden coat hanger. A cardboard tube from a fabric store (the fabric is wound onto it at the factory). T-shirt. Polyethylene or plastic bag. Safety pin. Scissors. Wire. Corrugated cardboard. Sintepon. Foam rubber. Felt pen. Plumb. Tailor's meter. Mannequin stand. And most importantly... a handy partner.
Operating procedure:
Women: wear your usual underwear (bra). Don't forget to wrap a plastic bag around your neck. You can put your hair in a cap.

Wear a T-shirt of the appropriate length. Secure the back and front edges of the T-shirt between your legs with a safety pin. Apply the tape from about your navel, down between your legs, and ending at about your lower back.
Why is this necessary? During the production of the first mannequin, it turned out that the structure tends to “slide” upward. The action described above will fix the mannequin shell while working.

The second solution found: the winding should be started from a wider place to a narrow one. Start at the widest point of your hips and end at your waist. The tape is not very flexible and stretchy, and the body changes volume, so protruding unsightly cavities are formed. double

We'll wrap the chest later. It is the main thing for normal well-being during work. Moreover, leave the neck for completion. Fix the shape of the chest: stick the tape crosswise under the chest, bringing the ends to the shoulders.

Next - free flight. Everything that was not sealed is sealed: back, chest, arms. Almost everything is all around. You can use the American instructions or paste on your own inspiration. The first layer of the mannequin is ready.

The second layer of film is applied vertically. In some places, irregularities are corrected with separate pieces of tape. Finally, cover the neck. Take a plumb line. Using it, from the seventh cervical vertebra, draw a straight line down with a felt-tip pen.

To reveal the strictly horizontal shape of the mannequin’s bottom, the same distance from the floor to the hips is measured around the figure. Dots are made with a felt-tip pen, about eight of them. Connect the dots placed on the hips in a circle - the hip line. A wire is wrapped along this line, holding its shape well. The wire is pressed over the body, the junction of the ends is fixed at the back. The resulting ring is removed (pulled) carefully down through the legs. Using this form, the bottom is drawn on the cardboard.

The ring is secured to the cardboard with pins, and the outline is drawn with a felt-tip pen along the inside of the wire ring. Make the bottom in two copies. The direction of the structures of the corrugated cardboard cavities of the two parts must intersect, which is necessary for the rigidity of the mannequin structure.

Remove the resulting mannequin shell by carefully cutting the bridge between the legs, and then, zig-zag, the back along the drawn middle line.

Using a pipe and hangers, make a mannequin holder. In my case, the hangers turned out to be too broad, so I had to saw off the excess. If you have straight shoulders, tape a piece of foam rubber to the edges of your shoulders. Achieve a similar shoulder height for the mannequin's "skeleton".
*They did not make a slot on the pipe up to the jumper of the hanger, this would have weakened the structure: our pipe turned out to be not so thick and strong. For the jumper, holes were made in the pipe, the jumper was inserted and re-attached to the hangers.
*Make chest inserts from foam rubber. Place them in the grooves and secure with tape. Place the mannequin shell on a holder made from a hanger and a pipe.
*The zigzag cut on the back must be connected with a ribbon, starting from the neck. It is worth gluing on the outside and inside (the tape does not stick well to a T-shirt). Restore the mark of the seventh cervical vertebra immediately after connecting the incision in the neck area.

Seal the holes in the “hands” and stuff the mannequin tightly with synthetic padding along the way. The shell should take the correct shape of your body. The pipe is located approximately in the center of the mannequin, only moving closer to the front in the hip area (your posture should serve as a guide).
*Glue two parts of the corrugated cardboard bottom and place them on the floor. An assistant is needed to determine the location of the hole for the pipe on it.
*Place the dummy pipe approximately in the center of the bottom. Take a plumb line (a string with a weight) and place it behind the mannequin at the intersection of the center of the back and the line of the hips.
*The bottom end of the plumb line should touch the extreme point of the back of the bottom (move the pipe in the desired direction to achieve a match). Repeat the operation, moving the plumb line along the hip line until you identify the exact location for the hole. Trace the bottom of the pipe with a felt-tip pen and cut through it.
*Cut the bottom of the mannequin shell to the hip line (bottom line). Place the bottom on the pipe and try to install it in place. Redistribute the padding if necessary.
*Fixation of the bottom. Secure the shell and bottom with tape in four places. Next, glue the shell around the bottom until it is completely glued.
*The ideal stand for a mannequin is an office chair leg: it is stable and can rotate. The diameter of the leg and pipe matched just perfectly; there was no need to seal the joint.
We set the height of the mannequin (you can make it a little higher, taking into account the minimum heels). Measure your height from the seventh cervical vertebra to the floor. Subtract from it the height of the chair leg to the mark where the base of the mannequin pipe should reach (black in the photo).
Place the resulting difference on the mannequin down from the mark of the seventh cervical vertebra (cut off the excess part of the pipe). Place the pipe on the chair leg. Your double is ready!
P.S. Soon after production, Lucy cut off the mannequin’s arms. They make fitting difficult.
Helped in preparing the material:
Lyudmila Buravtsova (Lucy) and her handy assistant-husband - Vladimir. They made a mannequin, wrote recommendations, and took photos.

Option II.(photos enlarge when clicked)

Wear a garbage bag. Place the tape just below your bust line. Then start wrapping the tape down your stomach.

Wrap the tape tightly diagonally across your chest. Roll the tape until the garbage bag is hidden. Save the top part for later.

Then make a skirt from another garbage bag. Make a cut down the center and then attach a piece of tape between the legs, from the lower abdomen down, and then up the back to the hips. Then run the tape around your hips. Wind the tape until the entire bag is covered. Apply the tape diagonally to cover your buttocks as well as the front of your lower abdomen. You should be completely covered with tape from your bust down. Now you need to cover your back.

Start applying the tape from top to bottom along your back. Do this until your shoulders are closed. Then we apply the tape along the entire back to the shoulders.

Take a piece of garbage bag and secure it with tape around your neck. Do it as firmly as possible. Don’t strangle yourself, be sure to breathe :)) We wrapped tape around the neck, checked for any holes, and sealed them.
Then we'll add a piece of trash bag to our arms. We wrap a little tape around the arm, it doesn’t need to be too far down, maybe three turns to the armpits. Then close the remaining holes on the shoulder area.
Are you already dripping with sweat?! Wonderful! At the same time, let's correct the figure a little.

Cut the tape along the back until you can freely remove the entire structure. We seal the newly made cut back.

Make the bottom of a leg out of cardboard, attach it to the hole and seal it well with tape. Do this on both legs.

Let's fill the bottom of the future mannequin with polyurethane foam, it is available on the construction market. I hung it on a hanger so the mannequin would keep its shape. Be sure to fill the mannequin in small layers, drying each one. Take my word for it, you shouldn’t foam a large volume at once.

When you have finished foaming to the bottom of the armhole, make cardboard circles for the arms and glue them into the holes with tape. When the foam hardens, cover the entire mannequin with another layer of tape. Place a cardboard circle around your neck and cover it with tape.

The mannequin turned out exactly my size. This is why I like to use trash bags rather than t-shirts.
Now I can make clothes that flatter me! To position the mannequin I added two cardboard tubes to the bottom of my mold. This is only a temporary phenomenon.
If you want to know, I used 2 rolls of tape and foam. The total cost of the project was approximately $40.00. It's better than paying $150.00-$300.00 for a mannequin that comes in a standard size and doesn't fit your body type perfectly!

That's all for today, but the topic is not closed. There will be several more master classes on making mannequins and devices for convenience in sewing and ironing (ironing) products for yourself and your family.

My daughter is now studying at the academy to become a sewing technologist and they were given the task - to create a mini-collection (each student has their own theme) of three items and demonstrate it on large-scale mannequins (scale 1: 2.5). But.... the mannequins were not given out. Well, they don’t have that many mannequins in their household. There is one plasticine mold from which it was necessary to remove a double from papier-mâché. But... there is only one for everyone, papier-mâché in the amount of 3 pieces for each face takes a long time.... in general... time was already running out, but my daughter and I were not able to grab the plasticine woman. She still walks around from hand to hand. And then I have a long-standing fixed idea - to get a large-scale mannequin! I matured for a long time, I kept going through the topics of our craftswomen and collecting experience in creating mannequins. And then the stars aligned and there was nowhere else to retreat. Mom scratched the back of her head and got down to business. It turned out that creating mini-mannequins is such a fun activity! First I’ll show you what came out, and then I’ll post the detailed creation process in pictures. For those who want to repeat “Gastello’s feat” I will post “patterns” of mini-mannequins in two scales (1:2 and 1:2.5).
So, meet the “striped swimsuit group”!

The very first question (and I was simply stupefied at this point :-))) - where to get patterns on which to then cut the isolon? Once I tried to build them simply by taking a table of standard sizes, but... it didn’t look at all like the “figure” of a mannequin :-(. And here is a brilliant idea from Lybcha-1965! You need to remove the tape from the mannequin! On the farm I have a standard size 46 (Russian) mannequin, and my daughter and I just needed a size 46 in scale! Can you imagine what a coincidence!
The sheet was quickly cut and the skin was removed from the large mannequin using the pinning method :-). I removed the tape only from half of the mannequin, because... I have it with different shoulders (apparently it was modeled from a living person :-))), and then I simply mirrored it so that the mannequins turned out symmetrical. She took the tracing paper off the sheet. That is, I transferred the contours of the “pattern” drawn in pencil on the sheet onto tracing paper. For what? I just thought that when I start cutting the sheet into pieces of A4 size, the fabric might just move, but tracing paper is paper, it won’t move and there will be practically no distortion. Now we need to somehow scan all this stuff ;-). I had no desire to draw A4 size “squares” on tracing paper, because... You can miss the size and again this threatens to distort the patterns in the end. Then I took sheets of printer paper and glued them together with paper tape, joint to joint, into a strip of 4 sheets (for me, half the front and half the back each fit on 4 A4 sheets!). I carefully traced the contours of the patterns on the tracing paper with a soft pencil, turned the tracing paper “face down” onto a strip of glued sheets and traced the contours of the patterns again from the “wrong side” of the tracing paper. The drawing was imprinted on the sheets as if from a carbon copy. I drew it again more boldly, now on paper, put all the alignment marks and cut the tape. That's it, now you can scan without problems :-). I scanned it and reduced it to the required scale in FS. Then I printed it out and connected it according to the marks. The result was a set of mannequin patterns on a scale of 1:2.5.

Patterns on a scale of 1:2.5

Before

Back

Rack

patterns in scale 1:2

Bottom

Before 1

Before 2

Silhouette 1 left

Silhouette 1 right

Silhouette 2 left

Silhouette 2 right

Backrest 1

Back 2

Rack

To print the patterns in the original size in the printer settings when printing, you need to check the “Page Fill” box and print without borders.

I started having problems with isolon from the very beginning, that is, at the stage of gluing the interlining. Well, it didn’t want to stick. Then, after joining the seams, the chest somehow pressed inward and... well, it’s not really a coat at all. I was saddened and sat down to think about how to enlarge my breasts. Thoughts flowed in the direction of pressed synthetic padding (as I do on quilted cups) and then... urrrrrrr... the thought came: “Why not make the whole mannequin according to the principle of quilted cups?!” After all, iron-pressed and quilted stytepon is a very shape-resistant and at the same time plastic material! No sooner said than done! And the work began to boil. Each mannequin used 1.5 m of padding polyester 1.5 m wide. I pressed it into 6 layers using a wet iron. The result was a sheet 0.5m x 0.75m. From it I cut out pattern parts without allowances. You need to trace the patterns very accurately!

Then we take a piece of calico or chintz and glue it with knitted sheepskin. Like this

We cut out pattern parts from calico with allowances around the perimeter of 1 cm

We put padding polyester parts on them, stitch them around the perimeter at a distance of 1mm from the edge (of padding polyester) and machine stitch the entire part. The distance between stitching lines should not exceed 3mm!

All the details were quilted. Then we cut off all the allowances flush with the contours of the padding polyester. We also cut out the dart solution. We put marks for connecting the parts (they are on the patterns) and hand-sew all the parts end to end. First darts, and then “relief” seams. We iron them a little, using an iron to form the smooth lines of the future mannequin (especially the chest). I ironed the chest on a small foam ball ;-). And we cover the seams with strips of adhesive interlining. I did this not to hide the running of the threads of the seams, but so that when arching the mannequin along the circumference of the hips and waist, the seams would not become an angle, but would lie in a smooth arc.

So I assemble the back separately and the front separately. And I also sew it seam to seam with handles to the “tie” - the silhouette. This is what happens.

Then, again, I manually connect the front and back along the sides and shoulders. For convenience, I first connected the halves of the mannequin with an elastic band along the waist line. Then, after connecting, I removed the elastic band.

In the photo you can see that I made one mannequin with pieces of handles (like on my big mannequin), and the other two without handles at all. The patterns in the links are given with handles, but if someone wants to make them without them, they can simply be cut off along the armhole lines that are on the patterns. The silhouette pattern will also need to be slightly corrected, removing the bulges of the arms.
After connecting the halves of the mannequin, we insert a wooden stick - the future stand - between the central parts of the screed. My sticks have a diameter of 1.2 mm. I bought it at a construction supermarket (across the road from the house ;-)). Stand height for scale 1:2.5 is 64cm. For scale 1:2 - 80cm.
The stick was inserted, placed at the bottom of the mannequin in the middle and secured with several stitches on both sides.

You don’t have to fix the stick in the neck area, because there is a very small distance and it is clamped quite tightly between the ties.
Now we fill our mannequins with ordinary medical cotton wool. You can use small scraps of fabric or padding polyester. But cotton wool turned out to be the most convenient for me. Each mannequin took 300g of cotton wool (3 packs of 100g each).

At first I thought not to stuff the mannequin, but then I tried it and it turned out that it holds its shape better, the “chest” doesn’t sink in and the shoulders on the back become round and beautiful :-). Here is a photo to compare the stuffed mannequin and the unstuffed one. A! The not yet stuffed mannequin strives to take the shape of a circle from below. But our body is not round, but oval in cross section! :-)) In general, when the mannequin was stuffed with cotton wool, it became very similar to a large real mannequin

After stuffing, we close the mannequin with the bottom, which is also made of compressed and quilted padding polyester. Attention! At the same time, DO NOT remove the wand from the mannequin, because then it will no longer be possible to push it through the bottom of the mannequin due to the very small hole in the bottom (we simply won’t be able to move the ties apart in such a small hole)! And we can only put a mannequin on a stand with a stand already attached from below.

Now you need to cover the mannequins with supplex (bi-elastic material from which swimsuits are usually made). We cut it out in 2 layers according to the silhouette screed pattern with an allowance of 1 cm around the perimeter and 3 cm at the bottom.

We sew along the sides and shoulders according to the markings with an elastic stitch (I use a back-and-forth stitch, but you can also stitch it with a narrow zig zag), leaving an unsewn hole in the neck for the stand. We cut the allowances to a width of 2.5-3mm (no need to make any gaps), turn them inside out, stretch them onto the mannequin and... we understand that adjustments are needed. We remove and make changes. It turns out that for a good fit you need to round off all the sharp corners in the area of ​​the shoulders and arms. And on a mannequin with handles, also reduce these same handles by 1 cm on each side. (bottom photo on the right)

We sew along new lines, cut off the allowances, turn them inside out and again stretch them onto the mannequin. Hooray! Everything worked out!

Now you need to pull the supplex onto a thread from the bottom of the mannequin.

And this is what happened:

The mannequins are currently put on auxiliary sticks.
Now let's move on to the stands and stands.
The stand was made from planks purchased at the same construction supermarket. We bought 2 planks measuring 50 x 20 cm and my husband sawed them for me into 4 pieces 20 x 20 cm with a thickness of 1.8 cm. I used a drill to make a hole in the middle with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the sticks. I sharpened the sticks on one side with a knife like a pencil. I coated them with Moment-gel glue and coated the holes inside with this glue as well. And she hammered the sticks into the holes. It turned out very strong and reliable. On the bottom, on the base of the stands, I glued 4 squares of leather in the corners so that the stands would not slide on the table.

When the glue on the stands had dried, I smeared the pieces of sticks on the sides with it, put the mannequins on the stands, pushing the auxiliary sticks up (thus taking them out of the mannequins) and turned the mannequins 90 degrees around their axis so that the glue strips came into contact with the details of the silhouette screed. That's it, the mannequins are firmly glued to the stands!

Now a little reasoning. I think such a mannequin can be made life-size, because... It turns out to be quite light, but holds its shape well. Pins can easily be stuck into it and you can even iron on it.
You can use a pattern of adhesive as a template. A silhouette screed can be made using the margo_kt method, but with minor amendments.
What exactly are the amendments? When I started tracing the shadow of the mannequin, and then took a control measurement of the bottom, it turned out that the error in width was about 3.5 cm. That is, the width of the shadow turned out to be 3.5 cm larger than the real silhouette.

First, I did everything as indicated by margo_kt. But there were errors not only in the width but also in the height of the silhouette. Then I decided to outline the shadow in 3 stages. First, I placed the lamp at waist level and outlined a piece of shadow. Then she placed the lamp at chest level and again traced a piece of shadow, trying to connect the lines with those obtained at waist level. Then she again moved the lamp, only now to the level of the hips, and again outlined the shadow, connecting with the lines obtained in the waist area. The main thing is to install the lamp exactly in the middle of the mannequin (vertical axis) each time. After all these manipulations, a fairly accurate outline in height was obtained. And in terms of width, I simply removed the extra centimeters in accordance with the bottom measurement, under the ruler. That is, I narrowed it by 1.75 cm on each side.

In various fields of activity, one has to deal with artificial parts that imitate parts of the body or the full figure of a person. In sewing, clothing trade, and hairdressing, such “visual aids” are used both as demonstration materials and as tools or devices for ease of work. If you do not need a large number of models or need to create a thing of specific proportions, you can make a mannequin with your own hands.

A little history

The mannequin is an ancient human invention. The first similar products were discovered in Egyptian tombs, repeating the figure of the ruler, complemented by a set of clothes. Similar imitations were used to practice wrestling techniques. The wooden dummy was widely used to forge armor for warriors. It became popular later as a display item for clothing in trade. Now the use of mannequins is very widespread, and sometimes these “artificial people” not only have complete external similarities, but are also equipped with numerous sensors. They help in studying the consequences of possible injuries, developing safety systems, etc.

Areas of use of mannequins and their types

As already indicated, these objects are used in many production and service areas of work. The most widely used and well-known are mannequins for clothing (demonstration and sewing). In any store that sells dresses, blouses, coats, several models are necessarily presented on a plastic model. This way the item looks more impressive and natural, however, such products, as a rule, have average proportions with long legs, and the suit will fit slightly differently on a real person.

A specific, but very popular among specialists is a dummy for boxing or other types of wrestling, which is used for practicing punches with both hands and feet. These objects can be either suspended in the form of a pear containing dense heavy filler, or they can be a humanoid structure fixed to a rigid base using a spring mechanism.

Hairdressers use a mannequin head for hairstyles when training and improving their skills. A realistic three-dimensional tool allows you to practice all operations - from styling and drying to creating complex compositions using special tools.

What types of clothing mannequins are there?

These objects are classified in terms of their appearance and who they represent. Based on the first criterion, the grouping is as follows:

• Natural.
• Stylized.
• Abstract.

The first ones involve full detailing of the body and face, the use of hair and eyelashes. The latter are performed in a simplified manner, without elaboration of small elements. Wigs are usually replaced with plastic hair made as one piece with the figure. Abstract ones are generally made even from geometric figures with the general preservation of human proportions. Each option can be a female, male or children's mannequin. Specialized figures of pregnant women and individual body elements (heads for hats, legs for displaying trousers) are also produced.

Any of the mannequins, especially naturalistic ones, can be used not only in retail outlets, but also at home as a hanger or an element of interior decor. Similar figures, very similar to living people, are used in cafes or restaurants as decoration.

Types of tailor's mannequins

The main task of these assistants is to ensure ease of use. They perform fittings, adjustments, and also iron and steam finished products. For individual tailoring and large productions, various types of figures may be required, both women's and men's, children's, and teenagers.

The sliding mannequin is very convenient. It allows you to adjust the size of individual elements within certain limits (chest circumference, height from shoulder to waist, etc.). This option is good for small production. Enterprises often use non-sliding structures designed for sewing a specific size. There are also special trouser and skirt mannequins.

The structures are hard and soft. The latter are more convenient, as they allow you to work freely with pins, and the upper part of the neck is used as a needle bed. There are also differences in the support material. It can be metal, wooden, stationary or mobile. In a word, there is a large choice. Everyone should choose the appropriate option based on their own requirements.

The convenience of individual tailoring mannequins

If you sew to order or for a family, then you know that fitting is constantly required during the work process, and some stages are best performed directly on the person. However, this is not always possible. One cannot be done on oneself, another takes too much time, and, for example, children generally cannot stand in one place for a long time.

If you specialize in tailoring clothes for women, then you should buy a mannequin. The sliding option is best suited if your clients do not differ much in proportions. However, if there is someone with specific non-standard shapes, it is worth either modifying an existing design or making a unique mannequin. The tailor's version should not only follow the contours of the model's body, but also be convenient for work. In the process of trying on a product, you have to use pins and fasten the parts with basting thread, so the design must be both strong and soft at the same time.

If you're working with a limited number of faces, but they all have completely different proportions, it's worth considering making your own custom mannequins. This is relevant for a dressmaker who sews for herself, her family or her closest friends. Buying professional sewing dummies will be quite expensive, but making one yourself is not too difficult and less expensive.

Execution technologies

You can make a mannequin for women, men or children in different ways. The options are largely similar, but different materials and devices are used. It also takes different amounts of time to complete. The purpose of the work is the same for all methods - to obtain an exact copy of the model’s body. Two people will have to do the work. One can't do it alone. Two options will be discussed in detail below. In the first case, the sewing mannequin will be made from adhesive tape and a T-shirt using arbitrary filler; in the second option, plaster bandages and polyurethane foam are used.

To perform the fastening you will need: a hanger (hangers), a hook, a cardboard tube or a shovel handle, a rigid base, for example, a cross for a Christmas tree or the lower part of an office chair, then the mannequin will also be convenient to move. When choosing a manufacturing method, focus on the available materials or ease of use from your point of view.

Precautionary measures

Before you start making a mannequin with your own hands, you should seriously prepare yourself or the model for this process. The work may take several hours, and most of the time will have to be spent in a tight-fitting “shell” and in a relatively motionless position, that is, you will not be able to sit or lie down. In addition, the body will be wrapped in adhesive tape or cling film, which means that air access to the skin will be limited, which will also make it difficult to breathe deeply, so you should work in a cool, ventilated room, and wrap it from the bottom up, so that the lungs, heart and neck were under the “shell” for less time.

If you are going to make a mannequin of a girl or a guy, you can choose any manufacturing method. For children or older people, the option with a T-shirt is better, since plaster bandages take a long time to dry (harden), and their weight is very noticeable on the body, especially if you put them in several layers.

Materials and tools

To make a sewing mannequin, you will need the following:

• Cling film or large plastic bags.
• T-shirt or plaster bandages from the pharmacy.
• Scotch tape (stationery or construction tape).
• Plumb or level for marking.
• Scissors or knife.
• Wire matching the perimeter of the mannequin's bottom.
• Marker.
• Thick cardboard (corrugated) for making the bottom.
• Paraffin (candle) in the version of working with plaster bandages.
• A hanger or hook from a hanger.
• A pipe from a roll of fabric (you can ask at the store) or a handle from a shovel.
• A cross piece, like for a Christmas tree, or the bottom of an office chair.
• Filler (holofiber or polyurethane foam).
• Construction foam gun and foam cleaner.
• Sandpaper and putty to smooth the surface of the foam mannequin.
• Paper and PVA glue.
• Synthetic padding or batting to cover the workpiece and possibly adjust the shape.
• Stretch knitwear as a finishing cover.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated. Most people already have everything at home, if the woman sews, and the man was dealing with renovations in the apartment. The option with a T-shirt and filling is easier to complete. It will require less materials and time, but a mannequin made of foam in a plaster mold will be stronger and of better quality. Any of the methods will be cheaper than buying a ready-made mannequin, and most importantly, it will be an ideal copy of a specific person.

DIY clothing mannequin made from adhesive tape

So, let's start with a simpler version, made using a regular cotton T-shirt. Use the old unnecessary one, as the fabric will remain “walled up”, acting as a base.

As for the length, it can be up to the hips, but it is better to take a longer one so that it can be connected with a pin between the legs. This will secure the fabric to the body. It will also prevent it from moving upward during operation.

To make clothing mannequins using the first method, you need to complete the following steps:

Now you can attach the structure to the crosspiece and start using it.

Manufacturing technology from polyurethane foam

If you decide to make a mannequin with your own hands using the second method, the stages of work are largely similar, so the recommendations here will be briefer. So, you need to do this as follows:

You have learned how to make a mannequin in two ways. Choose the option you like. Both methods are easy. You can supplement any of them and improve the technology at your discretion.

Fighting partner

The simplest boxing dummy can be easily built at your dacha. To do this, it is enough to firmly fix the base with a spring from a car shock absorber in the ground. Place a stick in it (part of the handle from a shovel), and on top build a semblance of a human torso from a bag or something similar, filled, for example, with sawdust. This option will not only be easy to manufacture, but also convenient to use.

Children's hairstyle mannequin: play and learning

Every little princess loves to play with dolls and braid their hair. Nowadays there are a lot of opportunities for children's creativity: you can buy books or download instructions for performing various hairstyles. This activity is useful not only from an aesthetic point of view. It helps develop fine motor skills, which has a beneficial effect on the development of the child. To prevent damage to mother’s hair or expensive dolls during this game, you can make a special mannequin for hairstyles. In this case, the girl will be able to weave her beauties as many times as she wants, and if the manual is damaged, it is easy to make it again. Even the process of making a mannequin can be easily turned into a fun and entertaining process.

How to make a head model for girls to do braids

The simplest option is to make a flat profile with yarn hair. To do this you will need the following:

• Thick cardboard or plastic.
• Pencil.
• Stationery knife or scissors.
• Awl.
• Threads.

The mannequin head for hairstyles is done like this:

1. Draw the profile of the head on the cardboard base. If you are afraid of making a mistake with the proportions and getting a completely unrealistic image, print the finished picture in the scale you need and trace the outline of the cut out profile on your base.
2. Cut out the resulting part.
3. Along the line of the head where the hair will be, use an awl to make holes at a short distance from the edge. You can do them in one row or several. Choose at your own discretion.
4. Take the yarn and cut it into threads of the same length that suits you. Keep in mind that the threads will be folded in half, so you will have to prepare pieces of double size. To do this step quickly, take a rectangular piece of cardboard and wrap yarn around it, then cut along one side. The preparations are completed.
5. Take a bunch of threads and thread them through the first hole. To secure them, make a knot or thread them immediately folded in half, and then thread one end through the loop formed on the other edge.
6. Fill all holes using the same method.
7. If you want, you can decorate the resulting head with eyes, lips, and give the model “makeup.”

All is ready. The girl will calmly do braiding. For greater realism, the blank can be easily made from cardboard, painted in a color to match the skin tone. Or even make embossed details from papier-mâché.

So, you have learned how to easily and quickly make a mannequin with your own hands. Now you can easily do fittings in the absence of a model, keep a girl busy with braiding, or make a wrestling partner for a boy.