[NFB-Blind-Crafters] Sewing class (was DIY dress form)

Sat Aug 15 17:03:22 UTC 2026

Hi Ramona.

Sounds exciting!  Guess I better get busy and figure out how to thread my
little sewing machine.

The dates you said sound fine to me.

We could do it on Zoom, or Cindy can arrange some phone chats.  Do you have
a preference?

Cindy has notes on what we discussed before as sewing topics we're
interested in.

I want to make a dress or skirt, as I said.

I think other people are interested, and I hope they will speak up.  If it's
just me, maybe you and I could just have a long conversation.

Tracy

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters <nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf
Of Ramona Walhof via NFB-Blind-Crafters
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2026 5:21 PM
To: List for Blind Crafters and Artists <nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ramona Walhof <walhoframona at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] DIY Dress Form Project

I started to describe how to make a skirt, but I decided it's too long for
one email.  I have not taught a class for quite a while, so please tell me
what I need to do.  In struction would probably take 2 or 3 one-hour
classes, depending on how many people are involved.  Sunday ev at 6:00 pm
mountain timemight work.  That's 8:00 pm eastern. September 20, 27, and
October 4 would be my suggestion.  I seem to have more stuff scheduled
during the week than I like.  Supplies would be fabric, scissors, tape
measure, and needle and thread or sewing machine.  Sewing machine
recommended. Amount of fabric probably should be decided after I talk to
each student about what he/she really wants to do. For example, skirt can
have pockets  or nnot.  Wasteband can be elastic or button or hooked.
Fabric can be knit and stretchy or woven.  Width of fabric also makes a
difference.  Let's not start with wool..  

Let me know what else you need orif it is better to ask for interested
people before planning a class. If these dates don't work, it would be
November.  And January is a good  time.  

Here WalMart is carrying more fabric than while Joann's was open.  Hobby
Lobby still has some. 

I have not purchased fabric online, but I am sure you can.  You just can't
feel it online.   

Best, 

Ramona 

  _____  

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters <nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> > on behalf of Tracy Carcione
via NFB-Blind-Crafters <nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org> >
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2026 3:30 PM
To: 'List for Blind Crafters and Artists' <nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org> >
Cc: carcione at access.net <mailto:carcione at access.net>  <carcione at access.net
<mailto:carcione at access.net> >
Subject: Re: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] DIY Dress Form Project 

Hi Ramona.

I would love a class on how to make a gathered skirt.  It's my favorite
kind, and, if it's easy, even better.

The dress I want is a comfortable summer dress, midi-length, sleeveless but
with straps wide enough so I don't have to worry about my bra showing, scoop
neck, A-line or other wide skirt, and, very important, pockets. 

I have a dress that's close to what I want, except I've gotten too big.  And
I have a couple others that fit, but don't have pockets.  So I could use one
of them as a template, if I'm careful while cutting.

And I have to figure out where to buy fabric, now Joanne's is gone.

Tracy

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters <nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> > On Behalf Of Ramona Walhof
via NFB-Blind-Crafters
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2026 11:34 PM
To: List for Blind Crafters and Artists <nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org> >
Cc: Ramona Walhof <walhoframona at gmail.com <mailto:walhoframona at gmail.com> >
Subject: Re: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] DIY Dress Form Project

Tracie, what kind of a dress do you want?  Have you looked at pattern books?
I believe that more people are wearing dresses and skirts recently.  

Ramona

  _____  

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters < <mailto:nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org>
nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Tracy Carcione via
NFB-Blind-Crafters < <mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org>
nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2026 11:48 PM
To: 'List for Blind Crafters and Artists' <
<mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org> nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org>
Cc:  <mailto:carcione at access.net> carcione at access.net <
<mailto:carcione at access.net> carcione at access.net>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] DIY Dress Form Project

Kit, this is brilliant!  And you're a beginner sewer?   Wow!

I want to make a dress myself.  I've looked around the shops, and haven't
seen what I want.  It never occurred to me that a dress form would be good
to have, though my mother had one.  She was an excellent seamstress, and so
is my sister.

I'd be very interested to hear how this project progresses. 

You're inspiring me to give my theoretical dress project more serious
thought.

Tracy

From: NFB-Blind-Crafters < <mailto:nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org>
nfb-blind-crafters-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Kit Aronoff via
NFB-Blind-Crafters
Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2026 5:09 PM
To:  <mailto:nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org> nfb-blind-crafters at nfbnet.org
Cc: Kit Aronoff < <mailto:kit.aronoff at gmail.com> kit.aronoff at gmail.com>
Subject: [NFB-Blind-Crafters] DIY Dress Form Project

Just wanted to share! My dad and I have been working on a project for a few
days. I really needed a dress form as I'm learning to sew, because it makes
it much easier to feel what I'm doing when putting pieces together. But
especially for mock-ups of garments, being able to feel where it's not
fitting and run my hand along the form to feel for the tension points and
such? Just. really helpful. 

However, I'm a plus-sized lady, and don't really have the budget for a
proper dress form. So I did some research and found various tutorials for
making a dress form with duck tape. Since we're a community of blind
crafters, and some of you might be in need of such a thing, I wanted to
share the whole process I used. Not sure if we're allowed to add pictures
with descriptions for anyone who who has vision to see the form. But we'll
see. 

I named the dress form Dorothy, because my dad and I made this together.
We've been watching Ted Lasso and I thought it would be funny since the
character is from Kansas. 

This really was a blast to put together! Highly recommend for something fun
and useful. I thought it would be more complicated than it was. The hardest
part, honestly, was doing the math to get the piece lengths together. The
special tools you need are very minimal. I wrote the directions with as much
detail as possible, so it's a bit verbose. Which makes this look more
intense than it is. The frame you can honestly do by yourself. The only part
you need another person for is the duck tape form, since.you know, you're
being duck taped. 

Just a heads up: There's some compression that happens. And you need to be
prepared to be able to stand for at least an hour to two hours depending on
how quickly you work. By the end I found the compression from all sides to
be slightly uncomfortable. Definitely use the bathroom before doing this
haha. And have scissors nearby in case of an emergency. And have some water
your friend can give you, just in case.

Dorothy dress form Image Description

 Dress form made of duck tape. It has two white PVC feet at the bottom. A
loose white skirt hides the PVC stand underneath. Masking tape marks
specific points on the body that is peeking out behind a patterned homemade
blouse. The form is outside in front of a door of a house. With grass to the
left and a "home" door mat on the right. 

BELOW IS INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW THIS WAS MADE. There is no additional social
commentary beyond this point. (Essentially if you don't want to see how I
made this, you can stop reading here!)

Materials:

*	Duck tape (I used 2 full rolls for the entire project) 
*	PVC piping 1" diameter for the frame (although we're still working
out frame kinks so I'll make an update when we've worked that out.) We used
four 5' long PVC pipes that we then cut down. 
*	PVC cutter 
*	PVC glue, although we used gorilla hot glue... It's not the best.
Just what we had. 
*	Cardboard 
*	Joint pieces, 2 elbows, 10 T shaped pieces 
*	T-shirt you don't mind destroying (it needs to be however long you
want the form. I used a skirt and a t-shirt because I wanted my buttocks
accurate) 
*	Scissors 
*	1 Friend (you can't do this alone) 

Process:

Bust Form

1.	I started by having my friend duck tape important sections first.
The under bust, bust, waist, upper and lower hip. 
2.	We did a harness like strap. Coming diagonally to the middle of my
bust over my shoulders, and down the back. That secured the top tape strips.

3.	Vertical lines were made to connect the waist to lower-hip strips.
There were 4 of these. Two at the front and two at the back. 
4.	From there, continued to fill out. Starting with the bust, we did
the front chest. Then the back. All horizontal strips. 
5.	Then the waist (and belly). Like the bust, you want to be careful
not to squish. Especially for plus-sized folks. Just to avoid inaccuracy. 
6.	The lower back, then buttocks. 
7.	Once that's done, you will have a duck tape tunic. So sleeves are
next. We did two vertical strips. Now, I went to just above my elbow because
most of what I wear is 3/4 sleeves and I wanted the entire upper bicep. But
you can do whatever. 
8.	After the vertical, then start using horizontal circles. At the
shoulder, you want to be careful. More specifically at the shoulder join.
Make sure it's really reinforced. 
9.	Layer two was all up and down strips to add strength. Just, all
over. 
10.	Feel around for any exposed fabric. Cover those bits up with tape. 
11.	When finished, cut straight up the center back. Once out, seal the
back up with duck tape. Make sure not to overlap the edges. This part was
fiddly. 
12.	Hang your bust up on a coat hanger. I put her on a curtain rod. 

Frame

Just a warning, the dress form will be top heavy. The frame we built isn't
totally stable at the bottom. So I'll fill out this section when I've found
a stable frame. At the moment it has a rectangle shape in there, with two
cross-bars to maintain its structure. So if anyone wants to replicate the
frame we built, just note you'll want to add more weight to the bottom.
We're actually about to zip tie some roller things that came with this
rolling Christmas tree stand I got. 

Description: 

Four pieces of PVC are connected to T shaped pieces. This makes the two
legs, with the remaining 3rd side of the T piece pointed skyward. 

3" pipe stands vertically from there with another T shaped piece. This time
the 3rd opening will face inward of the frame (on both sides, each side
mirrors each other). 

A pipe that's just under the smallest section of the bust (either the waist
or shoulders most likely) connects the two facing 3rd T openers. This gives
stability to the feet. 

There's a pipe that goes up to where a second cross pole will sit. You want
that to hit a few inches above the bottom of the form. 

A third crossbar is connected using two elbow pieces around the shoulders. 

Measurements:

1.	Measure the height of your shoulders first. You need to know how
high off the ground this thing will be. (56" for me)
2.	Measure the distance from shoulders to about 2" above where the bust
itself ends. (25" for me)
3.	The T pieces connecting we used had the bit that inserts into the
pipe, then the outer metal sitting between the two pipes. The metal piece in
between for us was 1". But you need to measure whatever you're using. There
are 2 pairs of T shapes that will add height. So for us, there was 4" of
height coming from those pieces in total. 
4.	Subtract the 4" from the total height you want the dress form to be
off the ground. We needed 56" off the ground. So that brought it down to
52". That's how much PVC pipe length in total you'll need. But don't start
cutting yet. Just keep these numbers in mind.
5.	Subtract the measurement from step 2 (bottom of the bust to the
shoulders) and subtract it from the measurement in step one (how height you
want the shoulders to be from the ground). For me that's 31". For my pieces,
again, there was a single 1" section of metal adding height between the
bottom of the form and the shoulders. So subtract that. For me this was 30".
6.	So, now take the number from step 4, where you calculated the total
length of vertical pipe. For me that number was 52. Now subtract the
calculation from the previous step (30" for me) from the number in step
four. 52"-30"=22". 
7.	Now, you need to account for the 3" of pipe that sticks up from the
bottom. 21"-3"=18". 
8.	What you have are that you need two lengths of pipe that are 18"
(for my form), another two pipe pieces that are 30".
9.	You'll need 3 pipes that are equal to the distance of the smallest
point of the interior dress form. (Diameter, not the circumference). 
10.	Two 3" pieces of pipe. 

TL;DR Measurements you need:

A. Shoulders to ground.

B. 2" above bottom of form to shoulders.

C. Distance between the smallest point of the form (diameter)

D. Metal bit between the two pieces that go into the pipes. (Probably about
1"), multiply this by 3.

E. Just be aware of the 3" height added by the stand stabilizer. 

Using that, here is the quick version of how to figure out how much pipe you
need:

3" for the stand stabilizer 

A-B = pipe length for shoulders to the middle bar.  

A-3"-D-(above number)=total pipe from middle bar, to stabilizer. 

4 pieces of about 20" for the feet of the stand. 

4 bars equal to measurement C.

Putting the frame together:

1.	Make two long pieces for the feet of the frame, using a T joint. Do
this again for the second foot. Use the PVC glue to hold it together. 
2.	3" pipe pieces go into the T joint, facing skyward. 
3.	One of the cross bars attaches to the T joints. This is what
provides stability. 
4.	Bottom shaft on each side, on top put another T joint.
5.	Middle bar goes here. 
6.	The top shaft gets added.
7.	Elbow joints at the top. 
8.	Final cross bar goes in.
9.	Add weight to the bottom. You can use sand bags. We're experimenting
with adding metal wheel things that I pulled from a rolling Christmas tree
stand.

Finishing Up

1.	Once you have the frame done, you want to plug up the arm holes and
the bottom. I made duck tape circles. So you lay the duck tape sticky side
up in strips on a surface. Then overlay it with sticky side down so you
basically. make duck tape fabric. Then cut it to size and duck tape the
seams to the arm holes. 
2.	The bottom I made a cardboard oval that matched my lower hip area,
cut out notches for the frame poles, and stuck it into the bottom. Trimmed
to shape. Then duck taped that in place. 
3.	Stuff it. Mine needed a little under 5lbs of poly fiber. 
4.	Seal up the neck the same way you did the arms. 

Optional

I wanted to be able to pin pieces of fabric to the thing. So I used a blouse
that was meant to be form-fitting, and had princess seams, then put that
over the body. It worked great because it was already sewn to hug my body
anyway.

The shirt is the Harrison Shirt from Cashmerette, if anyone is interested.
This was my practice one so it has some oddities in the collar and cuffs. I
think the photo accidentally has one sleeve rolled up and one down haha But
IRL they match fine.

Image Description: Dress form made of duck tape. It has two white PVC feet
at the bottom. A loose white skirt hides the PVC stand underneath. Masking
tape marks specific points on the body that is peeking out behind a
patterned homemade blouse. The form is outside in front of a door of a
house. With grass to the left and a "home" door mat on the right. 

Kit Aronoff

 <mailto:kit.aronoff at gmail.com> kit.aronoff at gmail.com

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