You have to have SOME way of holding up the dress form. Since I wanted legs on mine for pants fittings, I had to have something to HANG my dress form from. My friend, Phylly, got just the torso dress form, and I think hers just stands on the floor. I'll have to ask her for sure.
Problem #1: You have to take the dress form DOWN and stand her on the floor to put a top on her unless it unzips fully or unbuttons fully.
Problem #2: The dress form is TOO HIGH off the floor, even in its lowest position. The only way to get her to be my height, is to take her off the hanger and stand her on the floor. Since she can't stand on the floor, I have to lean her up against something. So the base and hanger are worthless for that. Above you can see the dress form leaning against a chest. She is my height like that. Below you can see how much taller she is than I when on the pole. She is down as far as she will go without touching the base.
Problem #3: There is a lever in the center of the base for you to push on with your foot to allow you to lift or lower the dress form. WATCH OUT when you step on it that you have a firm hold around the dress form, or it will fall on your foot and SMASH IT!!!
Problem #4: There is no way to keep the dress form from swinging from right to left. The pole locks at the top and it locks at the bottom, but it does not lock in the middle where it raises and lowers. In the picture below you can see the pole as low as it goes (closed) and as high as it goes (open). The pole does not lock tight here, so the dress form swings right or left.
Problem #5: If the dress form swings all the way to the right or to the left as you are working with it, the whole pole falls over! This happened to me several times while I was padding her. You have to grab the whole thing FAST and hope you don't fall over with it.
If I had this to do over again, I would order a dress form WITHOUT legs so it could stand stationary on the floor and be the same height as I am. Guess you can't have it all.
My husband says he is going to drill a hole in the pole and put a screw in it or something. I don't want him to do that. I don't want anything else I have to fiddle with to use this dress form for sewing.
Sorry for such a gloomy review, but this is how it is working for me.
Hugs, Joy
Oh, Joy Joy, I just love your illustrations! Matilda is too tall for me, too. However, I'm sure it is because of my height deficit; not Matilda's fault at all. I wondered if Lucy wouldn't be a "swinger", but I don't see how they could build her any other way with legs. Matilda stands on a pole that is in a round base. I've thought about having Roger cut her off a bit, but since it is cast iron, I don't know if it is possible.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Phylly
Joy, I am so sorry you have had to go through this ordeal but you have certainly opened my eyes as to the why nots of buying a full dress form. Thank you for sharing and I hope things turn out better with Lucy. BTW, she and you look just marvelous.
ReplyDeleteHi Joy, Sorry to hear of your displeasure with Lucy's base. I don't see any work arounds for those issues. I just purchased my first full body dress form PGM Brand and have to say I am very happy. After reading your post I quickly ran over to "her" she is yet to get a name lol....I turned her sideways and pushed her back and forth but luckily she stood her ground and did not topple over whew! Then I checked her height and she stands about three inches taller then me but that is not a problem her leg inseam is easy for me to mark on her where I need my hem line. Hubby said if it really becomes a problem he could cut or make her another pole that goes into the neck base to lower her more. No work around for the tops that don't have buttons or wide openings. I was wondering if you know what the order number is for the fitting system you got from Fabulous fit because I went to their website but they only show the system in half leg, I like that you were able to get the suit in full leg. Thanks and keep on smiling, you brighten my day! Sheri
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