"The Art of Balance" - Attempt No 1

As you may know, I recently received my most wished for sewing tool: A replica of my body to help me with fitting, a.k.a. my Mimiquin.

Over the years I have come to learn that the fitting grid is your friend when it comes to successful pattern fitting, and so I've started adding it to my new Mimiquin.

Alexandra Morgan demonstrates the course lessons on her dress form from the US based Beatrice Forms. Hers, I believe, is made from a dense sponge, whereas mine, from the UK based Mimiquins, has a corrugated cardboard interior, a white layer that holds it all together (think heavyweight, non-woven interfacing), and a soft, knit cover.

The Mimiquin starts out as layers of corrugated cardboard, then gets a cover glued on, then a soft fabric cover over that

(By the way, I'd love to compare notes with anyone else who is adding these balance lines to their Mimiquin brand of dress form (especially if it has arms), using the In-House Patterns method, so please feel free to reach out).

These are some of my observations so far:

📍 Of course, due to the nature of the cardboard interior, you cannot pin horizontally into the Mimi - pins must go in at an angle. What's nice about this, though, is that you can very loosely insert some ball head pins horizontally while you check that you're happy with the overall balance of the lines before you go ahead and insert the steel head pins.

📍 The structure is quite sturdy and you need a teeny bit of force to insert pins all the way. So, when inserting steel head pins, use a thimble.

📍 If you insert a ball head pin all the way, at an angle, remove it carefully so that the head of the pin does not come off (while the actual pin remains inside the mannequin).

📍 Don't do what I did initially and use fine steel head pins. They will bend, and they will disappear into the dress form. The course materials list contains information on the exact tools and supplies needed.

📍 It's possible (probable) that I'm being a little too hypervigilant, but I've used less pins than indicated in the class because I'm afraid of turning the insides of my Mimi to mulch with all my pinning and unpinning. I'm quite sure that the Mimiquin can handle it, though!

I've found some parts of the process a little challenging (do I have the armhole correct? the neck? how do I address the side seam on a body with a forward tilted pelvis? obviously it should be vertical but is it dividing the body correctly?). However, I have decided to view it the way I view any first sample: First make it exist, then make it good (not my saying).

The "first sample" philosophy: Taking your own measurements is not easy, even when you've been doing it for years. So just do it, be as accurate as you can, and make your first sample. Use this first sample as a tool to assess whether you measured your waist too high, your across back too large, or whatever. Then you can make changes to your pattern and refine the base measurements that you used.

Here are some photos from my first attempt at adding the fitting grid to my Mimiquin.

I’ve not gone all the way to the bottom, as I see that I’ll need a separate grid for pants fitting due to my body's asymmetry. I also placed the bust HBL a bit higher than the dress form suggests (deliberately), but that’s a story for another day.

After two full days of working on this, I'm ready to shift gears and start making some actual garments. I'm sure I'll be revisiting my fitting grid, and possibly making some big changes, but I'm totally here for it!

I’d love to hear any constructive feedback or suggestions you might have.

Until next time,

Caroline