March 13, 2019

OK - Pardon me while I rant, and although this may sound like an insider's rant or one that consumers wouldn't understand, I really don't think so, and it does pertain to everyone out there who wants to learn and work with the least amount of resources possible.  We all have a finite set of resources - time especially - and when I see something that comes off looking so professional and polished, but the product really doesn't work, it galls me.  And the reason I know it doesn't work is cause I've wasted my time and money and I'm in the business, so you might say it's my job to spend time and money on stuff to find out if it works or not, to save all my students the anxiety of the waste of their resources.


I saw this ad the other day on my feed and thought it looked really good like this was something to investigate.
And although the prices seemed a little high (higher than the Wolf forms, but not by too much), I thought great if this were a really great product and could be personally fitted for the client purchasing it, that's not a bad price.

Then I looked at the measurements, and how to send in your measurements to have the mannequin made to your measurements.....and....this popped up.
So this is fine, but where are the personalized measurements?  What happens if my chest is 35 and my waist is 27, and my hips are 42?....where's that measurement on there?...where can I purchase a mannequin with my measurements?  

Then way in the fine print is this...
 

These forms are made a synthetic material infused with fiberglass to allow full pinning for lifetime use. The forms are covered with an Irish linen with the high thread count. They are also sewn with straight princess seams front and back as well as under bust seams, french dart seams and side seams. Forms come completely lined with black bias tape for the pants and for waist area as well as for your arm length. They come with collapsible retractable shoulder to allow easy garment put on. The forms are based for American standard sizing with complete accuracy.

Uuuuuuh - where are my measurements?  What do they mean by "your" measurements, but then give you a set of measurements of what someone else thinks are your measurements.   Ummmm, how does it help me to have measurements from what someone else's measurements are?  I'm not any of those sizes so how does that help me?

Then on the "About" page, it talks about how this company is like none other in that it has "developed a unique, never before seen body form to mimic the uniqueness of the human body for exact fit, making garment duplicating accurate, easy and quick....  Our forms were developed...by listening to customer's concerns and addressing all aspects of the best fitting form for all body shapes."  And so who died and made them able to divine what body shape is right for me?....what about my body shape and fitting my shape?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  Puuuuuuuuuhleeeeeeeeeease Already!!!! 

Aren't we all sick to death of someone else telling us what shape we should be or that we're too this or that to fit into the 3 sizes offered in stores?  Now some fitting expert is telling us that they are only going to provide mannequin sizes in a set number of sizes and that's it? 

How does this help us fit ourselves?  It's no wonder we're all bruised, confused, and abused about our sizes!  And what's worse, there's hardly anyone out there who have these supposedly OK figures - oh yeah, there's the woo-woo gurus, but let's be honest, they eat one pine nut a day and look rail-thin and anything would cover them. 

And here's the kicker on this company - they aren't even from France or Europe.  Nope, they're from Glendale, CA.. UGH already!

What really boils me about this sort of fancy advertising is that other reputable sites are supporting it cause it does look that legitimate.  So what's an inexperienced or newbie to think or do?  Well, they bite in....and the lowest-priced mannequin is about $1,000, which is a pretty high ticket. Then they get it home and think 1.) something's wrong with me cause it doesn't work, 2.) I'm not the size so I can't use mannequins, or 3.) obviously sewing isn't for me so I shouldn't even try........UGH, already.....again!
 

The perfect mannequin would be:

• one that you could pin into,
• you could even iron on it, and
• what would be extra special it would have the ability to change shapes as we change shapes through the years. 

I don't know about you but I've changed a lot in the 40 years I've had my mannequin.  And there is a mannequin out there like that, and I've used it, I've loved it for FORTY YEARS, and loved it.  Which begs the question, why would the other companies even exist if there's a mannequin out there that fits you, that you can pin on, that you can iron on and that changes with your shape, and costs less than these supposedly expert mannequins?  The only thing I can think of is that the company that manufactures these mannequins isn't terrific on public relations or much advertising and because of that not many know about it.
  And this is about the strangest looking thing and a lot of folks think you have to carve the foam to fit the cover.  When it's actually the other way around - the cover is made to form the foam so that the foam fills out the cover to make it your mannequin.

And this foam is very durable.  After 40 years, most plastic foam like this deteriorates and starts crumbling.  Mine hasn't - my foam base is still intact.  I have changed my cover cause errrr... well.... errr... I outgrew my cover - I keep thinking it shrank somehow! (Excuse my delusional moment there!)

This is the mannequin I teach in class.  The kit runs around $200 - ish, and the class cost $120.  I recommend you purchase some muslin canvas (at Joann's or someplace like that), and you still come out with less than half of what you would spend on the "industry" expert models.

So a short little comparison here:

Specifications	Uniquely You	Industry Favs (FE or Wolfe)	Other Models
Fits to you	Yes	No	No
Pinnable	Yes	Yes	No
Press-able	Yes	Yes	No
Changes with time	Yes	No	Yes
Durability	Yes	Yes	No
Cost + My Class	$350	$1,200	$100

  
You can see why I like teaching the foam model - even though it does look rather intimidating right out of the box.  But aside from teaching the mannequin, what I really love is that I know I'm turning over a really great useful tool to my students that I know they can and will use and it will perform well for them. 

One of the most fun things to watch in the last hours of the class is to see my students put a pattern or garment on their mannequin, and the dang things are so unbelievably intuitive that I literally don't have to do anything and poof they are off fitting themselves.  

This isn't an ad for my mannequin, although it may seem that way.  What I'm really warning against is misrepresented advertising.  There are a lot of tools and techniques out there that are proposed to be the best you can get when in reality, they really don't perform well, or sometimes missing essential parts or functions.  

In the case of the French European mannequin, this doesn't function well for an individual because, truthfully, none of us are a perfect size 4, or 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 or 22 or anything. 

We are combinations of all those sizes.  When a mannequin is not made according to your measurements, how useful is that?  Additionally, we all have sensitive spots in our figures.  How are we going to determine if we've fit those danger spots well if the mannequin doesn't have those spots in the form?
 

All Your Sewing Tools Should Work For You

This is what a mannequin is supposed to do.  Same is true of the other tools you have in your sewing studio, your machine, iron needles, cutting tools, threads, notions, zippers, connectors - all that stuff.  And if it doesn't work, it needs to be corrected. 

My rant isn't specific to mannequins (it was just this site that set me off).  I'm the same way with machines that don't work;  with irons that don't last longer than half a year;  with needles that break;  with needles that aren't sharp or straight;  with thread that breaks;  with zippers that don't zip or split;  with fabric that isn't good, durable, and function the way you want;  all of these things must work for you.

And it's not only the frustration of having to go out and get another replacement tool or having to turn into a sewing machine mechanic (while I'm trying to work on a new technique) or have the tool fixed all the time, this is way more expensive than you can imagine.  I have an iron that I paid $400 (ouch, I  know) and it lasted for 20 years, that's $20/year (and remember I'm using mine from about 8am in the morning to about 7pm at night 5 sometimes 6 times a week).  If I'm buying (even a moderately priced iron) $30 and having to replace it twice a year, that's $60/year, so for the same 20 years that's $1,200 - that's a 3 times the cost.  I know that initial layout is a real bite, but doing some research and purchasing an iron that is made well,

If they don't,  it's time to take a good look at each one, and make that tool operate the way you want, not according to industry standards  or anyone else's standards - but according to your standards.  If you go into the sewing machine store and they tell you that they can't fix your machine or won't fix your machine to operate the way it was promised to operate, then it's time to change machine or to get another dealer if there isn't satisfaction with this machine.  If your cutting tools don't work, time to change them or find out what's wrong that they don't work.  If your iron doesn't work, time to get one that does. 

Sewing is an absolute joy, and should not require you to be a sewing machine technician, pressing machine mechanic, or a fabric weaver.  Your tools should work for you, and if they don't, you need to replace them so that they do.                                 
 

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This new year will bring a new look and lots of new things added to the sewingartistry.com to the site.  In the meantime, things will be placed a little different, and if you can't find something that you liked or would like to find, just let me know.  It's easy as pie - you can simply respond to this email and I'll get it.  I get all these emails and I read all of them. so let me know if something seems awry for you or out of place. 

We're working on simplifying it and changing it to a more functional and easier place to get around. 
If there's something you liked from before and don't see, LMK. 
If there's something you've never seen, but would like, LMK. 
And of course if there's something that seems haywire or good, LMK!

You all will be the first to know when it's more settled, but for right now we're still moving the furniture around!
 

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