I was generously given her by a friend who overheard me daydreaming about one. These sewing gems are available for purchase in auctions, on Etsy and on Ebay, but free is better, always.
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| Magazine Ad. |
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| Mildred in here fully expanded glory. |
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| She is well loved and has some damage. |
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| It still has its' original label. |
I was apprehensive about dismantling her to make the needed repairs. Courtney at 24 Kites to Fly has successfully repaired Bertha, her antique dress form. Based on her success and advice, I had the confidence to move forward.
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| Dismantled |
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| Damage that went completely through the board. It is held in place by the fabric. |
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| Glued |
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| Soaking the nuts and bolts in vinegar to dissolve the rust. |
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| Steel wool cleaned the rust away easily. Before on the right. |
What do you think? Stay true to history or add my spin?
Happy Sewing,
Bianca
Oh, definitely add your spin!
ReplyDeleteWhere can we see the final product ? 🙂
Deletei agree, spin away!
ReplyDeletespinning!
DeleteAwesome project, can't wait to see what you do with it!!!
ReplyDeleteHave you finished? I am working on one myself and am hoping for since tips :)
ReplyDelete:) I have finished it! I will post the results shortly! Let me know what you think and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
DeleteI just purchased one like yours for $45 from an estate sale. She was in great condition except one Nolt was torn off from the side. I took the piece off and secured it back on VERY successfully with a two part epoxy made especially for bonding fiberglass and metal. I'm sure this would work great for filling holes. It did seep through the fabric a bit, but cures smooth and hard.
ReplyDeletexo
Kittee
Need help. I purchased one of these and am unsure how to adjust it so it stays up. Does it need a special pin or something, or does it already have everything it needs and I just need to adjust form in some way.
ReplyDeleteIs there anyone who can help my husband go thru the restoration of a wicked dirty and smelly form? He is so excited to get this Acme in shape for me.
ReplyDeleteMuch of my restoration was trial and error. Google was a good help to me. I refer to one of my sources in the post.
DeleteOMG these wrre $3 when made
ReplyDeleteNo, it was 3$ to "Bring it to you". Likely a deposit or delivery fees
DeleteI just got mine and am ready to repair it. I have some water putty to repair the wood pulp in the back. Any other suggestions and advice while working on this? Also the link for Courtney is no longer up. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt's been so long ago since I did this project. I don't know what I could recommend. Feel free to ask me any specific questions and I'll be happy to answer. What I did in this post,s has been successful and my dress form is still holding up.
DeleteI just purchased an Acme Miracle Adjustable Dress Form, size B. It has quite a bit of wear and tear. It is missing the stand and some bolts. Seeing your post inspired me to try and repair her, but I’m very apprehensive and I don’t know where to start. Could you give me some guidance on how I can approach this endevour? Please!
ReplyDeleteI would advise you to take photos of each step along the way. You will want to be able to put it together again. I think you also need to decide if you want to keep it authentic or if you just want to make it usable. Once I knew I wanted it to be functional I was able to think a little more clearly about what repairs were needed. My approach was trial and error with me trying to this glue or that one. Without seeing your dress form, it's difficult to give specific advice. I hope it works out.
DeleteDo you have a like to the finished form ?
ReplyDeleteOkay so I am doing the same thing, I got my acme dress form out of a storefront yesterday, I'm missing a paper mache base with some outdoor acrylic paint that I know holds to a shell like texture when it dries.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did to keep all her peices in order were: drawing out each of her sections front view and back on graph paper and labeling the inner shell before and after painting each peice (of course I took the fabric off mine before the paint.)
Then I took a turtle neck I'd had dumpstered and kept around for the fabric and cut each piece and labeled each one with the section on a pin. Then after she dried I placed each piece with its fabric and a dab of hot glue on each corner Then I thumb tacked it down around the edges on the back.
This all right here are just some things I did a little differently especially. Since I'm in the middle of restoring mine.
Thank you for posting your journey in doing this because I usually read further into other people's journeys in whatever my current project happens to be.