One of the challenges of crocheting or sewing garments for myself is getting a good feel for how the garments will hang on my body. A handy aid for this is a dress-makers dummy (also called a dress-form).
A few years back a neighbor was getting rid of her dress-maker’s dummy. I was happy to adopt it, but found that the dummy wasn’t a good match for my body measurements. Still I’ve become fond of her over the years and named her “Betsy”.
Betsy has been very handy for photographing finished designs or helping me to visualize how design elements can be combined for sketches of potential designs. Unfortunately, Betsy is far more generously endowed in the chest area than I am. Genetics being the luck of the draw I seem to have taken after my Mom’s side of the family instead of my Dad’s when it came to chest dimensions.
So I’ve been haunting the JoAnn’s website and drooling over the variety of dress forms they have available. Then one happy Sunday evening I discovered the one I really loved was on sale!
A week later this box arrived. Inside was my wonderfully adjustable new dress dummy (she doesn’t have a name yet). I happy took her out and started measuring and adjusting the various dials to create my twin.
Of course the ego-deflating aspect, of having a dress dummy you can adjust to your exact measurements, is you get a very realistic view of what you body shape really is.
Oh well, at least I’ll get a good fit for my garments and it will encourage me to get more exercise.
Mamas2Hands 
Good sale find! I have been drooling over the idea of getting an old fashioned iron dress form because I think they are super beautiful and would be a great way to photograph finished pieces. Of course, it wouldn’t be at all useful for actually fitting things to my body so a dress form like this would be way more practical.
Oh yes! I love those old iron dress forms. Especially the late 1800s style with all the decorative curliques.
I have two, the Bertha sisters. Big Bertha, who covers the L to XL, and Little Bertha, who covers the S to M sizes. They work great until I have to re-adjust Big Bertha to a smaller size than I am, then re-do her to mine again. That one always hurts! lol
My sympathies Nancy.
that is very cool, Andee. even better on sale! happy sewing.
I would be glad to adopt the old one! Tam and I would get some good use out of it!
Sorry Terri, though the old one isn’t a match for my body and fitting my own garments, she is very useful for my designing work.