Creating a body padding

[posaune]

Terri, it gives me the creeps. Reminds me of my last hoilday at the beach. Very natural!
lg
posaune

[Schneiderfrei]

Its a silhouette anyone would be proud to have!

[TTailor]

I think it is taking shape. Thanks, and it is a bit creepy i agree.

[pfaff260]

Amazing work!! Thank you for sharing this.

[TTailor]

The actor requested more prominent buttocks, so we have obliged. We also have pieces for his thighs, which will be the last pieces attached because we cannot put the padding on the hanging stand once that happens. The stand does not have enough space for thigh padding.



A view of the back and its finishing

He needs a double breasted jacket and trousers.
I made a toile of both and had a fitting. Here is the beginnings of the jacket.
The designer wants somewhat badly fitting trousers, a bit pulled up into the crotch, too tight at the waist and I am finding it difficult to not correct my pattern!

Next up will be a dress as he is disguised as a woman at one point in the play.

[theresa in tucson]

Terri, I take it this is a comedy?  I had to laugh about your not correcting the pattern.

[TTailor]

Yes it is a comedy!
He will probably have to underdress his trousers and shirt when he wears the dress, as well, he will need some "bloomers" so they need to cover the trousers, and also be under the dress.
We have made a "bra" as well.
Its quite a process, as usual!

[TTailor]

So I managed to get him to a respectable 55 inch chest , 55 1/2 inch waist and 58 1/2 inch hips.

[pfaff260]

May we see the bra when it's finished? I would love to see how you did that. Thank you so far for sharing this with us.

[TTailor]

The dress taking shape on the stand



The bra and "lovely" bloomers under the dress and over the padding and shirt and trousers. Don't mind the shoes and socks, they are just stand ins
The bra shape was derived from an existing bra.
I padded one cup up a bit more, then I draped over it to create a pattern.
We had some of this vintage looking corset fabric in stock, so we used that to make the cups.
The cups are filled with some poly fill and some plastic beads which are encased in half moon shaped pockets of very lightweight sheer stretch fabric. The back of the cup is a piece of cotton and that hold the stuffing in place. After the fitting I modified the fit as I did all this before the body padding was created.
The bloomers: I just used a period concept of bloomers with a straight side seam , which gives too much fabric dragged into the space between the leg. I will change them later. I literally just drew up a shape just to have something ready quickly. The body is gathered at the waist then attached to a waistband which is elasticated. They have to hide the trousers underneath.
Lots going on.


The dress in its first toile fitting.
Not too bad! It needs work, but it is a win to get something this close in the first try.

A big thank you to Posaune. I spent some time in January working on understanding the Rundschau drafts for women and I did a basic bodice draft with the bra on a men's 44 stand.
When it came time to make a pattern for the dress, I used that pattern as a starting point for draping a new pattern over the body pattern. I used the basic Runschau draft for a skirt  and modified it mostly by eye to the shape I thought would work.

[mysewingpleasure]

TTailor, It is in a successful progress, lovely! I can't wait to see the double-breasted jacket and the trousers!

[pfaff260]

Wonderfull! Looks almost real!  I use the the Rundschau draft aswell when i draw for a friend of mine, who is a big girl, and it always fits beautifully.

[Schneiderfrei]

That is a spectacular result TTailor.

[spookietoo]

Terri, he's reminding me of my Great Aunt Berdie in that dress.  (She even had the thin bird legs!) Great job!!!

[TTailor]

I have had a number of colleagues tell me that I have recreated their Nonna, in fact now that I think about it, my greatgrandmother was a bit like shape.