Dritz Sew You Adjustable Dress Form, Small

I'm a professional seamstress, so I needed something very very adjustable that spins and pins. I used to work in a shop that had a Matilda from the turn of the century. She was a size 12, her height was adjustable but not her size, and you could pin to your heart's content and never worry that you would break her. Admittedly that Matilda had ugly fabric on her, but we used to have fun dressing her up with new slip covers. Ever since I left the shop I have been dreaming about buying a Matilda (or something similar), but they are very expensive and I just can't wait any longer. So I shopped around quite a bit and decided on this one. It's very nearly perfect. She spins, (I would argue that she does not pin), she's lightweight (Matilda was NOT), she's a lovey shade of emerald, and her feet do not scratch my wood floors.Pros:Very adjustable, cranked in she's roughly a size 2-4, cranked out she's close to an 18. Her height is also adjustable. Yesterday I dropped her all the way down, and beaded the bodice on a wedding gown while sitting comfortably in a chair. Then I cranked her all the way up and trimmed a tulle hem while sitting in the same chair.Lightweight, I can easily pick her up and set her on the table so I can work on a complicated hem without having to sit or lay on the floor, which is awesome because I have bad knees and do not get up off the floor quickly or gracefully.She was very affordable, enough so that I'm thinking about buying a large model too. The other ones I've been looking at would have cost me $400 each and I would have needed one in each size to cover my client base. Where would I put all that and how would I PAY for it?Expanding neck, which Matilda did not have at all.She spins and spins easily (which is critical for me as I can run hems through the sewing machine while the weight of the dress is held up and not falling off the sewing table).Cons:She's mostly plastic, which might not hold up long term especially with my workload (yesterday she had 3 different wedding gowns on her, today will be worse). I get that the torso has to be plastic, but I wish the feet and adjustment gears were metal.The skirt marker isn't long enough for wedding gowns and/or full skirts.She's rather flat chested (although I suppose it's easier to add than subtract).She's really isn't pin-able. I'm going to make a couple of padded sleeves to pull down over her, so the gaping holes don't offend my (larger than a size 2) brides and I can pin fabric to her. But how hard would it be to add some padding in the manufacturing process and charge me an extra $10-20 for that? Not too hard I bet.She has dials all over, I think she would be vastly improved if she had fewer dials that operated multiple openings with a readable dimension on the dial. So if I has a customer that measured 38, 25, 39, I could adjust one dial for each dimension and be done.I also wish that there was a way to adjust the height to a specific measurement. I can adjust the height yes, but I can't adjust it to exactly 5'-2". I have to guess at it, then measure and adjust, over and over until it's just so.I wish she had wheels, because I move her around all the time, and I have to be careful not to drag her because the torso pulls off the pole rather easily. I'm thinking about buying a scooter and fixing her base to it. But again, how hard would it be to add the wheels to the manufacturing process? Not too hard I bet.

So having had a singer 151 small for years I can definitely say that this one is sturdier. The pole is heavy metal. The feet are plastic but are the denser non bendable kind, unlike the singer which was a thinner plastic feet. The felt cover holds pins better than my old red singer. The pin cushion on top pulls out when you pull a pin off. Not a deal breaker.You do have to carefully move the dials in increments so as to not strain the gears and springs when adjusting for your measurements. Overadjusting one without the others could snap the plastic dials. No markings on the dials May be a con. But for 60 dollars less that’s no big deal since I'm mainly using it for myself. If you are constantly switching between sizes for others this may not be practical for you.I was able to get the bust, hips, back, and neck to waist adjustment perfect. The waist I’ll have to pad as my shape is no longer hour glass. I bought the medium large dress form.

It is easy to adjust but a little unstable when expanded all the way. Overall it works well and very nice color.

This is AMAZING 👏 and works so well with all the adjustments. Now I can work better to design more items to the perfect fit. ✨️

Delivered quickly and very easy to put together. I’m just starting in my dressmaking journey and this will help so much

As a seamstress who has used a dress form from the 1940s for years, this one does not even come close to the quality. I will be able to make it work but I will need to be extra careful since it has a plastic base and legs. The legs are very thin and flimsy. It would be fine for a starter form but definitely not the quality one would expect. I will see if my husband can make a base out of metal so it is sturdy enough for the weight of the dresses I work on.

This is great for altering my clothing. Perfect size and solid workmanship!

Easy to assemble and use.