 |
| My mini dress form mannequin is a pin cushion after all... |
I was recently paging through images of pin cushions when a nifty dress form mannequin caught my eye. It's from The DIY Dish (direct link at the end of this post), a web video series put on by a couple of engaging twin sisters from 2010 to 2011. This project was released near the end of their run.
The mannequins that they made were glued on top of candlestick holders and topped off with a bauble. While they looked extremely elegant, in my opinion, that made them more of a decorative item than a functional one. To me, a pin cushion so tall would be impractical; I'd be knocking it over every time I stabbed a pin in it.
But I had a thought about turning it into a necklace holder. While not knowing exactly how I would accomplish that, in the meantime, I went ahead and made the mannequin itself.
I retrieved the Robert Kaufman scraps from my Summit Pack and managed to make use of them by going on the diagonal.
 |
| Just enough fabric to make this thing... |
The item is not difficult to make, as long as you take the time to pin well. The pieces have curves to them, as you can see, and successfully sewing those curves involves diligent pinning beforehand. (I ended up with a couple of very small puckers that I decided to live with.)
Here is the first presentation of my finished mini mannequin.
 |
| Front view of my mini dress form mannequin... |
The "belt" is a bracelet. The bauble on top is a Christmas ball decoration.
Here is the back view. (Seeing it like this, I like that the fabric had to be used on the diagonal.)
 |
| Back view of my mini dress form mannequin... |
Soft fabric scraps was my stuffing of choice, having depleted my supply of polyfil making my Winter in the City pillows.
After a few days of ruminating about adding wire "arms" or making a wire mesh "skirt" to transform the mannequin so that I could hang things off of it, I gave up on the idea of using it as a necklace holder. It looked too nice to hack and it occurred to me that it was actually the perfect pin cushion to stand guard at my ironing station.
I also decided that I didn't like the ball on top, so it was gone. Then I found a different bracelet that looked even more like a belt, so the previous "belt" became a necklace. My mini mannequin is now officially a pin cushion.
 |
| Officially a pin cushion... |
But coincidentally enough, I stumbled upon a solution for my necklace problem. While first trying to decide whether or not I was going to put the mannequin on top of a pedestal — when it was intended to be a necklace hanger — I substituted an upside down (plastic) wine goblet as a stand. After deciding that I wanted to keep the mannequin low to the table as a pin cushion, I flipped the wine glass back over...
 |
| My wine goblet necklace holder... |
... and had a sudden inspiration to attach a bunch of binder clips along the rim. Turns out the binder clips are perfect for securing and hanging small necklaces. (You could also hang earrings directly off the rim.) Not only that, the top of this particular glass is just the right size to accommodate my ring holder!
In case you're curious, here is how I used the prongs of the clips to secure each necklace.
 |
| Both prongs are used to secure and hang the necklace... |
Sometimes, an accidental win is the most satisfying. My previous hack for hanging necklaces was constantly failing me in that whenever I grabbed one, two others would often follow along. This wine glass solution will do nicely for the time being.
Plus, I now have an interesting pin cushion at my ironing station. Win-win!
If you're interested in making your own dress form mini mannequin, here is the link to the pattern.
Several years ago a friend of mine made me a mannequin pincushion that she mounted on to an inverted wine glass. Yes it's tall, too tall and well the glass part isn't very practical either. But it was so cute and she did such a great job making it. While your necklace display looks nice and might work for you, I'd probably knock it off my dresser and break it, lol! I think I would clip those binder clips to a clothes hanger and let the necklaces dangle in my closet.
ReplyDelete