Meet Mattie

Yaaaay-- I did it! I was on a roll this Thanksgiving weekend.
(see previous post for how the mannequin looked before)
It is easily accomplished in four steps of varying difficulty:
1) Prepare a basic block. Ok- not many people know how to do this. I would have put off the whole thing a lot longer had I not already had a pattern for my measurements drafted.
The only other way to can think of if you wanted to wrangle this on your own is to find a pre-existing shell top (non-stretch, with a full separating zipper- just because it makes things easier) a size too big to be fitted with.

2) Fit the block. No matter how well you have drafted it, it has to be majorly altered and it must fit skin-tight. This is impossible to do on your own and required me to scream for my mom's help. The darts are still not in the right place and the armholes are rather inaccurate (check out those ugly tucks I added to compensate for a thin neck and shoulders- haha) but I was sort of impatient, ok.

3) Resew the block and refit as much as necessary. Mark the neck, armholes and waist (at the very least) with contrast thread as reference points (and to prevent stretching)

4) Now the fun part- padding her up! It is actually a lot more time-consuming than one expects.
Amazingly, the mannequin was closer to my size than I thought, so it took less material than expected. First I covered it all with a thick layer of fleece so the surface would be pinnable (the skinny bitch needed lots of wraps around the waist and gut).
Then I zipped the block on and broke out the polyester batting (pillow filling) and padded out the squishy bits- boobs, gut, and love handles all. I even padded out the upper back a bit to better replicate my usual posture.
Padding out requires you to be terribly honest about your body- to be intimately familiar with your stores of fat. After wasting some time trying to pad out my hips (which pulled the block in the wrong directions) I had to admit that most of my curves come from my belly, and that I have very little in the way of a defined waist. Then the block began to lay smoothly.
I think I've got it right when I feel 'er up and it seems creepily familiar.

Finally, grab the measuring tape and compare your measurements. The mannequin is slightly bigger (maybe by 1/2") and a lot firmer (of course) so I would not trust it with anything painstakingly fitted but I can now fit most clothes with impunity, drape something crazy, let it hold a garment while I add buttons and other details, display and photograph outfits- the possibilities are endless!!

And unless you are happy with the all-purpose name "Judy" every custom-mannequin needs its own name. The more matronly and rhyme-y it sounds, the better. Mine at school was "Lucy" but "Mattie" short for Matilda popped into my head for this one. So Mattie it is.