Marna Jean Davis- Clothing Historian
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Domestic Lady's
​Dressmaker

On Display- Creating affordable dress mannequins for exhibit

7/22/2016

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Some time back I created a museum exhibit for the Chisholm Trail Museum.  

The display was called "No Lady of Leisure" and it featured some of the work dresses and wrappers from my personal collection.

The problem was the small museum did not have enough display pieces for the dresses and the ones that they did have were entirely too large for most of the dresses to fit without causing strain.  

We started pricing mannequins and display pieces to realize that the cost was going to be extremely prohibitive to properly showcase more than a dress or two.  I needed a way to be able to display more than a dozen dresses at a reasonable cost for a short term basis.
​
After a couple of adjustments I created a display mannequin that was small enough to showcase my dresses, had a general form similar to a corseted body, and was fairly cheap to make. The pattern features easy to obtain materials, is quick to make and has built in shoulder/upper arm support.  The Bust measure is around 30" and waist around 22" depending on how firmly it is stuffed.

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I have now released the pattern I developed to the public.

To assist  museums and historical sites with their never ending budget crunch, this pattern is free by request
to non-profit organizations
 Please email me your:
name, museum name, address, and email-
I will email you back a PDF copy of this pattern.  

For personal use I have made the pattern available
​ in my etsy shop as a digital download for $5.

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    Painfully obsessed clothing historian,
    mom,
    ​decendant of long line of farm women and seamstresses

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  • Home
  • My Work
    • Classes and Lectures
    • Museum Exhibits
    • Dress Gallery
    • Antique Sewing Machines
  • Books
  • Patterns
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Etsy Shop
  • Classes
  • That Full Dinner Pail