Meet Inara

Over the years I have often wished for a dress form to make my sewing life easier. Years ago (early 90s, I think) I picked one up at a garage sale, but it was too big, and was so wonky it couldn't be adjusted. I ended up giving it to a friend, who put male clothing on it and stood it in front of her living room window so people would always think there was someone home. Not sure what she used as a head for it, or maybe she just left it headless as a warning to potential burglars. Then I had about a two year hiatus from sewing, mainly because my old White sewing machine finally died, and I couldn't afford a new machine. But also because I had become a bit burnt-out doing costumes, and just didn't want to sew anything...at all.

Now I have a new machine, and lots of ideas for sewing projects. I am also back into making costumes, so I really did need a dress form. My husband is wonderful and willing to help, but his knowledge of how to make garment adjustments on my body are pretty much zilch, and he's gone a lot, so I was really pining for a body double.

I knew I didn't have a big budget for this, so would have to settle for something pretty mundane. That was okay, since I wasn't going to be doing anything super complicated, that would require absolute to the fraction of an inch, exact measurements. But it did have to be sturdy enough to carry the weight of multiple layers of cloth, since some of the costumes I will be doing will be quite heavy.

So, a week ago my Mom and I went through the local Joann's Fabric store and I checked out what they had. The medium quality dress form was between $230 and $260 dollars. Still over my budget. A few days later my Mom called me and said that Joann's had put the dress forms on sale for $100 off. Shazam! I headed back over there, and sure enough, the form I had looked at was now down to $135. Sold! However, I kept the receipt so I could take it back in case the thing turned out to be a piece of junk.

Putting together and adjusting a dress form is kinda weird. You are essentially creating a double of yourself. At one point, when I was standing boob to boob with it, I burst out laughing. Once it was all adjusted and done, I stood back and thought, "Sheesh, is that what I really look like?" At that point, I dug out my Chinese red camisole and put that on "her" along with one of my necklaces.  After all, "she" couldn't just stand there all naked. The thought crossed my mind that "she" looked better in the sexy camisole than I did. Ah well.

Next "she" needed a name. At first I kept referring to her as "That Other Woman." When I posted a picture on Facebook, someone suggested I call her Ruby, but I wasn't too crazy about that one. Then it occurred to me that, with the racy, Chinese camisole and flashy jewelry, she resembled a character on the old TV series Firefly. The character's name was Inara, and she was a beautiful, professional "companion" who always wore lovely, sexy dresses and expensive jewelry. Since the dress form doesn't have my face, or any face, I decided the name would fit without insulting the stunning woman who had played the part in the series. It also crossed my mind that if I named her Inara, she might have a more glamorous life than I do.

So here she is. Meet Inara, wearing my Chinese camisole and leaf necklace. But I still have her receipt, so can send her back if she misbehaves.