A few months ago when I went to Sears to buy a mannequin, I didn’t buy a stand. The stands were all being sold separately. I momentarily thought of buying one, but they were priced the same as the mannequins and I wasn’t interested in paying another $50 for what I thought I wouldn’t use or need. For most of what I sew, using this display standing, as it is shown above, will be just fine.

However, this month the Bra-maker Supply Challenge is active wear, and I chose to make pants.

Pants aren’t going to display very well all bunched up on the bottom.

They don’t display the best pinned to Catherine either.These were the Barb pants I made a few years ago – pinned to Catherine. I guess it would work somewhat, but I’m not thrilled with this option.

Modification Ideas

I ran a few ideas past my husband to see what we could do to modify my mannequin to use the stand for Catherine.

One

One idea was to make an adapter out of wood. A larger hole that would fit over the stand, and a smaller hole with a steel rod inserted into it that would fit into the mannequin.

That might work, but it’ll take a little time, and skills I don’t have.

Two

.     Another idea was to use modeling clay and fill the leg cavity with the clay. Before the clay hardened, insert the stand so there would be a hole there when it did harden.

I decided against that idea because of the weight of the clay. I thought it would throw off the balance of the mannequin, and it might not balance on the stand.

I was out of ideas.

Shopping Trip Suggestions

    The next idea came from Em, my son’s girlfriend, when we went grocery shopping together. I was telling her my different ideas and she came up with one. She suggested Styrofoam.

Initially, I didn’t think it would work, but we stopped at the craft store to check it out. Hmm. It seemed harder and sturdier than I thought. It was worth a try.

First Attempts

Well. Styrofoam didn’t work. The weight of the mannequin, and balancing it are going to be the challenges here.

I couldn’t even balance it long enough to take a photo.

Catherine in Pants

  I decided rather than trying to pin the pants to Catherine, I’d put them on her. The stand is running all through one leg. They don’t look as bad as I thought the would. 

Yes, this will do for how often I plan to make pants.

These pants are my muslin for my March Challenge submission. I’m happy to say the basic fit is there. Now to play a little more with what I want to do with them. You can see, they’re basic black cotton Lycra, with a yoga waistband.I have a few changes I want to make to this pattern, but it’s mostly good.

Happy creating!