Making men’s clothing and costumes is hard. Especially since I am not a man, nor anywhere near the size of most men. When I make clothing for me, I do a million test fittings; always holding up pattern pieces to my body or dress form, checking the fit every step of the way. When I’m making clothing for Jake, he isn’t usually available to sit for these 1 million test fittings as I alter patterns or pattern from scratch. So to help me check my work more frequently during the construction process, we decided to make him a duct-tape body double.
This is duct-tape-Jake-torso. We made him out of an old T-shirt and a 3/4 roll of duct tape and it only took about 30 minutes. To make your own, you will need an over-sized T-shirt, duct tape, scissors, and a whole lot of scrap fabric or something to stuff the form with. First, the model should wear only the over-sized T-shirt on their upper body: there can be no shirt underneath or it risks being cut! Next, tape scrap fabric around the neck and collar area so that the final form will have a neck. Do not let any duct tape stick to the skin! Make sure there is always fabric against the skin–no glue!!
Next, go to town with that tape. You want to go every-which-way around the body with long pieces of duct tape, totally encasing the model. You also need the tape to be tight. They might complain about not being able to breathe, but tell them it will all be over soon–they can tough it out. Don’t build up the tape too thick; 3 or 4 layers will do. You want enough layers of tape for the form to be semi-rigid on its own, but not so thick that you are adding inches to the figure. If you add too much bulk, you won’t have an accurate body double. Once you have mummified the model in tape, cut the form open along the spine. You are cutting through T-shirt and duct tape layers so it does take some effort. Help the model out of their cocoon gently. Tape the form back together, and tape over the opening for the neck. Now it’s time to stuff the form. I used small pieces of scrap fabric that I had been hoarding for far too long but you can also use fiber-fill. Scrap fabric however is free, and when packed tightly, provides the rigidity that you’re looking for. Stuff the neck first, then work on the shoulders and the arms, taping up the arm holes and continuing to stuff fabric in through the hole at the bottom of the torso. Fill up the entire form until it is very stiff but not bulging. Double check your forms measurements against the model. Do they have the same circumference at the neck, chest, waist, and bicep? Good. You can tape up the bottom of the form and beat it flat until it stands on its own. Ta-da! All done.
For added functionality, I marked with a sharpie the center-front, center-back, a typical neckline height, and where Jake like’s to wear his shoulder seam. This will help me with patterning in the future.
