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Member since 11/21/09
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Posted on: 11/5/12 2:10 PM ET
FYI. My neighborhood group made a sloper using saran wrap for me a few weeks ago. It was a learning experience for all of us as no one in the group had done this before. I want to pass along some of the things we learned about the process of making a sloper out of saran wrap.

I bought a large roll of saran type (plastic) wrapping (5" wide) from Office Max as I thought it would be a lot cheaper than using real saran wrap. (This might have been a mistake? I will explain later.)

I read about this process from Kathleen Fasanella blog Fashion Incubator.

The process is the same as you would use if making a duct tape dress form with a couple of exception.

You need three layers of wrap to form the sloper.
We had one person doing the wrapping, one cutting the wrap and two others offering encouragement and suggestions.

The wrapper started out at the hips, wrapping around my body three times all the way up to just under my bust. Then she used long cut strips to fit across my back, over the shoulders to the top of the bust.
Next she wrapped around the armhole and across the bust. We lost track of how many layers we had done at this point. It was difficult to tell how many layers just by looking at the wrapping.
Then she started wrapping the area around my neck and bust using shorter strips around the neck and bust area.

The wrap was very tight and it took us about 30 minutes to get me wrapped.

Next we marked the shoulders, bust point, waist, hip, armhole and neck with black marker. We cut up each side and across each shoulder to remove the wrap from my body.

I laid the front and back on the table. On the front I cut from the side, about 2” down from the underarm, to the bust point on each side (where a bust dart would be). This allowed the form to flatten out so the bust area was now flat on the table.
I still had a hump over the abdomen so I cut the wrap from the bottom up toward the bust point where a waist dart would be located. I was careful to cut a few inches on one side then cut the other side a few inches till the hump at the abdomen would lay flat. I wanted to keep these cuts the same length.

There was a good size hump across the upper back. In order to get the back to lie flat I cut down from the middle of each shoulder to approximately where the shoulder blade is. This created a large dart. (I was surprised at how round my upper back is.)
I am not sure cutting from the shoulder down was the right place to cut? I still need to research this. I think it would have been better to cut from the armhole towards center back along the highest part of the hump.
I still had a small hump where my butt was located so I cut from the bottom up a few inches on each side (back waist dart) till the wrap would lie flat.

I now have a sloper.

Things I will do different the next time we make a saran wrap sloper.
I would seriously think about using real saran wrap. The plastic wrapping I bought from Office Max didn’t stick as well as I think Saran Wrap would have done.
Use small narrow strips around the armholes and neck opening. After getting the three layers over these areas I would use small strips of tape to keep the area from coming apart. We didn’t do this and the wrap around both the neckline and armhole areas puffed up and lost some of the definition after a day or so.
Use black elastic to wrap around my waist before being wrapped. It was very hard to see the white elastic at my waist when the ladies were trying to mark my waist location.
Put a chain around my neck making sure I place it where I want my neck opening to be. This was another difficult place to mark as we didn’t have any guidelines. I was fortunate that the woman who was doing the marking was a dressmaker so she had a very good idea where to make the marks for the neckline.
Copy the saran wrap sloper onto paper as soon as you can. I didn’t do this and after a few days the plastic wrapping started puffing up on the edges.

Even with the puffy edges I think this saran wrap sloper is still usable. The circumferences are still correct. The width of the bust darts and waist darts are correct. The only places I am not sure about are the neckline and the shoulder length. These two areas give me the most trouble so it is disappointing that the saran wrap puffed up and lost shape in these areas.





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Ada
  
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Posted on: 11/5/12 3:27 PM ET
this is interesting. I forgot about this.
  
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Posted on: 11/6/12 1:32 AM ET
Yes, I used this method for a dress I made and then added ease. Like you, I had trouble with it 'sticking' - not to mention tigerboy had trouble marking the correct armholes etc. I did use an expensive wrap but it still wasn't sticky - something I found long ago which is why I've never bothered to have it in my kitchen. Some people use the Glad Press'n'Wrap but it's not available here.

have you made anything from it yet?
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Posted on: 11/6/12 5:53 AM ET
If you do another one, you can strengthen the places that unwound by taping them at the end with duct tape.

Nevermind, I missed that in your "notes to self" ;)
-- Edited on 11/6/12 5:54 AM --
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Posted on: 11/6/12 7:53 AM ET
Ada,

I would get the Costco brand called Stretch-tite because you get two very big rolls for about $8 and it sticks much better than Saran Wrap.

Can you post some pictures?
Chris in Hanover, VA
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Posted on: 11/6/12 8:29 AM ET
I really like this idea! Has anyone used the press and seal? Seems like you could just pinch in all the areas that need darts. Also wondering that if wearing a shell would give the lines needed to draw the shoulders and neckline- those are the most difficult for me too.
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Posted on: 11/6/12 8:43 AM ET
In reply to AdaH
I have done this several times. I always go over the saran wrap with clear packing tape at the end to help hold everything together.
  
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Posted on: 11/6/12 9:00 AM ET
In reply to AdaH
What a great post!

I may have missed it, but what did you wear when they wrapped you?

eta: Long live Kathleen! I just love her. She's amazing and so generous in sharing what she knows with her readers (I read her blog religiously).
-- Edited on 11/6/12 9:02 AM --
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Mary


  
Member since 11/21/09
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Posted on: 11/6/12 2:40 PM ET
In reply to marymary86
I wore yoga pants and a snug tank top.
I have not used the saran wrap sloper yet. The last two projects I used my TNT blouse pattern so didn't need the sloper.

janlorraine, I will deffiently use tape on the edges next time I try this.

-- Edited on 11/6/12 2:42 PM --
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Ada
  
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Posted on: 11/6/12 4:28 PM ET
In reply to AdaH
That sounds better than the big T shirts I wore under the duct tape double DH made for me.

I ended up throwing it out - it was so big, shiny, and ugly! Every time I looked at it, I lost all my desire to sew.

:D
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Mary


  
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