Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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1,181
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #7,731 most helpful out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
Love her!!!
I'm a professional seamstress, so I needed something very very adjustable that spins and pins. I used to work in a shop that had a Matilda from the turn of the century. She was a size 12, her height was adjustable but not her size, and you could pin to your heart's content and never worry that you would break her. Admittedly that Matilda had ugly fabric on her, but we used to have fun dressing her up with new slip covers. Ever since I left the shop I have been dreaming about buying a Matilda (or something similar), but they are very expensive and I just can't wait any longer. So I shopped around quite a bit and decided on this one. It's very nearly perfect. She spins, (I would argue that she does not pin), she's lightweight (Matilda was NOT), she's a lovey shade of emerald, and her feet do not scratch my wood floors. Pros: Very adjustable, cranked in she's roughly a size 2-4, cranked out she's close to an 18. Her height is also adjustable. Yesterday I dropped her all the way down, and beaded the bodice on a wedding gown while sitting comfortably in a chair. Then I cranked her all the way up and trimmed a tulle hem while sitting in the same chair. Lightweight, I can easily pick her up and set her on the table so I can work on a complicated hem without having to sit or lay on the floor, which is awesome because I have bad knees and do not get up off the floor quickly or gracefully. She was very affordable, enough so that I'm thinking about buying a large model too. The other ones I've been looking at would have cost me $400 each and I would have needed one in each size to cover my client base. Where would I put all that and how would I PAY for it? Expanding neck, which Matilda did not have at all. She spins and spins easily (which is critical for me as I can run hems through the sewing machine while the weight of the dress is held up and not falling off the sewing table). Cons: She's mostly plastic, which might not hold up long term especially with my workload (yesterday she had 3 different wedding gowns on her, today will be worse). I get that the torso has to be plastic, but I wish the feet and adjustment gears were metal. The skirt marker isn't long enough for wedding gowns and/or full skirts. She's rather flat chested (although I suppose it's easier to add than subtract). She's really isn't pin-able. I'm going to make a couple of padded sleeves to pull down over her, so the gaping holes don't offend my (larger than a size 2) brides and I can pin fabric to her. But how hard would it be to add some padding in the manufacturing process and charge me an extra $10-20 for that? Not too hard I bet. She has dials all over, I think she would be vastly improved if she had fewer dials that operated multiple openings with a readable dimension on the dial. So if I has a customer that measured 38, 25, 39, I could adjust one dial for each dimension and be done. I also wish that there was a way to adjust the height to a specific measurement. I can adjust the height yes, but I can't adjust it to exactly 5'-2". I have to guess at it, then measure and adjust, over and over until it's just so. I wish she had wheels, because I move her around all the time, and I have to be careful not to drag her because the torso pulls off the pole rather easily. I'm thinking about buying a scooter and fixing her base to it. But again, how hard would it be to add the wheels to the manufacturing process? Not too hard I bet.
March 2014 · Arts Crafts and Sewing · verified purchase
the product in question
Dritz Sew You Adjustable Dress Form, Small, Opal Green
4.5★ · 7,091 ratings, as of 2023
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