I Forgot...

I didn't tell you about the dress form. For several years I had a dress form in my entryway. It always startled first time visitors. But then the form's owner came back from California and I had to give it back. I thought about replacing her (I'd begun to think of it as her) but professional dress forms are expensive. I couldn't really justify it since I am not a professional dressmaker and she would be purely for display. I briefly considered getting a suit of armor for the spot but those are even more expensive and harder to come by.

Then recently I began to do a little sewing. Nothing fancy, but it did revive my interest in a form. I searched the web for quite some time and I found Rox Studio. They're here, in New York, in Jamaica Queens, and they sell forms for much less than most places. They also have display forms and those are really reasonable. So that's what I got. Technically, it's a coat form. The measurements are a little off - her shoulders are too narrow and she has no butt at all- but as Karen commented, she's toile! And she was only $70 with her stand. (I'm thinking of buying a second form that has better measurements. It uses the same stand so I can swap them if I am actually sewing.) For display she's just perfect, ready to startle anyone who comes through the door. I might have to make her a red dress.