New Life to an Old Mannequin?

Should you recover your vintage mannequin?

I love a project! More so, when it’s a project where I can take something, maybe destined for the tip and turn it into something beautiful once more, with a long life ahead of it.

Now, I love vintage! I adore the patina and evidence of age something has when it has been loved and used for many years. The browning and yellowing of the fabric and the marks and little pin holes on the cloth are a joy to me. But sometimes the condition of the fabric can be too far gone. It can be shredded, torn, heavily water stained, musty or mouldy even. These mannequins were made with great skill and so the torso under the fabric is usually still in pretty good shape. What a shame to throw it away when all it needs it a bit of T.L.C and a makeover!

When I recover a vintage mannequin, I always keep to the original seam work as much possible. This is still a vintage mannequin, just with a new cover and what a shame it would be to lose all of that vintage tailoring!

I work with my client to choose the perfect fabric to use, depending on the intended use of the mannequin.

I create new pattern pieces to make the new cover and remove and replace any old wadding under the original covering. This means the covering has a softness to it, a layer between the torso and outer fabric. It also means that the fabric can be pinned into easily. 

It is a personal choice, to recover, or not. But it can certainly be done sympathetically to the  original tailoring and have a long and productive life ahead of it once again. 

Please get in touch if you have a project you would like to discuss.

You can contact me HERE

To find out more about my mannequin recovering service, click HERE

Julie x