Rustybobn Makes a DTD (Duct Tape Double)

I read about it, and wanted one for a long time. The whole process just seemed *icky* and I didn't think I'd be able to breath with all that tape on me. In fact, just thinking about it would almost bring on a panic attack.

It ain't that bad...

Mandatory reading:

In fact, it was Neefer's web page that finally gave me the courage to try this thing. One day when the sprout was off work, I enlisted her assistance in taping me up.

My supply list--most of this you will already have or can get cheap/free:

Procedure:

Tear many, many strips of duct tape and stick them around the room so that you can grab them as needed. The strips should be varying lengths. My most popular length was about 10 inches

Don your disposable t-shirt or shopping bags

Define the bust by wrapping a strip underneath and then crisscross. (Think about the old playtex bra commercial here--you want lift and separation!)

Wrap shoulders, then remaining areas horizontally

Wrap a second layer vertically

Mark your body landmarks--waist, hip, bust points with the Sharpie pen

I think that you can see from these pictures that the process duplicates you perfectly--poor posture and everything

Use the scissors to cut the form at the center back. Be careful not to cut anything you want to keep!

(Your hard work will now look a bit like a toad, and you will wonder if it will shape up right. It will.)

Prepare your stand and gather your stuffing materials.

For my stand, I used a clothes hanger that came with something I bought. I cut a groove with the bread knife in the top of my cardboard tube and taped the hanger in place.

Later I discovered that an old halogen torchiere lamp base was perfect to stand this on.

(Do I need to warn you to unplug it first???)

I simply unscrewed the top portion of the pole, cut off the wires and slid the cardboard tube over the pole.

We save all of our plastic shopping bags for recycling or trash can liners. To my way of thinking, these are perfect for stuffing the DTD. Use purchased poly-fill if you've just got to!

I'll warn you now that this will take many, many bags. It's amazing how many you can squish in place. Take special care in filling out the bust. You don't want to make mountains out of molehills, but, take it from me, there won't be enough definition here if you don't stuff it firmly.

When you're satisfied with the amount of stuffing, wrap another layer of tape horizontally.

At this point, you'll probably need to do a little surgery on your DTD. The waist of mine was about 3 inches too big. Use a tape measure to check. If the thing doesn't closely approximate the size of your body, it won't do you much good. The waist was the only place I had trouble with it being too big.

Use the bread knife to cut 2 or 3 vertical slashes around the waist of the DTD, squish her in the to appropriate circumference, and wrap another layer of duct tape. She won't scream, and no one will ever know!

My hanger was wider than my shoulders, so I had to trim the ends of the hanger, too.

Find that old long-line strapless bra that you never wear anymore and put it on her. Stuff the cups, if you need to (I did.) Mine also wears a tight tank top over the bra. She looks better in photos that way, and any prowler looking in the window might not notice her silver skin and think someone is home.

Give the DTD a name. If you don't someone else will--and you probably won't like their choice of name. Mine's name is Brunhilde.

Here's Brunhilde wearing my PMB sloper before I trimmed the ends of her clavicle--uh, plastic hanger. If you look through my projects since July, you'll see many of them photographed both on me and Brunhilde. She's my favorite sewing room accessory now!