She's Alive! (or Something Like That)

Thanks to the wonderful leads I got from experienced crafters Minne and Elizabeth Perry and Debra Roby at blogher.org after I sought advice, I followed the easy instructions for making a duct tape mannequin at Threads. It cost about $12 for two rolls of 1.88" x 20 yards duct tape at Staples and $10 for polyester stuffing at some fabric store in Chinatown. I used a free t-shirt and a pair of old pajama bottoms, so those were either free or sunk costs.

First, I donned my tight fitting clothes. (As you can see, sacrificing these duds to the cause was no real loss.)Not shown: the underwire bra I wore, no padded cups.

Next, Husband wrapped me with horizontal strips of duct tape. He is not particularly crafty (although very creative and clever), and was even able to do this while watching the Jets game on TV. (As Lingerie Model Suzanne will be wearing underwear, she needed a crotch and legs, so we deviated a bit from the instructions.)Here I am after the entire first layer of duct tape was applied.After all three layers were complete, it looked like this:Husband cut down the back with chicken shears to free me from my duct tape armor, and I sealed it with more duct tape. Then I stuffed Lingerie Model Suzanne with polyfil, then sealed her arm, leg, and neck holes with pieces of cardboard and more duct tape. Viola!!! Now we are BFFs like Britney and Paris, except that we both we wear underwear.For less than $25 and about 3 total hours of investment (not including the hair cut I got for unrelated reasons, making my hair look much better), I wound up with an amazing likeness of me that I can use for my anti-Victoria's Secret Fashion Show tomorrow! Of course, Lingerie Model Suzanne does not quite capture all the flab-hanging nuance of real Suzanne, but the odds are high that more women will be able to identify with a duct tape version of me than the real models on tomorrow night's show.