Dress form with a re-sewn topAccurate dress forms are core tools for successful patternmaking. For those who would like to attempt to create their own forms to conform to individual sizing, several methods are available. I have created several plaster cast forms, one of which is pictured here. To be honest, these forms are difficult to cast, hard to cut off and frequently collapse.

Handmade rag dolls

Lifelike rag dolls are becoming scarce in the children's doll market that is dominated by molded plastic pieces. Hand-crafted fabric dolls are more costly to manufacture than molded plastic, so that is why sewing your own rag dolls for the little girls in your life may be the next hobby on your list.

Steps and supplies for making a custom shoe lastThe footwear industry always has room for entrepreneurs who will design shoes that are both cute and nonrestrictive to the natural shape of the foot. The first tool needed to experiment with custom shoe design is a shoe last.

Poly Star Lady mannequin with molded eyes and lipsLive models are usually best for fashion photography if you can afford them and if you are willing to risk the models' pictures being used around the web in ways you cannot control, including alterations of the images. Using yourself, friends, or family members as models carries a privacy risk.

Poly Star Lady flexible foam mannequin from Poly FormEditor's note: this article was written around 2010 and lightly updated in 2024. Due to ongoing advances in the display industry, it would be advisable to conduct current research to be fully appraised of the current market before following recommendations here which may be dated.

Drawing of an old fashioned sewing machineExperience working in the fashion industry can be a valuable stepping stone toward starting your own business producing sewn products, however, even with no prior experience, an entrepreneur's knowledge of the target market is the first key to success.

Design room with roll of velvet, paper patterns and pattern weightsThis article is primarily for aspiring fashion designers in the United States where the apparel production landscape has undergone fundamental changes in the last few decades starting with an increase in offshore manufacturing in the 1990s, leading to closures of many domestic textile and sewing factories, up through