Doll Dress Stand

I’m getting ready for a few fall and winter craft shows in my area. Last year, I found that dresses modeled on the 18” dolls sold better than the dresses on the clothes rack. Unfortunately, I only have three dolls of my daughters to use and one I always borrow from my granddaughter. With my current table set up, the four dolls are about all I can handle. I know there are crafters that display doll dresses flat rather than on a rack, but I thought that some sort of dress stand would work better for me.

I found a doll dress form on Pixie Faire and another one that was designed by Patricia Ellis Crook made from PVC pipe. Graciously, she shared the design with me. (Thanks Patricia.)

I really like the PVC stand because it would be faster to create and can be dismantled for storage. With Patricia’s height measurement, I calculated supplies needed. However, with all the PVC parts needed, it was more than I wanted to spend.




Back to the drawing board…

After much thought and trial and error, I came up with a very simple doll dress stand made from wood and foam board. Buying the wood supplies from Michael’s with coupons and using leftover foam board and paint that I had at home, I was able to keep expenses BELOW $3.00/stand! Now, that’s an expense I could afford.

Below, are my directions and pattern.





 

Supplies:
1 foam board (from Dollar store)
1 1/4” dowel cut to 12 inches (from Michael’s)
1 4” wooden circle  (from Michael’s)
1  dress form body pattern
Glue, 1/4” ribbon, scrapbook paper



Directions:

1. Cut dowel to 12” and drill 1/4” hole in center of wooden circle.
2. Paint wooden pieces.
3. Trace 2 body patterns on foam board and cut out.
4. Cut groove on wrong side of both body pieces. This is where the dowel will be glued.
5. Glue two body pieces together. Don’t forget to have the dowel centered between the pieces.
6. Glue ribbon around the body edges.
7. Insert dowel into bottom circle. The dowel can be glued to the stand. I don’t for easier storage.
8. If desired, I glue one side of the form with scrapbook paper and leave the other side plain.

Click link for PDF pattern: Dress Stand Pattern for 18" Dolls