I have some very exciting news that I’m just dying to tell you about.
A while back, I enquired with Mimiquins if it would be possible to make a seated mannequin as these aren’t available anywhere in the UK. (Actually I haven’t heard of any disabled sewist anywhere in the world who has one).
We’ll, yesterday my husband and I spent a day with Mia and Jaire (the owners) and we managed to find a way to make this possible. So my dreams are finally going to come true, I’m going to have a seated mannequin.
As you probably all know, I have MS which means I suffer with fatigue a lot, so the normal process that people use of keep trying on makes as they fit is just too exhausting for me. In the past I’ve tried to work around this by using a normal mannequin padded out to my seated measurements. This kind of works but it can’t show me how the fabric will behave once I’m actually sat in my wheelchair. Often it will pool around the hips or in my lap or gather up underneath me.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve gotten upset because I’ve made something that initially looked really good on the mannequin but then didn’t fit so well or feel comfortable when it was actually worn by me sat down.
Mimiquins are not only going to be able to provide me with a seated mannequin but because I’ve been 3D scanned it will be an exact replica of my body so I can be totally confident with my fitting moving forward. One of the really exciting things is that not only will the mannequin come seated on a stand, but I will also have the option (if I sit on my office chair) to be able to place my mannequin in my wheelchair to get a real idea of how the fabric will behave – now that fellow makers is a real gamechanger!
I feel so excited, not just for me but for all my fellow sewists who use a wheelchair, we now finally have the tools to get a perfect fit and be comfortable.
The attached video details the process we went through yesterday, obviously this was very much learning as we went along and Mia and Jaire will now be able to streamline this process significantly for future disabled customers.
My mannequin should be ready to be delivered at the end of February and I’m counting down the days until then.
(Just for info I was wearing my Minerva Exclusive Brushwork Prints sweater knit Tabor top in the photo.
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