Using a dress pattern that fits me pretty well (McCalls 3653, modified somewhat), I made this dress form first out of cheap fabric, then out of cute striped canvas. The first time, I stuffed it with shredded paper, which turned out to be ridiculously heavy (and hard to pin), so I finally caved and went out and bought fiberfill, which works sooooo much better! I did some minor drafting changes on the pattern the second time, particularly to the bust and underbust, to give it more definition, and still had plenty of tucking modification to do on the final product. The stand is made of threaded steel pipe, a pipe fitting, screws, and a block of wood. A tube of fabric runs up the bottom of the form to help make putting it on and off the stand easier.
Hours: 6 (second dress form) + 8 for the first one and all of its problems!