FAQ

Please join one of our support communities to ask questions, share your progress, and connect with other makers:

• Bootstrapfashion DIY Dress Form Support
• DIY Schneiderpuppe
• MANNEQUINS DE COUTURE SUR MESURE – Groupe de soutien

Our community members and team are happy to help!

To ensure accurate printing, please set your printer settings to:

• Custom Scale: 100%

• Borderless printing (if available)

We strongly recommend first printing the page that contains the calibration square. Measure the square carefully — it must be exactly 10 × 10 cm. If the measurement is correct, you can confidently proceed with printing the full pattern.

If you selected a large-format file (such as A0, 36" PDF, or 47" PDF), the pattern may appear as a single page. In this case, you should print the entire file at once at a copy shop, as it is not designed for tiled home printing.

The two most common home printing formats are Letter and A4. The correct format depends on your country and printer settings. Please select the format that matches the paper available to you.

Our DIY dress form patterns include approximately 10% negative ease in some horizontal measurements (bust, underbust, waist) to ensure proper fit once the form is stuffed.

Please do not try to wear the dress form to check the fit — it is not intended to be worn.

Note: The dress form cover pattern does NOT include negative ease.

Generally speaking:

• Missy Fit corresponds roughly to US sizes 2–12

• Plus Size corresponds roughly to US sizes 14–28

However, body proportions vary significantly. Missy Fit is designed for less curvy body shapes, while the Plus Size pattern accommodates fuller curves and proportions.

On our website, you can purchase custom sewing patterns for dress forms and garments. We do not sell ready-made clothing.

We offer clothing patterns for:

• Women

• Men

• Children (ages 3–16) — for both boys and girls

Our garment categories include:

• Dresses

• Skirts

• Jumpsuits

• Pants

• Shirts

• T-shirts

• Tank tops

• Sweatshirts

All patterns are custom-made based on your measurements or selected standard size and come with detailed step-by-step sewing instructions.

Please double-check that the email address was entered correctly, as this is a common issue. If you still do not receive a reply, feel free to contact us via Instagram or Facebook, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

You likely selected a large-scale format (A0, 36" PDF, or 47" PDF). These formats are designed for professional copy shops and do not require tiling. If you prefer to print at home, please contact us to request reprocessing into a small-format version (Letter, A4, or Legal).

No, we would not recommend that. Customizable dress form patterns include negative ease to account for expansion when stuffed. The dress form cover, however, does not include negative ease and is designed to fit over an existing form or your body for testing purposes.

Currently, we offer a full-body dress form designed specifically for women, where the upper and lower sections connect at the waist with a zipper.

If you would like to create a full-body form for a male body, you may consider the following approach:

• Purchase the Men's Mannequin Dress Form and the Legs Dress Form separately.

• Trim the lower form slightly below the waist and adjust it to align seamlessly at the waistline. This requires minor customization of the waist area.

• When assembling the leg form, avoid attaching the upper waist section permanently. Instead, connect it at the waist with a zipper to allow easier separation and reassembly.

This method requires some manual adjustment but allows you to create a combined full-body solution.

We recommend choosing a Women’s Dress Form — either Missy Fit or Curve (Plus Size), depending on your body proportions. These forms are designed to reflect natural female body contours and proportions. A men’s dress form would not accurately represent typical female shaping and therefore would not provide the correct fitting base. Selecting the appropriate women’s form will allow you to achieve better fitting results for your garments.

For your convenience, we have implemented a self-service reprocessing feature directly inside your account.

To reprocess your pattern:

• Log into your account.
• Go to Order History.
• Open the order you would like to modify.
• Click Export Pattern.

You will have two opportunities to re-export your pattern and make adjustments (including changing format or correcting up to three measurements per session). The download is instant — there is no need to wait 24 hours for manual processing by our team. We’ve made the process faster and more flexible for you.

These are professional pattern file formats used in the garment industry.

PLT (Plotter File Format):

A vector-based format used by large-format plotters and cutting machines. It is commonly used in production environments and copy shops for precise pattern printing.

DXF-ASTM:

An industry-standard CAD format for apparel pattern making. It is widely used by professional pattern makers, manufacturers, and garment production software systems. This format allows patterns to be opened, edited, graded, and integrated into professional workflow systems.

If you are sewing at home, you most likely do not need these formats. They are intended for advanced users and industry professionals.

The best way to reach us is via email at [email protected]. We aim to respond within 24 business hours (Monday–Friday).

You can find tutorials by searching “BootstrapFashion DIY Dress Form” on YouTube.

For independent customer reviews, please visit PatternReview.com and search for Bootstrap Fashion.