So my wife is a big fan of the TV show Friends. There's a particular episode where the Phoebe character builds a creepy looking "painting" with a dummy built into the canvas and calls it "Gladys". My wife really enjoyed that episode and has mentioned a few times over the last year how cool it would be if we could have a Gladys of our very own for the gameroom. So I decided to build one for her as a gift.

This is a screenshot of Gladys from the sitcom.

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So these past 2 months I've been buying the parts needed to build it.

- picture frame (26x38) from Michael's
- piece of plywood from home depot.
- mannequin head was purchased from a creepy guy on kijiji (Canadian Craigslist)
- black wig, broach and right hand from eBay.
- reflecting stickers from Michael's
- blue, grey and purplish fabrics purchased from fabricland

In terms of the torso, I bought some large stuffed animals from kijiji and brought them to a seamstress/tailor. (They are currently sizing the torso and dressing it in the fabric I purchased.)
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First step was to size the fabric to the plywood and then glue it to back. I used a mod podge glue and the fabric stuck nicely to the sanded plywood.

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The next step was making some cheesey draping where the purple and grey fabrics meet. I used hot glue to glue the purple fabric to the back of the plywood. I then drilled six holes to insert zip ties to hold the draping into three places. And then used some cut purple fabric to cover those zip ties and tied them off in the back.
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Now just waiting for the tailor to call me about the torso before I can continue.

So the stuffed animal torso approach isn't going to pan out with the tailor/seamstress. I instead purchased a half female mannequin used to display clothing in stores off of kijiji for 10$.

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I cut out the upper neck plastic that was protruding and under the armpits in order to allow the arms to be installed or tucked underneath.

I then measured the yellow felt fabric on the mannequin and began hot gluing the outlines of the fabric to the plastic on the back....slightly stretching it to form the body. (I chose yellow felt fabric as it's apparently used by ventriloquist or prop makers to simulate skin tone)

I cut out whatever extra yellow fabric I had and then began the hot glue process again to fit the blue fabric onto the mannequin to make the dress.

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I think it turned out pretty well. Next step will be assembling the arms

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So the next step was to place some wood around the inner shell of the torso so it could be secured against the plywood from the back.

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I then cut the plastic arm in half to replicate Gladys' left arm.

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I drilled holes through it in order to have zip ties put through so it can be secured in the back through holes in the plywood (Just like I did with the cheesy draping). I then dressed up the arm in the blue dress fabric and hot glued it in place....leaving the zip ties protruding.

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When I placed everything onto the canvas to see how it looked....I realized that the dummy head was too round and was lifting the torso off the canvas/plywood. This would also make it difficult to properly secure the head to the canvas.

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I had to make the dummy head flat so it would be flush against the canvas and could be secured through the back. I drew a one inch line from the back of the head and then sliced through it.
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I then chiseled away the foam in the back of the head and glued in some wood. This would allow me to properly secure the head to the canvas by drilling through the back.

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The things we do for our wives.

I bought some pvc and a fitting to fabricate the right arm. I sawed the pvc to make the arms the appropriate length and rounded the fitting to simulate the curvature of the elbow. The right hand stub was also sawed off so it could fit into the pipe. Next step will be to dress the entire arm in blue fabric.

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**also here's a YouTube video compilation of Gladys for those who may be interested**

Fabric has been added. I made sure that the fabrics didn't overlap at the elbow. That will allow for the forearm to be moveable/rotatable away from the canvas if desired.

I also added leftover plush to the shoulder arm length so it appeared bulkier than the forearm.

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The hair has also been glued to the scalp of the dummy. I ordered a brooch and costume necklace from eBay as well....just waiting for those to arrive from China.

Now all that's left to do is assemble all the parts and secure it to the canvas.

Thanks. It sure feels weird building it. But it seems to be coming along.

I reworked the right arm and added a piece of slanted wood to help lift it off the canvas. I hot glued it in place and then added some duct tape for good measure.

I didn't like that it was flush against the canvas because it prevented the hand from resting nicely on the stomach. I then reapplied and reglued the blue fabric.

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Next step was to merge the frame and canvas together. Wooden corners were sized and hot glued into each corner. Then brad nails installed to bulletproof the corners and ensure stability.

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With the frame and canvas now intact together it's time to assemble everything and secure it in place. (Torso, head, arms, necklace)

Here is a before and after from behind.

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And the end result.

Theres just three things left to do.

a) I need to add a layer of yellow fabric to connect the torso and remainder of the head/neck area of the dummy so it appears fluid.
b) I need to add some puffy blue fabric to the bottom left of the canvas to finish off the dress.
c) Still waiting for the brooch to arrive from China/eBay.

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Thanks

It could be..but it was a personal choice to showcase the entire face.

I also recently noticed the fingers we're cut off the right hand. I plan on leaving the fingers intact for now.

Thank you Cosmo!

I appreciate it! This will be a Christmas gift for her so it'll be a while before I can give an update on how she received it. I also think that she'll give it a different name other than Gladys.

I can't argue with that! It was perplexing an odd building this thing.

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I snapped a couple pics of it in our gameroom and it fits right in.

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The skin extension between the neck/head and torso is complete. As well as the dress extension at the bottom left of the canvas. I added some knotted fabric inside the dress extension to add some bulk to it. (I'm not super pleased with how the dress extension came out but it's not a big deal)

So basically it's 99% complete. The last thing to do is apply the brooch when it arrives in the mail.

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For a minute yesterday I thought the rain was going to turn into snow. I Heard Banff got a nice blanketing yesterday...

Yea she's pretty cool. She loves pinball and enjoys our game room. Figured making this would make the game room a little more alluring.

The brooch finally arrived! (It must have been sent via shipping container)

Project is now officially done! Thanks for checking out my build. Happy August everybody!

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She absolutely loved it!

I put it up on the wall right next to the pinball machine. At first she didn't even notice it and started to play a game...and then half way through her second ball she looked up and pointed at it and said "what the fuck is that?"

I told her what it was and she clued in immediately and started laughing. She then took pictures of it and posted them online for her friends to see, lol