MORE than 10 years of nursing a daughter through dancing classes has left Scarborough mum Teresa Sewell with a business legacy that keeps growing.
Following a contract with the nat-ional retail giant Energetiks last month, Scarborough-based The Dancing Torso Co has now gone on-line seeking international sales.
“The last two weeks have been amazing,” Teresa said.
“It has come a long way since I laid my daughter down on a sheet of polystyrene foam five years ago and traced around her.
“I then cut out the shape and used it to stretch her dance costumes over it and sewed.
“Having a flat surface, instead of a 3D raised surface, makes the application of stones, sequins, braids, or other decorations, faster and easier.
“The trouble with sewing them on to a costume when it isn’t stretched is the sequins pop off during the dance routine.”
She had her Portable Sewing Mannequin shape fed into a computer for mass production.
Alphabetter, a computer cutting specialists in Osborne Park, transferred the torso design to their CAD-CAM computers and cut the shapes out on their computer-driven cutting-tables.
And they were able to simply change the size automatically.
With this mass production available, Teresa found herself supplying the Perth market though a number of retail shops with torsos selling for $35 each.
“After a few months, when the child has grown, parents buy a new one and either throw away the old one or pass them on to friends,” she said..
Last month, the Melbourne-based Energetiks company with 150 stores Australia-wide signed for distribution rights for Australia (not WA where Teresa kept marketing rights).
With the Australian market tied up, The Dancing Torso Co went online last week seeking international markets for her products (www.dancingtorso.com).
They also include a special shoe-paint formula to quickly and cheaply change the colour of dancing shoes to match costumes.
The Ultra-Flexible Shoe Paint dries in 20 minutes.
Because of the nature of the paint, it works better with special nylon brushes and these she has made to her design overseas.
