Last night I finished my muslin, sort of. It was after 10pm and I’d only set one sleeve, but I needed to snap pictures and go to bed.
But I feel I got enough done to get a feel for the fit and construction.
I didn’t want to take pictures wearing the dress last night because this was post-workout and shower, and my hair was doing crazy things. No time to blow-dry, I had sleeve(s) to set! But here’s a photo from the night before, pre-sleeves.
I feel pretty confident in the fit of the dress–I added 2″ to the waist and hips when tracing the pattern, based on the size chart measurements. The bodice has tucks and gathers, so it’s slightly loose and billowy–but I think that’s the design, right?
The sleeve went in quite poorly, despite gathering and basting first.
So many little tucks! I think I might try setting in the sleeve flat on my final garment. It’s a tight space to work in with the sides sewn up.
The addition of the sleeve did seem to limit my arm movement to an extent. I would like to improve on this, but I’m not totally sure how. It fits at least as well as any RTW button up shirt I’ve worn, so dare I say this seems “normal” to me?! From what little research I could do online, it seems I need to raise up the armscye for a closer fit, which enables better movement? I think I’ll try tapering down on the seam allowance around the under arm of the sleeve to slightly bring it up. I would love input from anyone who knows more about this though!!
The collar and vestee were a bit challenging–I didn’t find the directions to be very clear. But now that I’ve done it once, I’m sure I can do it again. I think the collar points and the vestee points look a little extreme and pointy, so I plan to make those a little smaller and softer around the edges. Although the addition of a sleeve seemed to balance out the collar some, so maybe it’s not so bad?
The muslin was a great opportunity to practice the construction of this dress, including my first hand picked zipper.
There’s definitely room for improvement on the zipper application, but I did enjoy this method and will try it again. (And Sallie, I totally used fabric glue to “baste” the zipper in place before stitching–worked like a charm!)
I didn’t have time for any saddle stitching, but I will probably practice some decorative stitches on the muslin before the final garment. I don’t think I have time (or the desire) to do the saddle stitching by hand, so I’m hoping that top-stitching with a thick thread will do the trick instead.
I don’t find the pleated skirt to be especially flattering to my shape, but it really reads “1940’s” to me, so I’m gonna stick with it. I hope with a shorter hem I’ll like it more.
I’m excited to get started on my final garment now! This dress has way more details than anything I’ve done recently, so it is definitely challenging me and a lot more work. But I think the time investment is totally worth it.
Talk soon,
Qui
