19 Feb 2011

Project: Style 3894 { Muslin }

My muslin for Style 3894 has come along. Not, I fear, in a good way. Whilst it appears to fit Miriam perfectly, when I try it on myself I feel the fit leaves much to be desired.

Miriam

Gosh, excuse the falling-to-pieces bathroom!

I'm not sure if it's just the fabric I've chosen for the muslin which is heavier and of a thicker weave than the chiffon I've picked to make the final shirt, or if it's me but it looks blockier on me than on Miriam and I'm just not happy with it.

The princess seams on the back are too big and blouse outwards over the base of my shoulder blades. Is this even fixable? Am I asking to get myself into a lot of trouble trying to fix that? I tried to take a picture but between trying to keep Puck and Bear away from Nelson* and a new camera I don't really know how to use they didn't come out. Or actually work, because apparently I don't know how to use the self-timer on this thing.

I'm half pleased with the redrafted collar. The original pattern envelope looks like this:


It wasn't too hard to change the curve of view 2 into something a little more to my taste. I'm not sure it's right though, is it too big to be a peter pan collar?


I'll leave you with some closer shots of the muslin, because I was feeling artsy and - let's face it - I need all the practice I can get with my camera!



* Nelson, in case you don't follow me on twitter, is a Red Admiral butterfly that's living in my bathroom. Yes, living. I know! I'm shocked too. I named him Nelson after the only Admiral I could think of who, in my head, wore a red coat (despite the fact I doubt he actually did).

Thanks for stopping by,

6 comments:

  1. I quite like the collar and the sleeves are beautifully done. Regarding the fitting I hope someone can help you there as I'm still a bit clueless in that area. My latest dress muslin needs fitting and I'm dreading it.
    I'll see if there's something about princess seams fitting on the fit for real people book.

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  2. i love the peter pan collar, it looks great! as for the fitting issues...hmmm. the last time i had problem with back princess seams, i restitched the seams to take up some of the extra fabric. it looks like you did french seams on the princess seams? is it so big you can cut them off and redo them? that would certainly take in a bunch of extra fabric.

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  3. To me the fit seems ok, but it´s a bit hard to say from the pictures. At least the shoulders look good. And it will look very different in the chiffon fabric. About the back princess seams; what I have done sometimes it to try and pinch out the excess fabric and redraw the seam line. If you are flatter than the pattern, then the new seamlines will also be flatter. (If that makes any sense.)

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  4. Looks fab! I am sure it is fixable when it is finished.

    Also - you appear to have a wolf tail!

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  5. Ack! I'm no good at fitting and am currently in the midst of a fitting mess myself. I frequently find that blouses like this don't look good on me unless I slim them in to my body or doll it up with the whole skirt and heels and make-up (which is a lot of work, in my opinion).

    The sewing itself looks fine, but I might take in the princess seams and side seams a tad. It feels like it should fit with about 1-2 inches of ease at the bust. Maybe baste a 1/4 inch tuck on each of those seams and see how it affects the fit. But that's purely personal preference.

    And what fashion fabric are you using?

    Good luck!! x

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  6. Looking at the picture of the muslin on you, you need a sloping shoulder adjustment to remove the diagonal folds above your bust. That will almost certainly take out a lot of (or all) the excess that you are finding in the back. You should always adjust the shoulders before you do anything else, since the garment hangs from your shoulders and that adjustment will affect all others (usefully, it makes many others unnecessary). If you go to Kwik Sew US site, then click on Resources, you will find a brief measurement and pattern fitting guide that explains very simply how to do shoulder adjustments without wrecking the armscye and having to alter the sleeve head pattern. (http://www.kwiksew.com/resources/default.cfm)

    Otherwise, I think it will be great in chiffon and will look drapey not blocky.

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