Yesterday Sewing Diva Phyllis came up to the studio and we worked on projects. She worked on test samples for her Chado Ralph Rucci dress. It is going to be gorgeous! I made a muslin of the Burda dress. Phyllis helped me fit it. Before I made the muslin, I did an FBA on the pattern itself, since I knew already that I would need it. I put it on and Phyllis pinned it for me. I'm really falling more and more in love with Burda patterns, both the BWOF and the printed ones. They do some very nice RTW and designer inspired touches that the Big 4 don't even try. And they fit me pretty well right out of the chute. This dress needed a couple of small adjustments, and Phyllis pinned them in for me.
One side note here. When I try on a muslin, I like to try it on and adjust it with the seam allowances on the outside. That makes it easier to pin exactly the way you want it to be shaped, and increases your accuracy. And since it's a muslin (not wearable :) ), no one will care if your seams are exposed. You can see here where Phyllis pinned the bodice for me to eliminate excess fabric above the bust:
I used a marker to rough in the new seamlines. Later I trued up the lines with a French curve.The second thing she did was adjust very slightly in the back. I don't have a swayback, but she pinned just a little out of the Center-Back-to-Side-Back seams, tapering out to nothing at the other seams. This makes it fall perfectly over my, um, posterior.
Once the muslin was adjusted, I carefully took it apart at the seams and pressed it flat. The bonus, and yet another reason I love muslins, is because when you take them apart, lo and behold, you get a full-body pattern. You can just lay it out on your fabric and start cutting. No need to pick up a piece, flip it over and cut. It also allows you to cut your fashion fabric in a single layer. This enables you to save on fabric over a double thickness pattern layout, and it makes it easy to ensure your fabric and pattern piece are on grain. Check it out - no guesswork, and very little hassle.
Some folks may be wondering why I'm going on and on about the wonderfulness of muslins. Because I really think they are great, that's why! After I did my post on (un)Wearable Muslins, a friend pointed out to me that there was a discussion about them, which got rather heated on both sides, on a public forum. Muslins must have been in the air for the past week. I really believe in them. They give great results. Do you need to do a muslin for every single garment? Hell no! But for the ones you care about, or for something you hope to have for a long time, a muslin is worth every bit of effort you put into it.Okay, soapbox (actually, I'm trying to make it more of a sales pitch than a soapbox) aside. Now I can get to work on sewing my dress. Hopefully I'll have some good progress over the next day or so.
Oh and on a very happy note, DH started his new job today!!!
Happy sewing!
22 comments:
I cannot wait to see your finished garment! Phyllis's too! I totally agree that a muslin is worth the effort. As you say, cutting is a breeze. Additionally, congrats to DH!
I'm thinking you're very lucky to know someone who can play this game with you. I certainly couldn't make back adjustments on myself!
Congrats on that new job (sigh of relief). I totally believe in muslins - I can't believe there are people who don't. How lucky you are that you have Phyllis to help you!
Oh Ann, don't apologize about stressing the importance of making muslins on those special garments. I've been doing this for years and have never been sorry for the extra well-spent time involved. Thank you, thank you for your sermon!!!
Thanks for the post. It was incredibly helpful to a newbie with muslins. Having a sewing friend would be helpful!
I understand why an experienced sewist wouldn't need to make a muslin for every garment, but what advice would you give a beginner?
Thanks!
I agree, it's great that you had someone to help you with your adjustments. I'm not a fan of muslins and I do understand that they are a necessary evil.
re: muslins--it must be in the air for all the New Year's Resolutions regarding sewing/creating better fitting clothing. :)
Anyway, I appreciate your detailed (and illustrated!) blog entries showing the importance of different techniques. On my next sewing project, I probably won't go to the extent you did (getting a second person to help fit) in creating a muslin, but I probably will take more care and thought in the steps I'm already taking. I've already incorporating some info from your previous blog entry on setting in sleeves: I'm using way more pins to make certain the fabric pieces don't shift when they are being assembled.
Happy New Year!
I liked your post on muslins. Being a beginner, slightly more than beginner, maybe, and usually very careful to not take shortcuts, I am learning the importance of muslins, even if all I do is muslin an area (bodice) to make sure I know how the fitted area will work. Thanks for pointing all the pros out about them.
Thinking about muslins(which I need because I've got 'issues') made me think of the one sewing/tailoring class I took in high school. The teacher was very professional, taught us how to interline and pad stitch and use hair canvas and steam and on and on and on. But not ONCE, ever, did she talk about fitting and making muslins. I realize, ahem, that I certainly am NOT the same size I was then, but for all the technique we learned in that class(and one of her sore points was that the first time we got to model whatever we made for the project, we had to model it inside out), no discussions of fit, wrinkles, 'drag lines', armscye, bust adjustment or anything else. Perhaps in her mind, all of those issues belonged to adults - that teenagers did not have any of those problems. But I think if she had, I would not have made as many 'wadders' as I did before I discovered making a muslin.
Anon 5:56 - actually, exeperienced sewers always assume a muslin is needed! Usually when you don't need one it's because you have some familiarity with the draft of a pattern from past experience. And if you have special fabric such as the wool jersey for my Rucci dess, a muslin is virtually mandetory.
Thanks Ann, for this set of soapbox posts. they are awesome. Reading your first post was like a lightbulb moment for me because I have never been able to get the hang of pin-fitting a tissue pattern, which is how I've been taught to fit garments -- even with transferring the pattern to super sturdy washable, ironable paper. but I could also never figure out how to transfer adjustments made on a pin fit or basted garment back to the pattern so you don't have to do the whole thing again if you want to make the pattern again. To actually make the pattern out of the muslin fabric was like, DUH.
I have a question, what kind of material do you use as a muslin for knits? You'd have to use some kind of knit, right? Or do you even do a muslin for knits because fit isn't as much of an issue?
Thanks for the soapbox sessions! I think you're right on target. I hadn't thought about sewing with the seams out but will definitely give that a try.
These have been great posts, Ann. Thanks for pointing out the best reasons to do a muslin.
Excellent post - you've made a lot of good points! I do many of the things you do.
It took me years of sewing, wadders, and thrown away dollars to get to the point where muslins and basting are part of nearly every garment I make. They are SO worth the effort and every newbie needs to jump on this bandwagon.
Tissue fitting never worked for me. Too much crinkling and ripping. Let's face it, it's paper! Thanks for these awesome muslin posts. They affirm my own approach to garment making.
Ditto everything Linda T said!
...would say more, but I've got 20 boxes of interfacing to ship..before the snow starts to fall..again...
I hate muslins, I hate the time and the effort that goes into them, but always love what taking that time can produce in the end. I rarely do a muslin, but over the years, I've been able to eye the pattern pieces to my form and know if I will need to make a muslin or adjustments. It must be great to have an experienced sewing buddy!
You are absolutely right. Muslins rule. I didn't believe that when I started sewing 20 years ago. But I'm older and wiser now! (Congrats to your DH on the new job!).
I don't always do muslins. Sometimes I just proceed with the intended wadder. ;-) One thing I can't see in the photos that I think is very helpful is drawing the straight of grain on each piece, and I'd recommend that practice, especially for muslin beginners. It makes it easier and less scary to use the corrected muslin as the pattern. Another muslin use: while you have the muslin on your body, mark big circles (or little ones, depending on body type) over both breasts. When you're laying out the muslin-as-pattern, you'll have a guide for avoiding where to put the big purple flowers.
mmmm, yummy photos! I love seeing your inviting sewing space. Now, my curiosity is killing me so I will track down that muslin topic and read it for some entertainment. I definitely like to do whatever it takes to get good results, and that means a muslin when I feel I need it. I am a perfectionist and my sewing hobby is the perfect outlet to express that particualr trait. Those of us who suffer from perfectionism know it is a double-edged sword!
And I thought I was the only person who made muslins "inside out"! Especially on one of my daughters,who has 2 distintly different hip curves, I have to be very careful to remember which side is the right side when cutting out the final version
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