The Muslin Process

So far, so good. There was a point yesterday when I was getting a bit tired of basting seam lines and assembling pieces but all in all I  am finding the muslin making process very enjoyable. I don't have time to order large pieces of dressmakers carbon so I have taped 2 smaller pieces together. This is some vintage stuff I picked up at either a thrift store or yard sale. Sometimes being a hoarder comes in handy. The sheets had never been used and it seems to be very good quality. Here is a picture of the paper, tracing wheel, and some already basted pieces.

And the entire pile of basted pieces, ready for assembly.

The instructor says she then sews the pieces together with the same black thread "because it's easy to tell the difference between the seams and the basting." I know myself well enough to know that I beg to differ. I thought it would be prudent to use red seam thread. It's a good thing I did as I wound up sewing the wrong skirt panel on and had to remove it. At one point I was muttering under my breath, "could this thing have more friggin' pieces?" It was like putting a puzzle together. This is as far as I got last night before bed. The skirt, midriff and one sleeve are sewn.

This morning I sewed the bodice and pinned everything to my faithful dress form, Mama Smurf.

It looks like I may have guessed my sizing correctly. I definitely needed that extra room in the midriff. The bodice looks a little iffy on Mama. Kind of tight. I am hoping it is because the form is not as bosomy as I am. In order to get the right chest circumference I had to make Mama shaped like a linebacker but her front isn't filled out. I am thinking the bodice will fit me better. After this posting I will unpin and then properly re-pin the dress so I can try it on myself and have the husbeast help me with the fitting.

Otherwise the muslin seems to be okay. The seams all match up and things are hanging straight. Those black lines on the back and front bodice are the original seam (fold)  lines. I am going to raise the front a smidge and the back quite a bit.

This is my morphed sleeve. It was originally a short, 2-piece sleeve. Thanks to the instructor I was brave enough to attempt to not only morph the 2 pieces into 1 (with the aid of that shoulder dart) but to also add length and an elbow dart. I may have to slim the sleeve down and raise the elbow dart. We'll see. I want a nice 3/4 sleeve.

Today I'll visit JoAnn's to purchase silk organza for underlining. After the fitting and any muslin adjustments it will be time to start playing with the intended fabrics. Yay!

ETA: the muslin making process uses a LOT of thread so next time thread is 50% off I'll be stocking up on red and black.