Muslining

Hey there

So last night I created my second muslin for the crepe dress. I need to download the pictures onto my computer, once I have done that I will post some pictures.

For my muslin I am using cheap mid weight cotton, that I bought on-line (without seeing !) for £2.09 per meter. I bought 15 meters so that I would have plenty to muslin with. Its quite hideous but is totally fit for purpose. Going forward I am going to try and use old sheets and stuff bought from charity shops as I don't think it matters what fabrics you use, just so long as it is a similar weight to your fashion fabric.

So, the muslin was made from the tracing (I traced using dressmakers paper - but have decided to look for cheaper, supermarket options !) of the pattern that I made, with the addition of 2 inches added in length, which I added around halfway down the length of the dart. I then stay stitched all the way around to both add strength and also show my stitching lines. And then hand basted the muslin together using a different colour thread (I never would normally hand sew but felt bad for Mr P having to put up with the drone from the sewing machine for the best part of 2 hours !)

I then tried it on, and I feel that all the bodice darts need to be shortened from the original pattern by around 1 inch. I also have forward sloping shoulders and as such I need to lengthen the back shoulder seam by around an inch and also shorten the front shoulder seam by the same amount.

The back of the bodice, oh the back ! I literally don't know where to start and its quite difficult due to the cross over design of the dress, and so I will be working on that tonight. I think once the back issues are resolved, I will mock up one more muslin for the bodice, and make one for the skirt part of the dress. As its my first ever proper attempt at dressmaking I really want to do it perfectly. Plus I hate the thought of wasting the fashion fabric I have purchased to make the crepe. I think I need to see the whole thing made up before I feel brave enough to cut into the fabric.

So lovely people, I am going to leave it there for now, but hope to get some simple pictures up later on to show my progress so far. 

If anyone wants to leave feedback on muslins that they have made, they would be very gratefully received   :-

cya, 

k xxx