Who would have thought it...

It turns out that all my dotty dress needed to go from  unwearably revealing to absolutely fabulous was lingerie holders on the shoulder seams and at the center back (at the top of the zipper). Somehow these three little lengths of thread and snaps were able to anchor the dress to my "foundation garments" and keep everything in place for a riotous night of dancing and merry making!

We were having far to much fun to take pictures, but I did get this one Polaroid....

Last muslin post, I promise.

Bloggers who endlessly blog about their muslins drive me crazy, but apparently I am one of them now. Since I got such good advice last time... here's the (final-ish) version:

I took out about half an inch at the shoulder seam (tapering from nothing at the neckline to 1/2" at the shoulder line.

I let out the side seams so it is roughly 38 at the bodice, 40 at the waist and hip, tapering back to 38 at the hemline.

Swayback adjustment: I took a 3/8" wedge out of both the bodice and skirt at the center back, tapering to the style line (where the insert meets the skirt).  Does this mean I should add some length to the back hem?

I also folded out another 5 or 6/8" horizontally across the back bodice, about 2" up from the waist, tapering to nothing at the sides.

This is a lot of fabric removed from the back, and I wonder if it is affecting to the front bodice now.  SHould I take that same fold of fabric out of the front bodice too?

I firmly believe that trying to over-fit your muslin is a fool's game.  I"m not an expert, and I can't expect perfect. Unless you have some more bright ideas I will proceed....

Of course, the reality is I have about six minutes of sewing time between now and the wedding.  I did a quick reconaissance of my wardrobe and realized I had this dress which could, with some tweaking, work.

I never really blogged this number.  It's made out of a fabulous (discontinued) Vogue pattern, and vintage rayon I scored at the Rose Bowl.  It is too long (I was going for authentic vintage but it came out frumpy) and it needs lingerie straps at the shoulders and at the center back... but I don't know.  Cute?  Too close to white for  a wedding?

Matthew Williamson, part II

Before I write this dress off I thought I'd try it on one more time and take some photos to help evaluate it:

There are stress wrinkles, indicating it is too tight, but overall it's not that far off.  Maybe I can get away with adding a smidge to the side seams, rather than retracing a larger size?  The tightness is mostly around the hips and butt, the bodice is near OK. Am I trying to justify lazy behavior out of - well - laziness?  Any thoughts?  I have a long standing belief that muslins nearly always look rubbish; the blandness of the fabric makes any flaw leap out of the screen and punch you in the nose.  I think with a little more room, my usual shoulder adjustment, and maybe even a smidge of stretch this would work.

My brother-in-law thought this muslin was the actual dress for a second... no, I'm not sure putty colored cotton has quite the "Wow" factor I'm looking for here!

My crazy muscular upper back and sloping shoulders.  Funny that I love a low-cut back more than anything else, but it's the one style I should really avoid like the plague.  Not necessarily for the look of my back, more that the basic physical architecture required to hold up the bodice isn't there.

OMG Matthew Willamson

I've clearly stopped caring too too much about my post titles!

I have a big wedding to go to this weekend.  Good friend who I had a long-running crush on, now marrying gorgeous and sweet woman (significantly younger than myself).  This is one of those events you need a good dress for.

And, jeez louise, in the style of Goldilocks, one of the intricate, multi-pieced, dress muslins I made was too big (the wiggle) and one too small (the Burda Matthew Williamson).

The Gertie dress was my own darn fault.  I cut and sewed a size or two too big.

Matthew Willamson dress Burda 9/12

The MW dress should have worked out of the gate, I'm such a standard 38, but it was a smidegen too small.  I'm guessing that it would work OK with a tad of stretch, but pure woven doesn't have enough give.  It was too tight in lots of not-good places.  I'd suggest going up a size.

Now I am paralyzed by laziness and indecision.  There are fourteen pattern pieces for the MW dress. Fourteen!  the thought of retracing that sucker is seriously bleuch.  But let's look at just how swell it is anyways:

Nothing makes me happier than corners that fit together like these.

Look in awe at my Susan Khalje (sp?) thread-traced muslins.  I'll admit to buying the class, but never getting past the second video.  It's just so slow!   And my mind is so flighty to begin with.

So in the spirit of sharing, I now have TWO muslins to give away.  If you'd like to try a size 38 of the MW, or a size 6 of the Wiggle, let me know.  I'll be happy to mail them to you.

This is my fabric: it's a vintage rayon / cotton which I love for it's rich colors and slightly pixellated print.  It gives it a slightly modern, almost techno look.  I have enough for one dress, so want to be careful what it ends up as... but I think it could be chic and modern with the right pattern!