Fitting: Adjusting the Watson Bra Pattern

As I mentionned in my previous post, I made 2 muslins of the Watson Bra last week. The first one, the suggested size based on my measurements, was way too small. For the second one I cut the size matching my RTW size. The band was good, but the cups were still not fitting right.

Today I took muslin #2 and tried it on again, this time with makeshift straps. It confirmed what I had noticed before: If I shifted the bra slightly to one side, the cup fit actually ok.

While wearing it, I had traced on the bra where the base of the cup should hit. So I took the cups out, and repositionned them slightly more apart (about 1cm -3/8" more towards the sides). It created a gap in the middle, but it actually worked!

To close the gap, all I had to do was add 1cm (3/8") to the inner side of the cup, tapering to nothing at the top.

As I was fitting my adjusted muslin, I also pinned out about 1cm of fabric at the cup seam, so I removed .6 cm (1/4") from the seam on both pieces. Since I removed the extra along the entire seam, I added it back to the outer sides so that the cup would still be the same width at the base and at the top.

Picture above: added .6 cm on outer side seam of piece A, and added a total of 1.5 cm (5/8") at the base of piece B, reduced to .6cm at the top.

On the cradle piece, I extended the curve width by about 1cm on the side, tapering to nothing at the notch. Since I'd moved the cup to the side, I adjusted the notch to match the cup seam.

My final adjustment was to add .6cm (1/4") to the band depth. I did this because the hook and eye piece that came as part of the kit are about 1cm (3/8") wider than the band (once allowances are folded). I figure with the elastic trim, it will fill the remaining .4cm difference.

After I made the changes to the pattern, I adjusted the cradle on muslin #2 to match my new pattern piece, and recut new cups.

So this is muslin 2 1/2, which fits pretty darn good!

That's it for my adjustements! I was quite please that the alterations turned out to be pretty simple. In hindsight, I probably could have just added the extra width on the outer side of the cups, rather than the middle, but it seems like the seam is hitting in the right place, so in the end it probably doesn't matter. Can't wait to get the final version done!

WIP: Playing with (Faux) Fur

 Here's a sneak peek at my latest take on the current pink fur trend:

The picture really doesn't do justice to the brightness and softness of this fur

I've been totally inspired by this Versace number and it so happens that I recently managed to get my hands on some (free) left over hot pink fun fur. It was a sign: I had to go bold for my next project, and so, I am.....


Just kidding.


Although I do admire anybody who can pull off something like that and make it work as a fashion statement, (like this lady) I don't think it's quite...me.

So the truth is, I've been working out the muslin for the fur vest in this pattern:

Why bother making a muslin, you ask, it's a loose fitting vest?...Well...Exactly.

It's the only pattern I could find that somewhat resembled the vest I have in mind, but I didn't want to end-up with a boxy, shapeless garment, especially for 40 bucks worth of faux-fur...

So I made a muslin and I'm glad I did.

The back was WAYYY too big. I didn't want to add darts as I was afraid they would create to much bulk. So after playing around and pinning extra fabric here and there, I actually ended up with princess seams.

The back was big enough that I managed to recut all the pieces from that one original piece

The front was pretty straight forward at first. I pinned a horizontal tuck of about 2.5cm above the bust and did a SBA. After that I still had extra fabric at the armhole that looked like it wanted to become a dart. I tried pinning said dart and rotating it to the side seam instead of the armhole but that was a fail (haven't had much luck with rotating darts in the front so far....). So next I tried lowering the armhole, and as I was about to recut a muslin of the front, I remembered that I did, in fact, have some (free) left over pink fun fur from a recent stuffed animal project, so I cut my new front in it.

Once sewn up, the extra fabric and armhole gap were still there but it didn't look as bad as on the cotton muslin. I managed to remove the excess almost completely by doing a sloping shoulder adjustment and taking in a bit at the front side seam just under the armhole.

I'm really glad I had the opportunity to try the adjusted pattern on the fun fur. It worked out great as the nap of the pink fur is pretty similar to that of the faux-fur I'm planning on using (i.e fairly long), so I can expect this to be quite accurate with what the final garment will look like. Also, I wasn't sure if the flaws showing on the cotton muslin would show more with the fur (due to thickness) or less or the same, and now I have my answer: small wrinkles definitely show less, thanks to the thickness, and although main flaws are just as obvious, it was easier to find a satisfying fix with the fur rather than spending more time tweaking the regular muslin.

I've made all the adjustments to the pattern now and I can't wait to actually cut into my faux-fur...

WIP: Muslining Away

I’m in a big muslin roll these days. I have made 4 so far, and I have 1 more ready to go.

I actually do enjoy making muslins (that’s when I’m not making the third muslin of the same pattern with still fitting issues). It allows me to sew something really fast – since I don’t worry about finishing seams or facings, and to see the fit right away. Hopefully I find that there are not too many alterations, and they are easy to make. And once I’m happy with the muslin I can go head first into the garment, wihtout worrying (as much) about the fit, and I can concentrate on making clean seams and finishes.

Making a muslin is also good to check if you actually like the garment style on you. Many times I see a pattern that I find interesting and would like to make, but if I think about it a little, I realize the style wouldn’t work for me.

So far, I’ve made muslins for a top, a dress, a skirt and a jacket. The reason(s) I decided to make all these muslins, aside from checking the fit, was also because
a) l was lacking some of my supplies ( lining fabric mostly)
b) I hadn’t pre-washed my fabrics
c) I was uncertain of which project to start with.
So that way I still get to do some sewing, and in the meantime I can complete the steps listed above.

The patterns I’ve used for my most recents projects were envelope patterns so I have kind of forgotten about the whole Burda magazine deal: the tracing, and the seam-allowance-adding, the lack of markings for lengthening/shortening and the overly complicated instructions. Since all of my next projects involve BWOF patterns, making muslins was also a good way to brush up on the Burda process and make mistakes without consequences. Like adding a seam allowance to an edge that’s supposed to be cut on the fold….Or cutting on the bias a piece that’s supposed to be on the grain line (while the lining is cut on the bias…the grain direction on the pattern made it a bit confusing).

The first muslin I made is blouse 105 from BWOF April 2010. In this case, the muslin fabric is much stiffer than the fabric I intend to use for the final garment (silk chiffon). I already know I need to lengthen it a bit, but I’m having troubles figuring out the right fit in the bust, and the fabric isn’t helping. So I bought some cheap polyester chiffon at $2 a meter to make a second muslin. This will also give me an idea of the difficulty of sewing chiffon fabric (another good reason to make a muslin)…

My second muslin is looking good. I’ve managed to find the fitting issues and correct most of them. The pattern was one of Burda's "petite" sizing (for women who are 160cm, and I’m 1.78) so adjusting it to properly fit my bust length was necessary. I still have issues with gaping at the back armhole, but I think I know how to solve that. This is most likely my next project on the table, as soon as I’ve washed my lining fabric.

My third muslin is a jacket (121 also from BWOF April 2010). Although this is already a Tall Pattern, I will need to lengthen the bodice a bit, as I hate feeling a draft in the belly area :). I'm happy with the "boxy" fit of the bodice but I'll have to make adjustments to the sleeves as they are too big, so I will most likely make another muslin of just the sleeve piece. This is where an “elbow” mark on the pattern would also be helpful, to check that the sleeve length is proportionate, but again, BWOF patterns lack these….

I made a muslin of this skirt because this is a typical case of “Franken-pattern”. The skirt is from McCall 5192 and the high waist band from BWOF 112-01-2009. The muslin helped make sure both pieces would fit together, and make a sway back adjustment on the waist band piece.
This is a fall/winter garment so it will probably stay in the sewing cue until the end of summer…

My next muslin (maybe after I’ve finished the dress) will also be an experiment as I would like to make a pair of wide-legged paperbag-waist pants for summer. I don’t have a pattern for the waistband, so I will have to draft it, but first I had to find a pants pattern that would work without having to draft the whole thing myself. Making a muslin will help make sure the result is what I have in mind.

Do you guys make a lot of muslin? Do you enjoy it or do you find it’s one more time-consuming step before completing a garment? As it turns out there's a recent post this week on Burdastyle about why muslins are so useful, that I found very interesting.