Saturday, October 2, 2010

Vogue 8546 Muslin



First, this is just a muslin. I don't care how many readers may be inclined to say they love it but this horrible shiny purple polyester fabric will not be leaving the house. Ever. I mean it. ;-) But it does make a good test fabric for the pattern because the hand and stretch are similar to the good stuff.

Overall, so far, so good. I cut the pattern blending between shoulder and hip sizes as usual and then cut the ugly fabric without any other alteration to get a starting point. I also wanted to see how it all goes together before I'm working on the real thing, because it's not lined and the back side of the hood seam is what shows per the pattern. All seam allowances are topstitched like a faux welt seam would be so it's not like there would be loose seam allowances flapping around.

I totally screwed up when sewing the sleeves though and ended up with seam allowances on the outside. Hah! Good thing this was a test or I'd have a lot of ripping to do. Serves me right for only half paying attention. But I did decide that I can sew just the hood seam opposite of the instructions and end up with the better side showing. Realistically, I'm just not going to be using the hood that much (ever?) and if I do, it means the weather is horrible and no one is going to be looking at my hood seam. ;-) I'd rather have the nicer part showing when the hood is down.

As to fit, I'm happy to say that it's pretty darn good. Which tells me this pattern has a LOT of ease. I need to add some more room at the back hip (a/k/a my butt), but other than that, no other alterations are needed. There's plenty of bust room and the center fronts do meet. The sleeves fit in both length and width over a long-sleeved top. Bust and waist levels seem to be good. It's a raglan and my square shoulders don't seem to be an issue — I lifted the collar/hood to check, but it would hide any problems if there was something to hide.

I am going to shorten it all around about 3 inches but only because I'm squeezing this onto a finite piece of fabric and if I don't shorten it, it won't fit. I'm still not 100% sure my fabric is big enough. I think I need to lay it all out and pin it while on the floor to be sure. Fingers crossed, because I really want to make this from the green fabric, not the brown.

The last issue is a closure. The pattern calls for a belt. I don't want a self-fabric or purchased belt because I'm not going to wear this closed very often and I don't have enough fabric for a self-belt anyway. But if it's windy, I will have fabric blowing all over so I think I need something. I'm thinking a couple of well-placed buttons and loops and/or hidden ties will do the trick. We'll see if I can come up with a solution without expending too much brain power. I am trying to get *something* finished for my trip after all and brain power takes time.

So now I'm off to fight the masses so I can restock the food pantry and after that, I'll pick up on this project again. The sewing part is easy. I just need to spend some quality time with my cutting and marking.

6 comments:

  1. I'd just make little straps so you can tie it firmly on the inside. Then you can put a pretty button at the outside edge, and it's all good! I'm not really fond of self belts with tops that are as busy as this, with the ruffle and all. And I understand the "I will never wear this color or fabric!" attitude. Sometimes you just have to take a stand on things like that.

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  2. Another route to go for the closure is one of those giant safety pins that are used on boutique RTW. I have a few of those and they are handy.

    I was surprised this pattern has a hood. I had to go look up the line art on the Vogue website. It has cute lines. I would have been concerned about that large collar on my bust, but I can see that it might work.

    I'm with you on the fabric. ;) But I think this will be a great travel piece.

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  3. Bust room? Yes please! LOL! SO glad to hear this is going well. I may pull my pattern out and see the specs. I'm not sure I have enough fabric in my stash.

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  4. Heather, The pattern calls for over 2-1/4 to 2-5/8 yds depending on size, but I did cut it out last night from under 2 yds. and I'm at the large end of the sizing. I only had to shorten the pattern 1/2", which I just took off at the bottom edge out of laziness. I couldn't cut the pocket bag from this fabric, but I have another close green and since the bags are on the wrong side, they'll never show anyway.

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  5. Hee hee...the color? I don't think I've ever seen you in anything remotely this color. I'll bet there's a story behind how it landed in your stash :-)

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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