I'm Out of Muslin Again

… so it's a good thing I don't need to sew another one for this jacket.



I'm quite pleased with the muslin. The remaining tweaks I can make on the tissue and won't need another muslin.

As I mentioned, last night I made initial alterations onto the pattern tissue. There are twelve vertical seam allowances on this jacket. That's a lot of opportunities to spread around the additional needed width without changing the look of the jacket.

I started with a straight 18 and left that sizing alone until waist and hip levels, where I added 1/12 of the difference between my actual measurements and the pattern envelope measurements, which was basically just a tapered addition down the seamline. Because most of these pieces adjoin with another, I only had to make the adjustment to one side and then simply trace that (with my rotary cutter) onto the adjoining seam. This literal shortcut not only saved time but it also meant the seams should match perfectly. Which they did. Whew! ;-)

I also used the size 18 sleeve so it would fit right into the armscye, even though I knew it would never fit my arm. Before cutting the muslin, I had added width to the tissue at the center raglan seam and also adjusted for my square shoulders, but I still couldn't get the muslin up my arm comfortably and the armhole was too tight. So I ripped out the sleeve seams (as you can see by my arm in the right of the photo) and sewed shallower seams for the sleeve on your left. I'll note these new seam allowances on the pattern and also cut with a little extra over the bicep so I can adjust in the real fabric if necessary. I've decided to forego the shoulder pads this pattern calls for as my square shoulders in a raglan sleeve already look padded.

The final observation about this muslin is that I did NOT do an FBA. The seaming is a little off from my actual apex (where I've drawn a blue line on the muslin) so I'll move the seam and let it out just a little at bust level because while I don't think I need a full-blown FBA, I do need a smidge more width across the bust.

These are the intended fabrics for the next outfit:



The jacket will be from the taupey-brown fabric on top, a skirt will be made from the paisley print, and a tee-type top from the lime slinky (I'm thinking the gathered neck BWOF tee). The skirt fabric matches both jacket fabrics, and I also plan to make a skirt from the slinky for a 2-piece dress which will then go with other fabrics I have planned for more pieces. So, in a way, I'm doing a SWAP, but only because I tend to buy in color families anyway.

But if I get all these pieces done by next weekend as I'm planning, I'll also have a mini-wardrobe I can enter in the PR Contest since I didn't cut the real Jalie top until yesterday morning (May 1, the contest start date). I had originally planned to enter with casual summer pieces, so it will be a nice bonus to be able to enter the contest from a completely different angle since I thought I'd have to drop out before ever starting.

Now off to get ready to cut real fabric. And then a trip to Joann's tonight is in order because I really am out of muslin now.