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Muslin round 3 - finally ready!

Apparently my last post was way too optimistic!

I went to go see E for sewing class and we made a bunch of alterations to my muslin. See in the photo below the left side has been altered and the right side has only the first round of adjustments I made.  The front princess seams were tweaked several times, the upper part of the sleeve is being let out a little and a pretty major adjustment to the armhole. Armholes are tricky!

If I was making this totally on my own I probably wouldn't have made so many changes, I think we be accustomed to buying semi-fitting commercial clothes that we don't really have any idea what really fits and looks good on us. If it fits around us and isn't 10 sizes too big we think it fits!

E also helped me alter the pattern so I could have a button up cuff with a facing, rather than just turning up the end of the cuff. Much more Channel.

To do this,  E measured up my arm how far I wanted the cuff to go and we have then added fabric that allows the two flaps to fold over where there was previously a seam. This was pretty simple because I have a 2 piece sleeve, if you have only a 1 piece sleeve it might be more challenging. To create the facing, I have copied the bottom of the sleeve shape and extended it 2 inches, the facing is one piece that goes all the way around the full sleeve (ie both pieces) bottom. I think this will provide a nicer, higher end finish to the sleeve.

E has also suggested I consider a bias sleeve - my fabric choice will allow for this - but that is tabled until we get further.

The next step was to cut apart my muslin so I can use it for my pattern. You can also make the alterations to your paper pattern pieces but I felt it was easier to cut apart the muslin. Since we only made alterations on one side, I will use that side for both pieces I cut (like a typical pattern). If for some reason your right and left sides of your body are substantially different (they can be!) you would want to do alterations to both sides, mine are basically the same.

If  using the cut up muslin as the pattern, you do need to add seam allowance when cutting.

Next up - my recent trip to Mood and buying fabric!

Estimated total hours spent: 5.5

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