Jo and I have been taking a class at Modern Domestic, learning how to draft a pattern from a completed garment. We just had our last class, and this is my finished muslin!
For reference, here’s the dress I was copying.
It’s very loose-fitting, with pintucks on the front and excellent pockets. This is my favorite dress. I wear it all the time and I want a million copies.
I had hoped to be able to wear my muslin, but there are a few problems with it. Nothing that affects the pattern I drafted – just this particular version I made. 🙂
Everyone says not to use expensive fabric for your muslin, and they are right. I found this sheet at a thrift store for $3 and it was perfect for testing, but I don’t think I’ll keep it to wear – even though I think the print is super cute and I’m 100% comfortable wearing a dress with a giant, quirky animal print. 😂
- I didn’t have quite enough fabric to make the dress, so I patched in a weird bit at one shoulder. The seam looks kind of like a yoke seam, or a raglan sleeve seam, but there’s not a matching seam on the other side. Worse, I didn’t mess around with getting the pieced bit on grain, so now it hangs kind of funny.
- The sheet didn’t have a fiber content tag, but judging from the smell when I pressed it on a cotton setting, I’m pretty sure it’s 100% polyester. That makes it a static generator – especially since I like to wear my dresses with loose pants. So Much Static Cling!!!
- The fabric is too light weight to hang really well. (Lesson learned from these pants.) But it’s still uncomfortably hot to wear? Weird, but true.
- My white chalk didn’t show up on the fabric, so I used yellow to make my pintucks. I had to press those lines, and that set the color. It didn’t completely wash out. 🙁
- I also messed up sewing one pocket, and the opening is so tight I can barely get my hand into it. Oops! Sadly, it’s the right pocket, and I’m right-handed. 😂
So all of that makes the muslin less wearable, but that’s ok. I spent $3 on the fabric and learned a lot!
I decided to remove the bust darts. On a dress this loose and with my body shape, they’re completely unnecessary.
I decided to change the pocket to a different style my teacher showed me. Same basic construction, but a prettier opening, and one I’m less likely to mess up when sewing in the nice fabric.
So that’s the next step! Making this dress in nice fabric!
Remember these socks I made?
That pretty fabric under my feet is the fabric I’m using for my “real” dress. I designed it! I had it printed on linen and I’ve been adding it to my laundry every week for the last month, hoping to get all the shrink out of it before making my dress. 🙂
I’m very nervous to cut into it, but also eager to get started. Wish me luck!
I really like that fun animal print, but the fabric you’re going to use for the “real” dress is even better and will likely work out perfectly-the time/effort/and $3 crib sheet will be invaluable in the end! How many times does linen have to be laundered to get all the shrinkage eliminated?
I’m not sure. 🤔 I know once is definitely not enough. I washed once before making a pair of pants and they lost INCHES in the first few washes after they were finished. I had to take out the double-fold hem AND add an extra strip of fabric. I think I washed (and dried) this new linen 5-6 times before cutting out my pattern. I just threw it in with a load of laundry every week for over a month. I washed it in cold and dried it on hot in the dryer, but I plan on always hanging the finished dress to dry.
Hey, not bad for a $3 sheet!! I was just thinking I should probably use an old sheet instead of getting Actual Muslin for mock-ups, though Mode had a recent sale on five yard bundles. (It’s just so very boring when you could have smiling lions.)
I wince at the static and the heat issues. UGH, those just add insult to injury. But I LOVE the fabric you chose for the final dress (and I found it – but just so you know, the link is wonky)! Can’t wait to see it – good luck!
Thanks for letting me know about the wonky link! I swear, I had such fumble fingers yesterday. So many typos in one day!!!
You’ve got this !!
I think if you wanted to reuse this fabric, it would look very cute on throw pillows…maybe even the portion with pin tucks! Or as the outermost fabric on a tote bag. Either would allow you to wear it very often!
That’s a great idea1