Wrong Pattern; New Plan

You know... I probably would have really enjoyed Montessouri school as a child. I love jumping into something without reading the directions. A dose of Discovery Learning always does me some good.

That is how I began in my "fake it 'till you make it" muslin making process. I chose this Burda pattern, which I planned to make in some fancy fabric and wear to a couple weddings. I successfully fit the bodice so the neckline wasn't so gosh darn baggy. Here are some visual aids for what I did:

First, I put the bodice pieces together and put them on the dress form inside out (notice that I did not press the seams...oops.)
The neckline was enormous, and at a strange angle. Plus, the waist was just fine. So I took in the neckline by 1/2" on either side, tapering it to nothing under the arm.

This looked right to me.
So I measured and cut the pattern piece, taping it back together with the little wedge removed.

I cut out the lining (left over from my failed July 4th dress... it was supposed to be the sash:(

With right sides together I put the lining and outer bodice together. When doing this, you are actually supposed to handle the shoulder seams differently, so the seams are on the inside. But in my laziness, and since its a muslin, I just sewed them together after the fact.

Here we go! Looking good! I actually kind of like the seam from the neckline to the side. I can see doing some color blocking along those lines at a later date.

What I realized though, in my best Nina Garcia inner voice (my inner voice often impersonates Project Runway judges...today it was Nina) - is that it just looks a little bit junior. If I made this dress in an evening wear fabric the whole thing would look best for a teenager.

At the same moment, I stumbled upon Gretchen's announcement, at Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, that she has launched an online class at Craftsy.com. This class, thrillingly, is on how to construct a bombshell dress. PERFECT. Not only that, it includes a number of techniques I haven't tried yet - boning, underlining, bust padding, hooray! I promptly signed up and started drooling over fabric online. I've already watched several lessons, and I love love love Gretchen's teaching style. So happy!

What will happen to this little Burda pattern, you ask? FEAR NOT. Sitting on my couch, right next to the dress form (but not quite in the picture), is two yards of swiss dot fabric that will look awesome as this dress. Hmmm... I'm starting to have a sewing queue. Yikes.

Wedding Guest Dress: the other Summer Essential

In March, S and I challenged each other to make our dresses for a gorgeous Baton Rouge wedding we were both attending. Neither of us succeeded. I ended up wearing some Marc Jacobs knock off from four years ago. Oy. S did make her dress for a beach wedding last August... so she still has one up on me.

Since March, my sewing has taken off... galvanized by selling my old law school desk and replacing it with a cutting table. With three out of town weddings approaching - New York City, Minnesota, and Massachusetts -... this month I will be not be stopped!

I'm inspired by several blog posts I've read recently about making a muslin (or test garment), first on Frabjous Couture, and then on Burdastyle. This led me to a series of older posts from Sewaholic (my new addiction! So many awesome resources!) I've never made a muslin - and there is no time to learn like the present.

Now the only question is what pattern to use.

I like the this Burda pattern, but $5.40 is a little steep for not including the skirt... plus Burda tends to have awful instructions.


I also love this Vogue Dress - V1102. I'm a little worried it will end up looking maternity, though. Especially with the empire waist and enormous skirt.

Well, I'm off to Hancock Fabrics to flip through patterns and buy some muslin material. I'm just so excited to learn some new sewing techniques through this project. I finally have the confidence to try something new and know that I can probably fix it if it turns out looking strange!