Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Muslin for Simplicity 2511 (or the girl with alien eyes)


While waiting up 'til midnight so I could register for the series of upholstery classes at Austin City College, I worked on a muslin of vintage Simplicity 2511. Look at the size of the eyes on the (suicide) blonde girl on the pattern envelope. Scary. I made view 1. It is size 36 and I am a 37/38. I was going to grade it up slightly but I did a pin fitting with the pattern and it looked like it might work, so I went ahead with the original size and used 1/4 inch seams instead of 5/8. Well...I should have stuck with my original plan. It's a little too constricting through the shoulders and armholes. I'll grade up to a 38, use the 5/8 inch seam allowance, enlarge the armholes a bit and add an inch to the length.

It's made out of a navy slinky/crepey polyester with just the slightest bit of sheen from JoAnn's. It's soft and drapes very nicely. It would be more of a blouse and less of an almost wearable muslin if I hadn't sewn on the neck facing inside-out (so the interfacing side shows when you look inside and my trimmed seam edges threaten to peek out from the neckline). How did I manage that? (*sigh*) I think of sewing as sort of a big geometry project. I never really got geometry. I guess that's why I almost always sew at least one piece on upside-down, inside-out or backwards. I should try to think of projects as puzzles instead. I'm trying to decide whether to pick out the understitching and the seam and sew the facing back in the right way. That would take hmm...2-3 hours? Is it worth it for something that doesn't fit perfectly?

I went for something slinky to try out my new walking foot. Love! It made it so easy to ease the pieces together. Would it be cheating to use the walking foot on everything? Are there downsides to using a walking foot? Will I get used to it and have trouble if I attempt to sew velvet (like I'm planning to with the tunic from Twinkle Sews)?

Anyhow, I really like the shape of the blouse. It has 6 darts in the front and four in the back. It highlights the curves of my waist. It's hard to see on the navy, so I think I'll make the real thing in a lighter color to show off the detail. Maybe a cherry red? I spent a lot of time on the darts on this blouse. I have to say my sewing is getting better. That makes me happy.

BTW - I made it into the Upholstery class. There are only 7 spots and they usually fill up within hours of registration opening, hence the late night. I can't wait to tackle some of the more interesting upholstery projects I keep buying from Craig's List, much to Corey's chagrin. If all goes well, look for them on my soon (I hope) to be opened etsy site.

Update on the muslin:
I went ahead and picked out the stitching. I should get it back together tonight. I'll post photos when I do.

2 comments:

Karin said...

It looks great on the pattern picture, so elegant. I can't wait to see your version. And yes, that girl looks kind of creepy indeed :-D

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