Muslin Number Two

Here's  a photo of the first muslin I did the other day. As I stated in the previous blog entry, the neckline is much too wide for my taste.  Maybe in a younger day, but with my bust line now, this style sort of made a presentation of my head and neck. So, I moved on to another pattern and another piece of fabric from my stash.

This is the casual knit top I finished this afternoon.  You can see some similar design features, but the neckline is much more reasonable for me.  I finished this, hems and all and will no doubt wear it around the house, maybe further, but it does need one modification to the fit.  I need to raise the neckline in the back due to my rounded upper back (sometimes unflatteringly named a widow's hump or some such horrible appellation.) In any case, it's there and has been for decades and affects the way tops "sit" and usually makes the center back pull up.  Sometimes the yoke will compensate for it, but in the case of this pattern, it needs more help. 

This pattern may be made in woven fabric as well, and I think that a rayon or some other drapey fabric would work well.

Making a Muslin

The owner of an independent pattern company I sometimes buy from always advises us to sew a  muslin before cutting into our wonderful fabric. If you take the long view, this is sensible and may save you from a total disaster. I have never been a big fan of doing this as it takes as long or longer than making the garment alone. It also uses fabric for something that may never be wearable. So, a compromise for my frugal soul is to make the garment from a not too expensive fabric, but if the project is wearable, perhaps I can wear the 'muslin' around the house.

Well, it's been a long time since I've actually made much for myself to wear. My shape, which never did comply with commercial pattern sizes has changed even farther in these past few years. So, as  I have been looking at patterns and styles and fabrics thinking about what I'd like to make, the muslin idea seems even more sensible.

So, today I made up a pattern for a casual knit top.  I most likely will not make this pattern in fashion fabric, there are some basic problems with the width of the yoke piece.  I just don't like exposing that much skin to the sun or for all the world to see. However, I did use a piece of knit fabric that must have been really really cheap. It's a green, tan and pink camo pattern. (I have fabric that was purchased before my four year stint in Japan - I have little recollection of how much it cost or when I bought it.)

At least now I know to look for a different pattern for a casual knit top. I guess that was worth some of my time today.