Friday, June 06, 2014

Making A New Muslin For My Moss - Part 3

Well, when Makes the Things and An Elemental Life decided April would be Moss Making Month, I thought it was about time I revisited my ongoing procrastination project, the Grainline Moss. I have no earthly idea why it's taking me this long to make this skirt, I really don't! Perhaps, I want it so much I'm scared that it won't look like my vision.* I mean, I seriously can't wait to wear this skirt and then make many more of them!
 
I don't know how well it worked out for everyone else in April but here is the latest muslin/step in my Moss making journey (see bottom of post for links to the other steps):
 
 1. 2.
  
3.
  
I warn you, this is an extremely long post that does not end with a finished item. However, as you will see, I am getting VERY close. I have now realized that when it comes to my skirts, if it does not have a dart in the back, it will not fit me. Above, see what a little dart can do for fitting and shaping. You can even do it the way I did and get the results of a dart without having a dart visible. In this case, the dart was drafted into the pattern pieces. You can see this technique for a waistband piece illustrated here at the House of Jo blog.


Ta  da! I actually cut a new muslin (#3) out of a bright yellow linen for what I hope are the last tweaks to this pattern. The goal now is to perfect the waistband to fit the new and customized yoke and skirt.


I made a big change to this muslin. If you notice in the picture at the top of the post, the original waist dipped down in the front. It was a little lower than I felt comfortable. Though this is what the designer intended, where it was, the fit of the skirt would be very dependant on the comparative "poof" of my belly and it's many fluctuations. I decided to raise the skirt front 1/2" on all the pertinent pattern pieces, effectively raising the waistband just in the front.


That new and improved back yoke pattern in use.
Having altered the yoke in back per Jen's instructions, I chose to follow the example led by Stitching on the Edge's Adrienne and treat my skirt and waistband together as separate front and back skirt units in order to fit and stitch the skirt together at the side seams. That seems to have been the best idea for an accurate fit.

I also measured and added some length to the front waistband sections as some reviewers had said the original was not long enough. I have a few tweaks to make to the front waistband curve still. Update: Perhaps there would be no problem if I had not put the waistband on upside down! Kirsty of Tea and Rainbows talked about this same issue when making her Moss but I still made that mistake.

No wonder it was not fitting tighter at the waist, it should get narrower towards the top! So, now on to the final fabric! Finally.

Where I am now:


I think the only hiccup was the front section of my waistband. Hopefully, it is now fixed.

See how straight that side seam is now!

I like the idea that if I were wearing a shirt on top you would have no idea there were any problems at all. If all else fails...

 
 
 
The color in these two pictures is more accurate of this near fluorescent yellow fabric.


Messing With My Moss Muslin Part 1
More On My Moss Muslin, Part 2

*I know that is why I haven't cut into my polka-dot moleskin for my highly desired and wardrobe changing duster coat!

3 comments:

Adrienne said...

Wow, what a difference between the original fit and now. The front waistband looks good & I imagine it's more comfortable . I've made this skirt a couple of times and both tend to droop towards my hips as the day goes on, even though I did make some adjustments in that area. It's hard to tell with the linen, but it looks to me like you could even let it out in the back just a little for wearing ease. And I admit to wearing long fitted shirts over my moss skirt! if nothing else it helps to hold it in place...ha!

lsaspacey said...

Hey, thanks Adrienne! Can you believe I'm STILL working on this skirt? I hope you're still sewing but just not blogging. My goal is to cut out my fashion fabric this coming weekend, wish me luck. Thanks, again for the tip.

Adrienne said...

Still sewing, just haven't had the time or desire to blog lately! I hope to get some reviews up on pattern review this summer though. Looking forward to your progress on this skirt!