{"id":4279,"date":"2019-05-16T17:33:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T21:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailysew.com\/?p=4279"},"modified":"2019-05-16T17:33:46","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T21:33:46","slug":"wearable-muslin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/wearable-muslin\/","title":{"rendered":"Wearable Muslin?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"People<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How do you feel about wearable muslins?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a thing in the sewing community to make your first attempt of a garment in a slightly, what? cheaper? less-liked? fabric in case it doesn’t work out. After that first attempt, you’re supposed to work out the fit and construction details and sew it up in the fabric you actually wanted to make the garment out of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except that you still wear the first garment. And you tell everyone who follows you “it’s my wearable muslin”. As in “Oh, this ol’ thing? It’s just my wearable muslin”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, cut the crap. You know you want that first try to be good enough to wear. That’s why you make it in a wearable fabric, with facings, pockets, topstitching, hems, and all the things you don’t do when you make a muslin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People, that’s too much pressure. Or at least it is for folks like me who sometimes feel the expectation of others as an obligation. (Thank you, Gretchen Rubin<\/a>, for pointing that out)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt this pressure, and yesterday a big lightening bolt shot down from the sky (figuratively) and put me straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Simplicity's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m about to sew a dress in a beautiful, vintage brocade that my mom gave me when she was clearing her fabric stash. I’m sewing it for the #madelikemaisel<\/a> Instagram challenge a friend started and possibly, err probably, Frocktails (coming to Asheville, NC in August!<\/a>). This means there is a deadline to this project and an accountability aspect which if external expectations didn’t mean so much to me I could just let slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m looking at this pattern I’ve never sewn before and I start to think, “I know, I’ll make a wearable muslin!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Now, follow my logic here. The temptation of a wearable muslin is strong, I understand how we think this is a good idea.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll make it in a more casual fabric, work out the fit and, you know, I’m sure it will fit fine, right out of the envelope (WHO was I talking to?)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I chose some linen I bought online but was too heavy for what I thought I would sew in it. It would be perfect for this dress. And then I’ll have two dresses! I was so excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I turned on the iron to press that linen (first step to cutting it) I started to think what size would be best to cut out if I’m going to possibly be making fitting adjustments?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, what adjustments might have to be made? Hmmm, I suspect I’ll need to adjust the shoulder line forward about 1\/4″. I’ll probably need to subtract some length from bust to waistline, and I might need a small full bust adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the lightening bolt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodness gracious, girl! Just get out the muslin! There’s no pressure. Mess up the muslin all you want. That’s what it’s for, right? How many times do you need to learn this lesson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please, let’s not have to go through the sewing-blues again after your wearable muslin turns out to be not so wearable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice of reason and sewing sense was heard. I’m cutting out the dress (just past the hips) out of muslin. I’m only cutting out the main pieces and the collar to see if I like the collar option or not. And I’ll cut the pattern out as it is, in the size the envelope says I need. I’ll sew up the darts, shoulder and side seams. Put it on. Pin up the side zipper opening and check the mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoulder seam sitting right or do I need to move it forward? By how much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the fit across the bust good? How about the waist and hips? Is the waist sitting at my waist or too low as per usual?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then. I will adjust the pattern. If I don’t have too many changes I may go ahead and cut it out of the brocade. I may have to make another muslin. I’ll see when I get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this I know, a “wearable muslin” is not a muslin. It’s a garment. And some garments need to be made in muslin before they are made in wearable fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, after the brocade dress is made, I want, I can make the dress again in the linen. After all, the fit will be worked out and that’s certainly the hardest part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Make<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you feel about wearable muslins? It’s a thing in the sewing community to make your first attempt of a garment in a slightly, what? cheaper? less-liked? fabric in case it doesn’t work out. After that first attempt, you’re supposed to work out the fit and construction details and sew it up in the […] Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[272,273,87],"tags":[110,335],"class_list":["post-4279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sewing-clothes","category-fitting-tips","category-sewing-life","tag-muslin","tag-wearable-muslin"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/2019-5-tds-bg-wearable-muslin-ft.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EZxn-171","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4279"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4288,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279\/revisions\/4288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailysew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}