Vogue 1312 Muslin #1 Adjustments

 

This view of Vogue 1312 from the pattern envelope shows the detailing of this pattern much better than the amusing black posed version. You can see how the skirt falls into folds, which appears much more complicated than it really is. I love this because it is a bit funky.

 

 

 

Two things are apparent from this photo: one, the bodice is a tight fit (the pattern calls for a left side underarm zipper), and two, her neckline is gaping and is a little wide. The extra neckline width is probably to enable her to get it over her head. Notice also that the bodice above her bust and in the shoulder area appears to have extra fullness and on the verge of collapse. Studying this photo gave me clues as to what problems I might encounter on my own muslin, and I was right.

 





 

 

On the left is my final adjusted front bodice pattern piece. On the right I have overlaid the original bodice pattern piece. I always find it interesting how a pattern piece can morph once I make adjustments to fit this particular body that I have.

 

My new front bodice pattern includes the following alterations:

 

1. A 4 inch FBA (resulting in two huge darts)

2. Lowered bust point 1 inch

3. Lengthened 1 1/2 inches between the bust and waist (I'm tall)

4. Severely scooped out armhole (there's that tall thing again)

5. Narrowed upper chest 1 inch on each side

6. Added 1 inch extra seam allowance on each side for insurance

7. Added 5/8 inch to neckline for more coverage

 

These alterations resulted in my own personal wonky front bodice pattern that fits ME. Which is the whole point, isn't it?

 

 

 

Here is a shot of my muslin front--you can see that I pinned out the upper chest area during fitting. After much head scratching and research about how to gracefully remove the excess fabric in that area, I pinned and smoothed and pinned and smoothed and finally traced my muslin onto pattern paper, trued up the seam lines, and it's now ready for Muslin #2.

 

 

Here's the same photo comparison for the back bodice. The only alteration I needed here was a 1/2 inch round back adjustment. Since I wanted to keep the center back fold, I added a small neckline dart to take out the excess neckline gaping that resulted from the RBA. This pattern was also lengthened and insurance seams allowed as for the front.

Here's the muslin showing the method I used for the RBA--a horizontal slice across the center midway of the armhole, then spreading at center back.

Today I hope to cut out Muslin #2 from my new pattern and see how all this works out in real life. More later, and thanks for dropping by.