In the works

I've started working on a new dress, and I've decided to do things right this time by making a muslin of the bodice to check the fit before cutting my fashion fabric.  I have enough large scraps of other fabric that I don't feel guilty "wasting" fabric for this.  And really, for New Look 6723, there isn't too much fabric required if you don't cut out the skirt.



It's a good thing I decided to make a muslin before running off and cutting up my fabric because my first bodice muslin had a terrible fit!  Some of the issues I expected - such as the gaping back neckline.  But my big surprise here (something that probably should not have been a surprise) is that I needed to do a FBA.  I don't think of myself as being particularly well endowed, but apparently my bust is a bit on the large size for my small frame, at least according to The Standard Size.  So I did my first ever FBA following the directions in Fast Fit by Sandra Betzina and changing the B cup to a C cup.  It was really easy for this princess seam bodice.  I also took in the back neckline on each side by 3/4" and the front neckline by 3/8" on each side and tweaked the side and back princess seams.  When I was mostly happy, I pulled apart my muslin and used it to create new pattern pieces, then cut out a 2nd muslin.

I finished the 2nd muslin today and the fit is significantly improved.  I only had a few small changes to make --- evening out the waistline because it was still dipping down lower in the back than the front, and tweaking the front armhole after my major changes to the front princess seams.  So I'm all ready to cut out my fashion fabric now.  I picked up 2 yards of the green leaf cotton lawn (shown above) from Fashion Fabrics Club a couple of months ago after eyeing it every time I browsed their selection.  Good thing I got it when I did, because they don't seem to have it anymore.  The background is a fairly sheer ivory, so I'll line it with some nude-colored cotton lawn from my stash.

I'm hoping it all goes fairly quickly now that I've fixed my major fit issues, because I can't wait to make a Cambie dress!  And I have the perfect fabric for it too, also a cotton lawn from Fashion Fabric Club, but with really cute purple and pink polka dots!  I'm going to make the full skirt version first with a straight neckline (see Tasia's tutorial here).


I'm pretty sure I'll need to check the fit on the Cambie dress bodice too, but I'm planning to make several versions, so the time will be well spent.  I can't wait to have some fun new summer dresses!