Friday, May 11, 2012

Mock-up Done, Tweaking Needed

Alright everyone, here's a mock-up of my design.  It's not perfect, so you will get a glimpse of my beige bra against a beige dress and panty lines.  I'm sorry for any offense that may be stirred.  I found this heavy knit in the discount section of JoAnn's and it's working well for the mock-up.  The color is horrid for me, the final dress will be a rich jewel tone.

I'm very happy with the concept and the seaming work went together like a dream.  I was playing around with the idea of piping the seams, so I serged the seams on the outside and then top stitched them down.  I'm thinking of just sticking with understated normal seams, letting the subtleness carry the design.  Also, less work.  The final dress will have an all-in-one facing for the armholes and neckline.






I'm too tired to smile in this picture.  I think the dress is too tight.  I'm wearing borrowed Spanx but there are wrinkles around my tummy indicating that it needs more room.  The nursing overlays are a mess, but hopefully easily fixed.





Hmm.  Odd twisting is going on here.  Also, the upper overlay isn't long enough to cup under my bust.  The lower overlay needs a dart taken out of it to cup under.  And what is up with the neckline?





This is with the upper overlay cut away from the top three seams and repositioned to take out the twisting.  Much better.  I took out the excess from center front at the neck.I still need more length to the overlay to cup the bust but it's better than before.  Here's a picture of the shoulder showing how much I need to add to the overlay.



Now for the back.



I had a lapse of awesomeness and flipped the midriff inlay.  I think it's contributing to the fit problems in the bodice.  My next step in fixing the muslin is to cut out the midriff, flip it back to its correct orientation, abut the seams and do a zig zag stitch.  I can't properly analyze the fit until that's done.  I'm not looking forward to the work.  Also, too tight in across the hips and rear.

Things I love about this:

The seaming details make me feel so feminine.
The sleeves are perfect.
And, after I hem it 1 14/" it will be the perfect length.
I patterned all the pieces correctly except the nursing overlays, and I knew that would be trial-and-error.

Alright, I'm awaiting your comments and criticisms.

Edited to add:  I've flipped the back midriff area and then pined out a 2" tuck on the back bodice at the armpit level.  It's fitting much better now, but still needs 2-3" of ease around the hips.  Or more?  Do I need more than 3"?

6 comments:

  1. I like the seaming detail. And the nursing overlay thingie is genius. I would never have thought to do it. I don't know about the ease. It seems that 2-3" would be enough ... are you doing another mockup? If not could you do extra large seam allowances and adjust if you did need more? hmmm ... I think this is definitely more advanced than I've ever sewn. Such a cool idea. I might try to draft a skirt block this summer. I'm impressed by idea to fruition, even if it still needs work!

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  2. Thank you Caroline, it's been a lot of work.

    I want to make a second muslin before cutting into my fashion fabric just because there's so many little tweaks I'm doing to the pattern. I have enough fabric for it.

    I cut into the skirt under the pleats, tried it on, and measured how far the fabric split apart. I ended up adding 3" just to the backside, and I think I'm going to add another 1/2" to each side seam for a total of 1" more.

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  3. I really love the seaming details. So curvacious. mmm mmm. haha. Seriously though, I love the overlay concept. I do have one question...does it give boob access to both sides? I might add a little more "skirt" to it, if that makes sense. Just to add to that feminine feel. I also really like the subtle seam decision. I think it work the best. I love it! (PS-that color is just lovely on you!)

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  4. So far so good! You are so talented Krista! When do you have to have this done by?

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  5. Well, I think the mock-up gives a good picture of what the end product will be. I love the seaming and I think the bodice is super cool for nursing. I know you'll figure out all the tweaking. I can't wait to see the final dress, because I know it's going to be lovely. I hope you don't fall asleep at the sewing machine and poke your eye out with the needle :) We're all cheering you on!

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  6. So I have to tell you how AMAZING you are for what you are doing! It is near impossible finding pretty dresses to nurse in. And I read your post after this and agree, you definitely need to keep this to yourself so no one steals your genius. I miss you and think of you often. Please shoot me an email and let me know how you're doing when you get a chance. Love ya! Oh, super cool that you met a celebrity even though I don't know who he is :)

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