Vogue 7642 muslin

Ick. The muslin is done, tried on and photographed. And it's icky. Don't you like my highly technical term? Here it is:

Maybe it's just me, but it's hard to get pictures where I want them in blogger.  Anyway, ignoring the really ugly fabric combo and the fit issues, it looks like I have a padded upper torso in the front.  Not flattering at all.  And my fashion fabric is thicker than my muslin which is only going to exacerbate the look.  The fit issues I think I could handle.  First, there's a big flappy gap of fabric around the armhole which can best be seen in the back view.  It also looks like a bit of a swayback adjustment is needed.  The whole thing looks like it needs to be hiked up a couple of inches which is most noticeable around the waist.  The side view is the most flattering and that isn't saying a whole lot.  sigh.

During construction, I like to read through or skim directions and follow (or not).  I had to actually read these carefully to figure out construction on the whole front.  It did come together just fine, but I think the directions omitted some things like snipping to dots in order to do corners and some other finagling they had you do with attaching the lining. 

I guess I should've known as I sewed along that the front was going to be bulky even if I used some lighter weight fabric as contrast it's still 4 layers...  And then it just looks awful on me.  A good thing for muslins, right?  Now for Plan B.  If only I had one...

I'll have to pull a Winnie the Pooh and put on my thinking cap on a Plan B using my nice silk crepe.  In the meantime, I have a second dress I'd already planned to make.  It's gotten great reviews about its ease of construction and flattering fit.  More on that later.

Edited to add:  Even dh said very carefully, "It makes you look...broad." 

Vogue 7642

Here's the next project!  A muslin is in the works...I just hope it does work!  Adjustments will be pretty difficult given the pattern pieces, so we'll see how many changes need to be made.  The front collars (not the one around the back of the neck) is all one piece with the front which makes for a very odd looking pattern piece.  Vogue 7642 is an out of print pattern, so I wasn't able to look at other people's experiences with it. 

I'm in love with the fabric I bought for it, too.  I bought some luscious silk crepe from NY Fashion Center Fabrics.  Expensive?  Yes.  Worth it?  Yes.  Where else can you find such a nice silk, plus coordinating lining?  I'll confess as I've moved my thinking to sewing for myself (or oldest dd), I want to be able to have access to not just nice fabrics, but also coordinated linings, buttons, zippers, etc.  Being able to see and touch what I buy is important but impossible given our location--ah, the envy for those who live in fabric shopping havens!

As a side note, I am delighted to be able to use up some very old stash for the muslin--a challis of unknown content from Piece Goods!  That's old!  Remember those fabric stores?!

And, if this test muslin doesn't work, there's always Plan B!  (Whatever that is....let's hope it doesn't come to that!)