All that a muslin should be

So, still sewing clothes. And, no this isn't for any of us to wear. It's my first muslin from one of the goodwill sheets from a couple weeks ago. But, I did use this big printed sheet to show Sydney what was going to happen if we made this shirt with the big print she had picked out for it. The lines go everywhichaway and soon as she saw that, she picked a solid for this nice, dressy looking shirt. This post is heavy on the garment making, so if you're not interested in that...well, today may not be our day to share a post.




Okay, so Sydney doesn't fit the printed patterns. From what I've read, few people do. While a medium men's handmade shirt fits me to a T, a medium store bought shirt is confining on me. That same medium men's shirt pattern is slightly snug in the shoulders for Rob, but a medium men's storebought shirt is comfortable for him. Who can figure?




But, when sewing for Sydney, she differs from the pattern sizes a LOT. If I make a garment that fits in one dimension, it doesn't fit in the others. Sydney has broad, round shoulders that slope down and a big rib cage that tapers to a relatively narrow waist and a large diameter neck. I've given up on trying to pick a size that "averages" all her meaurements together because I don't have any knowledge of the bust in women's clothes (stop snickering), so, I've decided to pick a pattern size for her based on the bust measurement. In the sewing books I've read, much is made about making women's garments fit in the bust. There are also extra instructions for making shirts fit in the bust in patterns. So I've decided to make that the most important measurement. As you'll see from this muslin, that means adding to everything else. But, if I go to a larger size, the bust on her is too big, so it's a trade off.

First thing I did was put the base of the shirt together. The front and the back have princess seams (thank you anonymous!) Each side of the shirt front is made of two pieces. There's a piece that runs from the shoulder, around the arm and then curves in and down to the hem and a piece that sets into that to form the bust dart and the side seam, from underarm to hem. In the back, just under the arm, the back tapers and "matching" curved pieces are set into the back to form the back dart and the side seam from underarm to hem.

I did all that and then attached the front to the back and had Sydney try it on. The bust fit great. By bust, I'm referring to the shape of the garment, horizontally, from one arm hole to the other. But, the waist was so tight she couldn't breathe and the bust line was about 3/4" too high.

So, I added an inch and a half to each side seam, which gave her room to breathe.

And an inch and a half to each shoulder, which brought the bust and back darts down to put the shirt's waistline in the right place.

I tried explaining how to slash and add pieces to the muslin and it's way too wordy and still unclear, so if you want to read about that part, I'd refer you to find a good sewing book. Mine is a 60's edition of a book published by Better Homes and Gardens. It is very complete with great pictures. The final result of all this is that I will add 3/4 inch to the edge of each pattern piece at the shoulder and side.

Adding all that size meant that the sleeve had to be altered, so I added a strip to the center of each sleeve by slashing them in half and sewing a strip into the center. I also added 3/4 inch to the underarm of each side of the sleeve. I didn't want to add three inches to the sleeve all in one place and dividing it like this, so it imitates where fabric is added to the shirt base, makes it all fit together well.

If you aren't adding strips to a muslin, don't worry about the math. But, here's my explanation. You have to add the amount you want to add, plus you have to cut the strip to allow two new seam allowances that won't exist in the finished garment. Let's say I added 1 1/2" strip down the center back. I'd have two seam allowances, one on each side of the new strip. Each seam allowance would be one quarter inch. Because there are two pieces of fabric in each seam allowance, each seam allowance will eat up a half inch of fabric. That is one inch eaten up by seam allowance and I have to add that to the original 1 1/2" I wanted to add. So, my strip is going to be 2 1/2" wide.

Now, when I added three inches to the sleeve diameter, that meant I had to add 3 inches to the cuff.

And, because I added 1 1/2" to each shoulder, I have to add 3 inches to the collar.

And, after calculating all that, I set in one of the sleeves. Looks good while the arms are down.

But, there's some pulling when she crosses her arms. Doesn't look so bad here, but if you could see the other arm hole, you'd see that there is some pull from all the way across the back, indicating the shoulders are too narrow. So, when I add size to the shoulder and side, I'll also add a bit to the armhole so that the upper back won't be quite so snug.

It's also the perfect length, but it isn't hemmed yet, so I'll be adding 3/4" to the length of the pattern as well.

And, the last thing that I use the muslin for is to help me figure out how I want to finish the actual garment. I serge all raw seams unless I'm going to turn them under for a flat fell. But, so far, I only flat fell on men's dress shirts. Camp shirts and all Sydney's clothes do better with a finished seam edge that gets left exposed. If I didn't have a serger, I'd zig-zag that edge or use the overlock stitch on one of my other machines to keep it from raveling.

Sometimes, I want to finish both those edges together after the seam is sewn and fold them to one side and top stitch them down. That's what I plan to do in those curved pieces in the front and back. Sometimes I want to finish the edges separately and press the seam open, as in the shoulder and side seams. I make those notes in my pattern as I'm going through the muslin so I won't have to think about it again when I'm making the real garment. But, I don't go to the trouble of finishing the seams in the muslin garment. I used to finish seams when I needed to practice that, but that part I've gotten down.

So, why a muslin? It's easier to slash and add strips to a muslin that I don't care about than a final garment that I do care about. Sydney has shirts where I have artfully added these same dimensions in ways you can't see. But, why not add them to the pattern, before I sew it together. Second good thing is that I only have to make one muslin, but I can make the resulting pattern over and over again. As she outgrows it, I can slash the muslin and add to it to keep it fitting.

Next step is to add all these measurements to the paper pattern. I'll show that later this week, I hope. I'll need to draw some pattern pieces anew, but others, i can just add to with tape and more tissue.

Okay, so that's Monday. I realized I'm getting old when I worked in the yard yesterday morning and couldn't move yesterday afternoon. But, it was a balance. Work hard in the morning. Sit and sew in the afternoon.

Take care and have a great one. Lane