Anna Almost-Wearable Muslin

But let's get real - I'm already wearing it, so there's not a huge chance I'm going to change my clothes!

I finished this up this morning, after working on it bit by bit over the last week.  The jury's still out on this, and if I do make it again, I'll have to make some more changes.

The only changes I've made so far are to go from a size 6 at the bust to a size 8 at the waist and hips, and a 1" swayback adjustment (a half inch either side of my horizontal line).

According to the pattern envelope, I should be in a size 2 for the bust, but I wanted room for my shoulders and I don't like to be constricted.  Also, I didn't want to grade across 3 sizes from bust to hip, and I think I do need the room of the 8 in the waist and hips.  The bodice feels a bit big though, so I may scale it back to a 4 next time.  I'll also need to take some length out of the bodice over all - maybe 1/2" - and a bit more in the swayback, 1/4" or so.  As it is, I'm getting some "lumping" around my waist where the bodice meets the skirt.  I tried to capture it for you, but the combination of my on-its-last-leg camera and this crazy fabric I used make it a little difficult to see:

let's pretend we don't see that weird wrinkle you-know-where

you can see that the front is still a bit shorter than the back

Things I did differently from the instructions:

1.  Interfaced my neck facing with my very lightest interfacing - I wanted a bit more structure there.

2.  Pressed the waist seam down rather than open.  Let's face it:  you just can't get away from Gravity.  It was going to end up that way eventually, so I just pre-empted it.  I finished the two seam allowances together with the serger.

3.  Tacked my facing to the shoulder by stitching in the shoulder seam ditch for 3 stitches - a nifty trick I learned from the Pattern Runway Kimono Dress instructions.

4.  Understitched my facing to the seam allowance, then trimmed it to about 1/4".  (This is, of course, after clipping into the curve.)


Things I didn't do and wish I had (aside from the fit issues):

1.  A full lining.  This fabric is one of the more supple quilting cottons, and it feels a bit lightweight to me.

In the Beginning Fabrics:  Bloom Modern, Seeds Red

2.  Stabilize my zipper opening.  Honestly, by the time I got to the zipper, I was getting kind of bored.  I really just finished the dress to get it off my coffee table.

3.  Taken more care with my hem.  The fabric is so busy no one will notice the terrible job I did, but I know it.

4.  Lengthened the skirt.  I only hemmed it to about half the height recommended in the instructions, and this "midi" length hits me mid-knee.  I'm only 5'4"  people!  I wanted it a little bit longer to coordinate with the vintage vibe of my cool shoes:

Conclusion:

It's OK.  I don't love it and I don't hate it.  I'm not sure yet if I like it enough to do the work it needs to fix it, and if I do, it will be a while.  Right now I'm ready to move on to something else.  I like it slightly better belted, but I don't have a belt to go with these shoes.

I'm sure you've also noticed that these pics are a little hair update.  I'm not at the point yet where my second-day hair looks as great as the first, but I've definitely got a lot more curl going on than I did a week ago!  I'm really loving this method so far.

this picture is about the hair

I want to give a big shout-out to Pam at Paint Box Polish for turning me on to Turbie Towels - thanks Pam!  I bought a couple a few days ago and tried it out this morning for the first time.  Between the Turbie Towel and the diffuser, my hair was dry enough to work with in about a half hour!  Go get one, people!

NATURAL!! I still can't believe it!