Saturday, January 12, 2013

Muslin Musings

Making a muslin is a foreign concept to me--I don't know if it is because I never learned about this technique or if I simply overlooked the idea of creating one. After purchasing and receiving The Colette Sewing Handbook last week I'm almost convinced I need to start making muslins for future projects.

The Colette Sewing Handbook by Sarai Mitnick of Colette Patterns
I purchased my copy of the book on Amazon, and so far I have learned so much just by reading through the book. Plus it comes with some patterns to try your skills out on--I'm thinking about making the scalloped hem skirt first and then the dress that is featured on the cover as my first dress back in the saddle.

But back to the idea of a muslin. It seemed silly to me at first, what with my impatient nature and all. Personally when I come up with a project I want to wear it before I even start to sew. Silly, I know. However, look what happened to my mess of a navy dress (RIP).  The fit was horrendous and it wasn't as if I had the skills to alter it in anyway. Enter the idea of muslin making.

My body is all wonky with sizing, so getting the right fit is ideal. Again I think back to how I plan to create dresses for the 2013 wedding season and I don't want to haphazardly create a garment and not have it fit. 

In the Sewing Handbook, it mentions you can utilize any cheap fabric (there is an actual "muslin" fabric apparently), but Sarai suggests collecting vintage bed sheets and what not. This triggered me to think back to the old king size bed sheets we have from before I moved in. They are the worst, and I never planned on ever using them again (I don't know why we still have them now that I think about it). 

So I am pretty sure I will be making two muslins (not wearable) for the skirt I mentioned as well as my first dress. That way when I go to find the fabric for both I can have an idea of fit and the like.

Do you make a muslin? Is it worth it?




2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who is impatient! I'm that way with everything I do though...you should see my knitting! I love it but I ALWAYS try to find a way to make it go faster because I just love instant results too much.

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  2. I'm definitely impatient as well. That's why I refuse to use muslin cloth and instead use super cheap stuff that I get from swap meets, yard sales, etc. Then, I can actually wear them out if they turn out fine! I actually talked about wearable muslins in the post below!

    http://vintagezest.blogspot.com/2013/01/sewing-rewind-skirt-shirt-and-coat-oh-my.html

    I''ve been pretty lucky about not having to completely rip them apart completely, but if it ever does happen, I won't be heartbroken.

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