11.22.2010

Mad Men Sew-Along : Cutting Your Muslin

Today we are going to cut out and prepare out muslin pieces for sewing. You should have about 2 yards or cheap fabric. I ended up buying some yellow broadcloth because it was cheaper than the muslin. Thought it might make things a little more exciting.

I am going to be making the basic dress without the tie and with sleeves. My goal is something simple and flattering and a silhouette much like Joan's and Mrs. Draper's dresses here. As a result I will be lowering the neckline into a scoop and lengthening the sleeves to above the elbows. I will show you how to make these adjustments tomorrow in case you would also like to make these or similar alterations to your muslin.

You only need to cut out the main pieces including the skirt front and back, bodice front and back, and sleeves (if you are doing them) and tie (if you are doing them). You do not need to cut out any lining or facing pieces. You also do not need to be too worried about grain as you will not be washing this fabric. Just try to get fabric pieces all to fit and basically parallel or perpindicular to the selvage.

Once you cut out all of your pieces it is important that you transfer all markings to your muslin pieces. If you make a lot of changes your muslin may be your actual pattern pieces so it is important that they have all of the markings to make sure that those pieces are accurate.

Bodice Front
Bodice Back
Skirt Front
Skirt Back
Sleeves (mine have been lengthened - I will show you how tomorrow)

2 comments:

  1. Well I can see that I need to get busy already. Did you know that you can "Mad Men" yourself, which means that you can create a fun avatar of yourself on their official site. There is a fun wardrobe to choose from, but good luck deciding on just one.

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  2. I ended up with less than 2 yards because I found this great denim-looking sparkly linen on a clearance bolt at JoAnn's and after I'd waited forever in line to get it cut, I was not about to take it back and get something else when it wasn't enough... No worries here, though. I have the most trouble fitting things up top, so I'll just make the skirt pieces as long as I can and if I get lucky with take 1, then I'll make it into a tunic or cute dress shirt. It's a muslin, after all. I'm not really out anything if I can't wear it out, right?

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