Thursday, December 14, 2017

A Professional Fitting by SewTo Fit



This January I'm going to New Orleans to attend a boucle sheath workshop taught by Helen Haughey. In preparation, I decided to treat myself to a professional muslin fitting of the pattern I plan to use, McCall's 2401. Long out of print, I think it's the epitome of a classic sheath and I have made it many times.
 
 
Still, inasmuch as I am going to be spending a good amount of time using couture techniques on the boucle, I wanted an exceptional fitting muslin for my project. Enter A. D. Lynn of Sew to Fit. Many of you know Andrea from her incredible YouTube videos. I met her through my friend Roz, owner of SewMuchFabric  one of the premiere online fabric stores and founder of the Sewing Fashionistas group here in Houston. I was fortunate enough to spend the better part of a day with Andrea at her studio and came away with a perfectly fitting muslin worth its weight in gold! 
 
Prior to arriving Andrea asked me to sew up a muslin of M2401. I think we can all agree this sack is reminiscent of the Branch Davidian wives of that crazy David Koresh in Waco some years back.
 
 
Well, Andrea started doing her wizardry, somehow being hilariously entertaining at the same time, and in a matter of hours she had whittled that sack into a sleek muslin.  

 
Magically, she transferred that muslin on to a flat pattern that I can trace off with any of 3 different necklines and with or without seam allowances.
 
 

After finishing Andrea asked me to sew another muslin to check the fit. Having 101% confidence in her technical ability (and since I’m not crazy about sewing muslins) I told her we were going to live on the edge and use fashion fabric. I had just received this Double Espresso Boucle from Roz at Sew Much Fabric and thought it might be perfect. It has a random weave of metallic throughout that sadly doesn’t read in my photos. It was wonderful to work with and steamed and shaped beautifully.



Being a boucle I underlined it with silk organza to avoid any stretching in back from sitting:



The underlining was also invaluable for stabilizing when clipping the corners of the square neckline:
 
 
 
 

I love a contrast lining and this one really works with the boucle:
 
 
Andrea heartily calls herself a geek and I concur. I can’t say enough about her expertise at fitting. I learned so much about my body and why I could never fit certain areas without drag lines in the same old places. Guess what? I am so NOT symmetrical! All of my pattern pieces are unique and accommodating different quirks in my physique. It’s an amazing process and I highly recommend treating yourself. Her blog is sewtofit.com so head over there to see what she's all about. Next time I’m going to have pants done!
 
 
Thanks for reading and enjoy the upcoming holidays!

 



8 comments:

  1. This is just beyond fabulous! Classic in style and silhouette! Love, love, love!!

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    1. Thank you, Roz! Another great thing about this dress is it's comfortable to sit in. Love that feature!

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  2. Love this. I can’t wait to see your class dress too! Great look on you!

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    1. Thank you, Jodi! Credit goes to Andrea for the great fitting process. Thanks for following along!

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  3. Absolutely perfect, Dorcas! Did Andrea teach you how to transfer the adjustments to a flat pattern piece? I can pin and fit but the transfer is another thing 😉

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    1. Thanks so much, Sarah. Andrea transferred all of the muslin info to a beautiful paper pattern for me. I think I described it above. She said that I would be able to use that to modify other patterns fairly easily but she didn't specifically teach me how to do that piece. I do NOT like the fitting aspect of sewing and it was well worth the cost to have this done. I would like to have another fitting on a dress with a waist seam/bodice and then a pair of pants. Currently I have in my arsenal Susan's jacket and skirt patterns fitted by her so I will be good to go after a few other basics. She is a massive geek and loves the process. Better her than me! Thanks again. I received your beautiful Christmas card. I hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas holiday.
      Dorcas

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  4. I too have made this dress a million times in all sorts of fabrics and it never fails to please. However, I've never had a professional personal fitting....the results are amazing - stunning dress Dorcas.

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  5. Absolutely beautiful. Love the lining.

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