So, I finally have the muslin photos of my Leanne Marshall coat that I said I would take!
I took this set of photos on Sunday. Note that these were taken after I took the hips/bottom of the coat in by a few inches (just guessing at how much to take in).
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| Leanne Marshall coat muslin - front |
In this shot, it does look like there's some pulling across the bust. I can assure you that there should be more than enough ease through there, so I'm thinking that it's just the way that I'm standing, possibly. To be safe, though, I'll add a tad more room through there on the final coat.
And here's the back:
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| Leanne Marshall coat muslin - back |
Here, you can clearly see that I need to let the hips back out a touch, at least in back. I think I overshot how much to take them in by. I wasn't getting that pooling/swayback wrinkling before I took the hips in. Good thing that this is a muslin, right?
I took a couple of photos with the hood up, as well.
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| Coat muslin with hood - front |
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| Coat muslin with hood - back |
I'm planning to make the following changes to my paper pattern pieces before cutting my coat fabric and lining:
- Full arm/bicep adjustment for the coat's upper arm.
- Let the hips back out a bit, especially at the back/high hip.
- Add a touch more ease through the bust. I'm still not convinced that this is needed though, based on how the coat looked before I set in the sleeves. I suspect that the pulling here is either caused by how I'm standing or the tightness of the sleeve.
Another thing to note is that I messed up inserting the second half of the zipper. The instructions tell you to place the zipper tape 1/2" away from the "edge". At that point, without having inserted a lining in my muslin, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to insert it 1/2" away from the folded edge of the front or from the fabric edge itself minus seam allowance (what would be the seamline between the self-facing and lining.) I guessed and went with the fabric edge itself.
You can see here what this produced in the next two (poorly lit) photos.
Here's the zipper all zipped up. Looks okay, doesn't it?
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| Coat muslin zipped up |
But then here it is with the top flap pulled aside. You can see that my goof created a second "top" flap over the second/right side of the jacket/zipper.
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| Oops! |
So, if you're making this coat and have gotten confused on this step, the "edge" refers to the folded edge, which I assume will be more apparent once you've got your lining in.
Next up, another round of pattern alterations, and then I'll cut and construct my lining/interlining.
Ooo, that's already starting to look good! I am suddenly wondering whether I need to move this pattern significantly up my sewing queue...
ReplyDeleteFantastic Michelle! I wonder if the bust pulling is due to the sleeve. When I made those Burda shirts, the sleeves on the blue one were tight and I was confused on the bust pulling. When I made the plaid one I did a full bicep adjustment and had no bust pulling.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see it finished.
Some time ago, a PR member posted about the bust not fitting. I suggested that she do a full bicep adjustment because the sleeve was borrowing fabric from the front and back to accommodate her upper arms. It just makes sense! If the sleeve is too tight, the bodice front and back is going to pull because the sleeve is attached to those areas. I don't recall what was said after that, but I remember not wanting to offer suggestions any more and just do my own thing.
DeleteAnyway. What's weird about the sleeves on your coat is that from the back, it looks like there is enough room. Is the sleeve twisted? What garment do you have under the muslin?
Thank you for the explanation on the bust pulling! I have this problem on a lot of rtw shirts. There always seems like there is plenty of fabric for the bust but they always pulled; now I wonder if it's because the sleeves were too tight. Almost every rtw shirt I've tried on, the sleeves were too tight. I did do a bicep adjustment on a costume coat once, and it fit much better in the shoulders after that.
DeleteMichelle: The coat is looking great! I've been loving this pattern and wanting it, but backed off it since I don't know how if would look on someone with a larger bust. Can't wait to see the finished product!
So, under the muslin, I'm wearing a semi-fitted long-sleeved t-shirt. It's not particularly bulky, but it has some ease. It's also very typical of how I dress in the winter, so I wanted to make sure that the coat fit okay over it. The muslin could very well be getting hung up on the t-shirt fabric--I didn't have a chance to straighten everything out in a mirror before my husband took these photos.
DeleteSince sewing this muslin, I did a 1.5" full bicep adjustment on the sleeve, and it slides on and off much easier now.
Looks good and you seem to know what's needed in the adjustments. I like it with the hood up. I'm with Nakisha, sometimes the pull is in the sleeves.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure how I'd feel about the hood on myself, so that's why I muslined it. ;) I do really like it up, too! And I suspect that when I have the closure in place on the "real" coat for that shawl effect when the hood is down, I'll like that, too.
DeleteThank you for sharing the pictures and the tip about the zipper. My version has been resting on the sewing table for the past few weeks. I altered the sleeve to add about 3/8" of width, as well as added to the bust.
ReplyDeleteRose in SV
When I do the zipper insertion on the "real" coat, I'll take pictures to hopefully clarify the pattern instructions.
DeleteI will qualify this by saying I'm not great at fitting myself, others have weighed in on the sleeves already AND pictures can only do so much, you will know best because you were actually wearing it, but those sleeves don't look tight to me. Actually they look like they're just caught on the back, and aren't pulled down all the way at the back. From the front I don't see the tightness. There's a little pulling right at the upper chest /shoulder that looks to me like you need a little more fabric added to the armscye. In general though, it looks great for a muslin. I love the hood up shots!
ReplyDeleteThanks, although I did feel like the sleeve was a little snug, especially knowing that it would be lined and interlined. Hopefully, the full bicep adjustment that I made was the right call. In any case, this coat will fit me better than anything I could buy in RTW. :)
DeleteThat is looking good.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle - I live across the lake from the UW and am working on 1254 too. I'm stuck around step 12/13 but I fear my problems go back a few steps. The woman at the Simplicity help line is getting to know me really well.
ReplyDeleteA few people have posted on the sewalong thread on PatternReview about getting stuck at these same steps. I haven't gotten quite that far yet (and probably won't until the weekend), but maybe we can help each other out in person, if needed.
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