S7236 Pattern and Muslin

This year I am working hard to sew through my stash of fabrics in order to drastically reduce the volume of fabrics we have around the apartment.  The first big project I found to do for myself towards these ends is Simplicity 7236.

1967

The pattern had been my mother's so before I got started I emailed her to ask if she remembered making it.

Here's what she had to say:

"Yes, dress and jacket made from white ribbed cotton material for an Easter outfit. It was a bear because the fabric had absolutely no give or stretch whatsoever and the front darts and the collar on the jacket would not lay right. Nice fabric for something else. I don’t think I wore the outfit more than 2-3 times. Never used the pattern again because it didn’t work well for someone with boobs."

I hadn't planned to make the jacket, but her thoughts on the fit were helpful.  I knew just pinning the paper pattern to my dressform I would have to make some changes if this is going to be flattering to me at all.

I measured the paper pattern and made some adjustments for size as I transferred the lines to muslin.  I pinned it together and tried it on. Or at least I *tried* to try it on.  Wow, my mom had tiny hips.  And she was very right about the shaping; the dart placement wasn't especially flattering.

Fortunately, I had this idea nearly immediately of how to solve the problem: a bias strip down the side.  I have another pattern (I'll have to pull out and rifle through the box again to get the number) that is for a shirtdress that has a bias strip under the arm. I've always wanted to try it.  Until I do, I've at least taken the inspiration from it.

new bias strip added to the side

The dress calls for a back zipper, but the muslin doesn't have to waste material on that when it's much easier to pin myself into it from the side.  And since the back needed quite a bit of tweaking I was able to take out some of the fullness along the center back line and shape the back more to my body.

looks better on me than the dressform

I cut the muslin much shorter than I would the dress as the skirt is very straight.  To alleviate the inevitable strain I am considering adding in a bit of a kick pleat to the back using the instructions from this skirt pattern I have not yet had time to make.

Simplicity 9823

It looks fairly straightforward to add something like this in, and easy enough to cut it out if I don't like how it works/ looks.

Next time I'll be cutting out the lining fabric and re-checking the fit, just to be sure.

Hope your week has started out nicely!

PS: A big congrats to my husband for winning the 1st place coin in the Steamroller Invitational this weekend!  Yay for Grissel and Doomie!