Two Dottie Angel Frocks and musings on wearable vs. unwearable muslins.
The Dottie Angel Frock, Simplicity 1080, is kind of a cult classic pattern since it came out in 2015. It's also on my Make Nine 2018 list... so I've made a couple of test versions in the last month.
The first one was smock length. (View B). It was actually just a little shorter than the pattern, since I was eeking it out of 2 yards, instead of 2 & 1/8th yards, as the pattern called for... but that's okay, since I'm short and meant to layer it over skirts or jeans.
I've been a big fan of wearable muslins for a long time - I sometimes end up loving the test garments a lot. I also don't like wasting things - so I feel compelled to make something useful out of my fitting tests. Sometimes this pays off, but sometimes it turns into a struggle. More on that later.
So this one is completely from stash materials. I made it with some olive green sateen cotton, and used a little scrap of calico for the pocket cuff w/ some brown vintage piping for an extra detail, as well as some vintage print bias tape around the pockets. I also trimmed the neckline with a solid peachy pink bias, turning it outward to be a visible contrast. Since I didn't have any olive green thread, I used peach colored thread to match the bias tape and carry on the color contrast throughout.
The pocket looks a bit wonky in this picture, but it's actually not - it was just not very photogenic here - but I really like them in real life.
I made a straight size based on my hips, which are my biggest measurement - mostly because of the unique way this pattern is laid out, where it isn't nested to be able to fade between two sizes (which I do all the time, since my bust, waist, and hips are all different sizes).
I was surprised that the fit is actually quite good straight out of the envelope... because people really complain in their reviews about fit in this pattern. For my personal style right now, I like a relaxed fit and this dress is designed to be flattering but loose... so I think it works for me really well. My only fitting complaint was a little bit of slipping in the neckline.
There are a lot of blogs and reviews of this pattern and some of the fitting attempts seem to want to turn the dress into a sexy or form-fitting frock & quite honestly, I think they end up looking a bit tortured... but one fitting suggestion sounded like a perfect one for me... that is to raise the shoulders a bit... so I did that on my second try, doing a French seam with 3/8" and then 5/8". I also added about 1" to make the curve of the neckline a little less likely to slip off my shoulders.
I made View C this time, with the contrasting hem. It's sort of a party frock, again all with stuff from my stash.
The floral fabric is a vintage (probably 1930s or 40s?) calico that only had a 35" width & I didn't have much of it, which made it perfect for this contrasting hem - I'm quite sure that the designer of this pattern came up with her design being in a similar predicament, because I know she is a thrifter and user of old treasured scraps of things... I think that's one reason the pattern resonates with me.
I added on a thrifted white cotton jacquard for the lower piece and made the pockets out of some scraps of Michael Miller fabric from my Cambie Dress and a tiny piece of Japanese fabric that had little bird cages on it to go with the Michael Miller fabric. I also make the bias tape from some black and white polkadot fabric.
When I finished it, the hem seemed kind of disconnected - I thought about adding black or cream crochet lace... but neither looked right and I didn't have enough true white cotton lace - so then I got the idea to use some of the pink lace from an ebay lot of vintage trims I bought not too long ago. It's the one in the lower left corner.
My photo of wearing it isn't very good for showing the fit, since I'm wearing a sort of saggy handknit bamboo cardigan over the top... but I think it is much better than the first one - especially for feeling like the neckline is still a lovely boatneck, but more secure. Maybe this photo can show... but overall, it just feels better.
So, I'm happy with these "wearable muslins" - I got a pretty good fit on my first try, and then made subtle refinements... so I'm ready to make this pattern again whenever the perfect fabric comes along. I guess that's what the blog-o-verse calls a TNT pattern... Tried N' True.
But sometimes my road to a TNT pattern is littered with not-so-wearable muslins... sometimes it takes a lot of time and energy to finish up test garments and try to get them to a wearable state - I'm always making them out of fabric that isn't my favorite - so even if I do get them to work... I end up with a lot of clothes that just aren't my favorite. This can make clutter, confusion, and takes some of the fun and joy out of wearing me-made clothing.
I recently had an epiphany about letting go of the sense of duty to make wearable muslins and doing some quick & dirty toiles to get fit right. For my first Tina Givens Madeline Slip, I started with a size small because it seemed like it would fit in a few key places when I laid the New Look 6305 bodice over the top... but I was very wrong and my bust ended up getting squished in a most unflattering way. I spent a lot of time trying to refit it and ended up giving up and having to make a new bodice with a different sheet fabric to get something I could wear under my lace dress.
I adapted that new bodice to fit the skirt, so it was a fade from size large at the top and bust, into small at the waist to fit the skirt I'd already made. It worked out OK to save the skirt and make a good base layer slip... but I wasn't happy with the fit... I wasn't getting the cool shape of the Tina Givens design... so it would only be useful as a slip poking out below other dresses. I knew I needed to make a second muslin or toile to really get the design to sing... but I was dreading putting all that work into the triangle insets again, not to know if the bodice would fit.
So I decided to make an unwearable muslin of just the bodice to get the fit right before making a second version... and I am so happy that I did. I used some thrifted cotton that was a garish bright purple I would never want to wear. My first guess was to blend between medium on top and large at bust to try to get a good fit where it wasn't too baggy in the straps & wide in the neckline, but not too tight in the upper bust.
This combo was still a little saggy and slippy on the shoulders, so I re-traced and cut a new bodice that blended between small on top and large in the bust - and I found some success. It fit upper and lower bust perfectly... but the shoulder straps still slipped, so I pinned up the straps until they were better and that ended up reducing the strap length by about 1.25". Ta Da! I figured out a really nice, really secure fit. I also learned something about how to blend between sizes to make a bigger arm scythe without a wider neck. I plan on using this new information to help make some tweaks to the tank version New Look 6305 & other Tina Givens patterns in the future.
Armed with a good pattern for the bodice, I'm ready to try for another wearable muslin of the Madeline slip. The whole unwearable muslin process (including tracing, cutting, adjusting, retracing, recutting, and then adjusting some more) took less than an hour. Such a time-saver and fabric saver in the long-run to be able to trust that I will get something I want to wear in the end... so stay tuned for Madeline #2... hopefully on the way to becoming another TNT.
The first one was smock length. (View B). It was actually just a little shorter than the pattern, since I was eeking it out of 2 yards, instead of 2 & 1/8th yards, as the pattern called for... but that's okay, since I'm short and meant to layer it over skirts or jeans.
So this one is completely from stash materials. I made it with some olive green sateen cotton, and used a little scrap of calico for the pocket cuff w/ some brown vintage piping for an extra detail, as well as some vintage print bias tape around the pockets. I also trimmed the neckline with a solid peachy pink bias, turning it outward to be a visible contrast. Since I didn't have any olive green thread, I used peach colored thread to match the bias tape and carry on the color contrast throughout.
I was surprised that the fit is actually quite good straight out of the envelope... because people really complain in their reviews about fit in this pattern. For my personal style right now, I like a relaxed fit and this dress is designed to be flattering but loose... so I think it works for me really well. My only fitting complaint was a little bit of slipping in the neckline.
 |
| See how it's off to one side of my tattoo... it's just a bit too wide to stay put. |
I made View C this time, with the contrasting hem. It's sort of a party frock, again all with stuff from my stash.
I added on a thrifted white cotton jacquard for the lower piece and made the pockets out of some scraps of Michael Miller fabric from my Cambie Dress and a tiny piece of Japanese fabric that had little bird cages on it to go with the Michael Miller fabric. I also make the bias tape from some black and white polkadot fabric.
But sometimes my road to a TNT pattern is littered with not-so-wearable muslins... sometimes it takes a lot of time and energy to finish up test garments and try to get them to a wearable state - I'm always making them out of fabric that isn't my favorite - so even if I do get them to work... I end up with a lot of clothes that just aren't my favorite. This can make clutter, confusion, and takes some of the fun and joy out of wearing me-made clothing.
I recently had an epiphany about letting go of the sense of duty to make wearable muslins and doing some quick & dirty toiles to get fit right. For my first Tina Givens Madeline Slip, I started with a size small because it seemed like it would fit in a few key places when I laid the New Look 6305 bodice over the top... but I was very wrong and my bust ended up getting squished in a most unflattering way. I spent a lot of time trying to refit it and ended up giving up and having to make a new bodice with a different sheet fabric to get something I could wear under my lace dress.
I adapted that new bodice to fit the skirt, so it was a fade from size large at the top and bust, into small at the waist to fit the skirt I'd already made. It worked out OK to save the skirt and make a good base layer slip... but I wasn't happy with the fit... I wasn't getting the cool shape of the Tina Givens design... so it would only be useful as a slip poking out below other dresses. I knew I needed to make a second muslin or toile to really get the design to sing... but I was dreading putting all that work into the triangle insets again, not to know if the bodice would fit.
This combo was still a little saggy and slippy on the shoulders, so I re-traced and cut a new bodice that blended between small on top and large in the bust - and I found some success. It fit upper and lower bust perfectly... but the shoulder straps still slipped, so I pinned up the straps until they were better and that ended up reducing the strap length by about 1.25". Ta Da! I figured out a really nice, really secure fit. I also learned something about how to blend between sizes to make a bigger arm scythe without a wider neck. I plan on using this new information to help make some tweaks to the tank version New Look 6305 & other Tina Givens patterns in the future.
Armed with a good pattern for the bodice, I'm ready to try for another wearable muslin of the Madeline slip. The whole unwearable muslin process (including tracing, cutting, adjusting, retracing, recutting, and then adjusting some more) took less than an hour. Such a time-saver and fabric saver in the long-run to be able to trust that I will get something I want to wear in the end... so stay tuned for Madeline #2... hopefully on the way to becoming another TNT.
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