A "Wearable" "Muslin"

So, Simplicity 3799 from 1951.  Decided to finally give it a...try...


I had a yard of tie dye/batik-y cotton that was really nice, with a high thread count, but very odd colors--it had been, frankly, taunting me since I got it in a big bag of cloth from Goodwill a few months ago.  One yard of 45" wasn't quite enough, so I used a (vaguely) coordinating print that came from the same big bag'o'cloth.  I posted this picture of them a few days ago

I wanted to do the pintuck bodice, but with the short sleeves, buuuut I still didn't have quite enough of the batik-y cloth to do the bodice as drafted, so I figured out how to eliminate the seams and merge the pintucked pattern piece with the rest of the front.  This did mean, alas, one less place to possibly insert some lace, but that was OK.  Proof of concept 'n'everything.

Assembly was fairly straightforward--I'm still amused at the vintage pattern conceit of "make half-darts up from the bottom hem that end around the waistline so the shirt can be tucked in with controlled fullness-reduction"--until it was time to deal with the front placket.

Here's what the pattern instructions tried to convince me to do:

Ummm...no.  I mean, yeah, it will work, of course, but, for me...no.  I don't know why the idea of having the lace sticking off of the opening edge bothered me so much, but it did.  So, without thinking of exactly what else was being changed, I made a standard placket, with the lace on each side, and tucked the ends up inside the exaggerated butterfly/wing collar. (Which I interfaced with just another layer of the cotton it's made from, because that's something I do, too.)

Well.

The pattern envelope itself describes the shirt as having a "high neckline."  And the way I attached the collar?  Made that neckline even smaller.  It's not constrictingly small, but it is...noticeably small.  If I make this shirt again--and I probably will--I'll try omitting the tiny back neckline darts and adding a corresponding amount to the center back of the collar band, while still doing the front placket/collar attachment in the not-as-directed ways.

I also didn't have quite enough of the batik-y cloth to make the short sleeves exactly as directed, but I only needed to take about an inch off of their length to get them to (mostly) fit on the cloth available.  (Allowing a few notches in seam allowances due to overlapping with areas already cut out is a technique I am very familiar with.)  Next time I make this shirt, I probably won't make the sleeves anywhere near as full, but I will take a moment now to make happy noises about how well drafted the sleeve cap and armscye are, fitting together perfectly on the non-pleated areas.  No need at all to get fiddly about picking out stitches in an attempt to eliminate folds and accidental gathers.  (And I applied the sleeves flat, too, because we all know I like sewing shortcuts, right?)  I have not yet even ironed the sleeve seams, that's how nicely the pieces worked together. (The pattern also calls for shoulder pads.  I lived through the 1980s, I am not unfamiliar with shoulder pads, but, still, I politely declined this time.)

I used the buttonholer contraption for the buttonholes and had absolutely no problems, and sewed on the corresponding buttons with the button-holding foot and the sewing machine.  (I used to think I hated sewing on buttons, then eventually realized that what I hated was confronting the failures that were 4-step sewing machine buttonholes--once I got the buttonholer, I discovered that I didn't mind sewing on buttons...then I learned about sewing buttons on with the machine, and, whoo, do I like making things that fasten with buttons now...)  Unfortunately, I worked off of the wrong mark and so all of the buttonholes ended up off-center.  Oops.  Let's just call that "being out of practice," m'kay?  The directions called for making the sleeve band extension tab thingies into French cuffs, but I just sewed them straight together with buttons on either side.

Taadaa

Well.  That's...something...isn't it?  I keep thinking it could be the most awkward Christmas party shirt ever.

I decided I'd make a quick circle skirt to go with it, and found that I had a bit of a satin that perfectly matched the reds, but the satin didn't appreciate being made into something so hasty and fought me in unexpected ways.  (HA HA PROPERTIES OF BIAS CUTS I'LL SHOW YA PROPERTIES OF BIAS CUTS.)  This prompted me to grab an old stand-by skirt pattern (that I always change from as-directed by omitting the waistband and using grosgrain ribbon as the fold-over facing)

and some "kinda-sorta on the same end of the spectrum but not actually matchy" cloth (also thrifted, no idea what the fiber content is) and end up with this

Wait, remind me why I needed to make a skirt to go with a shirt I might not consider wearable...?

Um...

So, here they are tried on, tucked in

And not tucked in

And after I took these photos, I added another button here

Y'know...honestly...I've made worse.  The most problematic thing going on is weirdness caused by the smallness of the collar (although, it's weird, isn't it, that it did manage to fit where I needed it to fit so I could make it the kind of wrong that I made it?), and I'm pretty sure my idea to counter that next time (without, y'know, deigning to follow the directions) should work that out.

Thrilling, I know.