Don't Make My Mistakes! Do a Proper Muslin Fitting


This is, by far, the most embarrassing page I've ever had to write. 

You see, I failed to take my own advice.  

I've written over and over about the importance of fit when creating a block pattern.  Fit, in fact, is the reason you draft a block - once you have a perfectly fitted block pattern, all of your normal alterations are taken care of.  You'll have a sleeve of the correct length, a bust dart that fits your figure - you won't have to keep shortening sleeves on everything you ever make. 

That is, IF you go through the fit process thoroughly and correctly. 

I didn't. 

A couple of years ago, I drafted a new dress block.  From that, I made a blouse block, from which I made a blouse.  

It didn't fit well.  

I mean, I THOUGHT it fit (or at least, it fit well enough) - so I just stopped working on it and thought it would be OK. 

Until I made a blouse.  And almost never wore it.  Because I knew it didn't really look good.

The sides drooped, and I had to figure out why that was happening.  Was it coming from the shoulder slope, or the side dart? Or something else entirely?

So - this video explains what happened, and what I had to do to fix it.




PLEASE learn from my mistakes! 

Take the time to fit your block properly before using it!

And if you're just tired of the whole process - which is part of the reason I didn't follow through - just set it aside for a few days to rest your brain!

There are links to several pages of fitting guidance on this page (scroll to the bottom to find the links).  There are also some books on fitting that I recommend (these are Amazon links.  I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small commission for any sales). 


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