Goldie - The wearble muslin

Do you often make muslin's when your sewing? or Toile's or Calico's?

They're all the same thing but named differently depending on where you live. In Australia, we apparently call them calico's  but considering the majority of my sewing education comes from books, YouTube and blogs, I've ended up calling any garment that is a practice garment a Muslin 

Normally I make my muslin's out of left over fabric, old sheets or fabric from the op-shop. I rarely buy actual calico from the store because its actually quite expensive! Its cheaper to buy home spun plain cotton. Go figure. 

Wearable muslin's however are another deal. Sometimes I make up a garment without any adjustments or edge finishes as they're intended to be a test, but they end up being wearable. And other times I make things with the intention of wearing them out, but they end up not really being the best. This is one of those kinds of projects. (kinda)

Looks ok doesn't it? Well as nice as it looks in photos, this fabric isn't that great. I used a Gold knit Lurex which I bought from Lincraft

As its a knit, it needs hanging time and the lightness of it means it clings in a rather unflattering way even while wearing a slip. Most of the night I kept adjusting myself because the top part of the dress felt like it was sagging down around my chest and belly. Not cool

Butterick 4712

The pattern itself is really nice, it comes with scallops built into the paper pattern so you don't have to calculate the scallop width to the dress fabric width. It's quick and easy and I plan to use it again 

So why did I buy this fabric if its so terrible? Well I had intended for this dress to be my holiday season dress. There's lots of birthdays and vendor parties for work around this time every year so to have a dress that's comfortable and shiny makes it easier to get dressed for these events. 

The fabric being a knit also meant that I could cut the scalloped edge and not finish it as it doesn't fray. And the metallic gold seemed appropriate for parties. 

Scallops! 

Its also quite hard to work with (see the Slippery fabrics post). I used quite a bit of baking paper to sew this and even then its still not that great. It bunches on the sides and at the back near the zipper

The bunching at the back - not fun

Around the darts you can see the naughty bunching!!

The collar worked out really well - a sweet Peter Pan collar which I self-drafted

I did actually bother to line the inside because I thought it might help with the drape of the fabric. 

I of coursed ended up wearing it out, mainly from stubbornness. I had spent so long on this dress, wearing it became a matter of principal, but I've decided to try and source some more gold fabric, but with a more stable hand so that I can make a comfortable yet festive dress which will last the next few months. 

Have you ever made a wearable muslin? Or had a garment become a muslin by accident?

Take care my pretties!

Cat xo