Monday, August 13, 2012

Monday Musings: Muslins and Mojo

I'm starting to see some real progress in my healing process. Yay!! And as a result, my sewing mojo seems to be slowly starting to reappear. Double yay!!  I'm actually even feeling like fabric shopping again.

So, my question of the day is: do you think muslin photos are actually helpful?   Let me explain...

Over the weekend, I plowed ahead with my Jean-ius trouser knock-off project. I'm not going to go into the whole process in depth, but after marking your trousers with basting stitches, you transfer those marks to organza and then to paper. From there you true the lines and then make a muslin.

The process - organza and paper, lots of pins and tracing wheel

When I tried on my muslin yesterday afternoon, I trotted down to the kitchen, giddy to show Phin how well the muslin fit. He immediately commented (unprompted) that it looked really good. The only changes were that the darts needed to be a bit longer and tapered (I did a very quick and dirty job on them), and I needed to take a bit out from the thigh, under the bum. Kenneth King actually demonstrates this alteration in the Jean-ius video. How lucky is that?

I used the method in Threads #133 to add the darts.

We headed out to the porch where the light was good, camera in hand, to get some pics for the blog. But when I looked at the resulting photos, I was horrified. The muslin looked awful! So, I had Phin re-take them. Same results! There were all kinds of lines everywhere and the bum was just heinous. Both of us were shocked because the pants muslin really fit well and looked good in person - just like the pants I'm trying to knock off. But not so in photo.

So, there you have it. I think that a muslin is a very helpful tool, but muslin photos are sometimes not helpful because they can make a small ripple look like a glaring fitting woe. The only way I could have altered the muslin to make it look better would result in eliminating all the wearing ease in the garment, which would be a big mistake. So, I've decided that the muslin is better not posted, and you will just have to take my word on the fact that it fit well.

What do you think? Have you ever had this experience or a similar one with muslin?

Last night I began creating all the extra pattern pieces I'll need for the actual trousers. Stay tuned, I'm hoping to have these done in time for my vacation in 2 weeks! 

Pants Pattern Parts: Front, back, fly guard and shield
 

11 comments:

Annie said...

I have tried every method under the sun to get a great fitting pair of trousers/pants/jeans. The closest I have come to an effective, not perfect, solution is issue 134's article, The Best Fitting Pants Ever. Have you explored that method? It's downside for me is that it has a very flat front and I like a little pleat. I have another TNT from a company that is no longer in business but they are awfully large in the leg for today's styles. It is really a dilemma and like another Blogger, Nancy maybe, at some point I think you have to accept that it's not going to be perfect. I've often wondered what would happen if I took those precious perfectly fitting RTW pants apart but I haven't dared to go there yet. Peace be on you; it's a road fraught w/ potholes!

poppykettle said...

Couldn't agree more! I've pretty much given up on taking muslin photos as a result. They got me down too much!
In other news - I'm stoked to hear how well the course has worked - now I'm really chomping at the bit to get started. whee!

T. Sedai said...

So happy that you are starting to feel better!


As far as the muslin pictures - I agree that because muslins are made with not the best fabric, and because the flash often creates more contrast than exists in real life, they often look really, really bad. Much worse than in real life. I do like to take muslin photos to help me see the back of my garments, and to make sure that all the seams are hanging the right way, but I find that I can't obsess over every little wrinkle in the photos and won't post them if they look too awful. If something looks good in real life, I don't stress too much, since I figure good fabric and interfacing fix a majority of wrinkles and flaws that pop up in the muslin stage.

Catherine Daze said...

Interesting point. I do find photos are helpful, especially of the back view, but there's no denying that some things just don't photograph well at all. Light colours are the worst and I guess a lot of muslins are made of undyed calico.

LinB said...

Muslin is inherently wrinkly. I would not worry about how it looks in photographs. A trusted friend or relative who gives you honest advice about how the muslin fits in person is far more useful. If all you can grab in a hurry is a photograph in front of a mirror, you can usually tell which are fitting lines and which are just fabric crinkles. I don't mind seeing photos of muslins posted in blogs. You could try making a muslin in fabric that is more like the fashion fabric -- and for heavier fabrics like denim, that's not a bad idea. Denim is often far thicker than muslin, and your wearing ease needs to account for that difference.

Clio said...

You should try this course! The whole point is to make a copy of your favorite RTW pants without taking them apart! I'm actually quite happy with how the muslin is fitting - it's like my beloved pants. I'm just very unhappy with how it is photographing.

Clio said...

Right?!?!?! I was so deflated when I saw the photos.

Clio said...

"good fabric and interfacing fix a majority of wrinkles" - exactly!

Annie said...

Thanks. Will investigate.

Clio said...

I agree - I think I've gathered what info I can from the muslin, though. So I'm ready to move on to my fashion fabric!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

Ha! When I tried to muslin pants they were so horrible I didn't proceed to the actual pants stage. But I don't think the horror is entirely due to the muslin...