TitleFebruary 20, 2026 From the moment I started my design company, sewing and designing for clients, I wanted to make money. As a result, I became very frugal in the designing of my gowns. One thing I did to
stretch a few bucks was use the linings of my formal wear as muslin. It was a lot cheaper than the fashion fabric, and I could use the muslin in the end as the lining.
As my company grew, and my reputation spread, I still used the linings as muslins, but I never ever even thought of not making a muslin. I might try to think that during a time when I was squeezing as much work into my day as possible to keep up with demand, and "not" making a muslin would have saved
time, I still didn't do it. Eventually, as I began to make a good income, I started using cotton muslin because I could often make notes and
mark it up for more information. I might think, gee, I don't really need to do a muslin on a client cause I've made this garment about twenty times. But the truth is that
I have a vision in my head about how things are supposed to look, and of course there's those details like hems, the fit and drape on the client that I need to check out too. But this is just as important for the client. The muslin is my information,
but this the the first time the client gets to see what the garment is like and it's important that she sees it so that she can tell me what she likes and what she doesn't like.
She gave me so much information that for that alone, the muslin is worth it.
But there are times when I think I don't need it and I may talk myself into thinking: "Hey, I've been sewing professionally now for almost 50 years, so I don't need a muslin." IOW, I've graduated out of
the need for muslins.
There are so many times I've had this conversation in my head, and my "demons" have talked me out of a muslin and I've been horribly sorry. For my clients, muslins are a hard and fast rule, because it's their fabric I'm sewing with and I really can't mess it up.
This top needed a lot more work than I had anticipated, and I needed to have about 3 fittings on this top to make it work the way that made both the client and me happy. Once I had that fit right, and I got very picky on the fit in the muslin, I knew
when I cut this out, that it was going to be perfect because I had seen it in the muslin.
Another rule I follow with muslins is that I don't question them. IOW, a collar might look a prettier piece, if I moved a line here or there, and whenever that voice shows up, I just remember, "It fit well on the customer, shut up, and cut it out and don't change it!" This isn't about how "pretty" the dang pattern is. It's about the fit. The muslin also allows me to do some pretty cool corrections that I wouldn't otherwise be able to do - like the angle of those pleats in front and back.
They look nice the way they are, but making them vertical, parallel to center front and center back, makes them look beautifully professional.
But there's another benefit here of doing the muslin. When sewing the muslin and "unsewing" it to use as the pattern, I get practice in how to sew up this garment to make it what I want, using the knowledge over a lifetime of sewing. Things like:
- How much interfacing. I'm going to use silk organza with the silk taffeta, and I want the collar really to stand up, and I need a nice roll on that lapel. But I don't need so much on the cuffs, just enough to provide and nice crisp ending.
- This is a nice weight silk taffeta, however it was thin. Being white, everything is going to show through, so I didn't want the bra she was wearing,
which is comfortable, supporting, and makes her figure look great, but it's not a sexy, lacy bra, and I really want her to feel comfy in the blouse. So I doubled the taffeta in front. This also allowed me to insert the side seams into each other so that it look finished on the inside, as much as the finished look on the outside. This was something I thought of while I was making the muslin. Without making the muslin, this wouldn't have occurred to me till after I had
already make the garment. These sorts of details are wonderful especially when you think of them in time before the whole garment is made, and you have to take out a bunch of seams to make it work.
- Making this double-breasted or single-breasted. The single-breasted is preferred, cause that's less fabric in front, but the truth is that this collar is what makes this garment, and it needs to be double-breasted.
- What kind of closure. We had talked about doing some hooks and that was it, but I really liked the idea of buttons on this, so I got out my pearl button collection (she had decided
she was going to wear this with pearls), to chose some buttons, and found some vintage hand-cut pearl buttons that she liked.
- Some things that my client doesn't even know, like finishing details, like the back collar seam. Since there is no back facing, I'm piping it with a bias piece of the fabric and cutting the seam way down, then covering it like a binding seam. This also gives me a place to put my label without touching the outside of the fashion fabric at all.
- Finally the sleeves. She loves the 3/4 look however, the minute she bends her elbows, the silk wrinkles unmercifully. It's a natural fiber so it does that, but we wanted to keep that more fresh look at best possible, so we're putting vents in the back so that when she bends, the wrinkles won't be as bad.
- The skirt is a piece of cake, but I still needed to see what I was going to do with the pleats. The hips are always a sensitive spot, and to have
a good idea about how the skirt will hang is important. But I have made this particular skirt pattern about 30 times, and it always works on every figure.
View C is the killer look here. It's a little longer in back which "drags" the floor and make for a nice longer look on the skirt, but it doesn't puddle like a traditional train. And those gorgeous pleats in front are prime place to put hidden
pockets. I like the cummerbund belt but not this pattern, I do one of my own which I can fit closer to my clients.
And here we are for our first whole fitting. Checking the hem so she doesn't trip, AND making sure that when she turns the back isn't so long she can catch it. The pearls are from an aunt, and she's going to order some beautiful baroque pearl earrings
- studs - to complete the look.
If your wondering where Carolina Herrera is in all this, well, you're right. I pulled up a few of her dresses to show this clients when we were deciding what to do for her daughters wedding, and there's nothing that beats black and white - in her case black on black brocade with white silk taffeta top. I had some satin-faced organza - less than a yard and this was perfect for the cummerbund.
She looks absolutely exquisite in
this outfit, showing the classic, timeless style of black and white (the wedding is going to be formal attire, so this black and white is right on target with that), and the look of quiet quality. I know she's elated, cause her sister's daughter is getting married in a couple of months and I asked her if she wanted me to update it for that wedding for her sister to wear. Uh, no! She will wear this again thankyouverymuch!!!!
Yeah, there's nothing quite like wearing
a custom made garment, that fits the style, color, look, drape, and quality of a garment for a very special occasion. She's going to sit, stand, get in and out of a car, and most of all have fun in a dress that flatters her and yet is comfortable, to really set off an evening of fun and celebration. I know this, cause I've seen it so often in my clients. This will be the first time for her, and it's always fun to watch a newbie experience the pure enjoyment of wearing something
custom made!
BTW, the silk taffeta is from Gorgeous Fabrics, and the Black brocade is from Mood Fabrics.
For both of these pieces, I needed a muslin and having for both of these pieces resulted in a huge comfort level, that I wouldn't have otherwise had. So not only did i get a great pattern, but I even got to practice making it up before I did it will the real
fabric. Both of those reasons are enough right there to always do a muslin.
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Tracking a fashion trend isn't all that hard after seeing a few of them.
Living from Mid-Century Modern through Twiggy...
It's worth the time to look at these styles, particularly today as
there is a group of that wants to look....
This is the way fashion used to be -- pretty, flattering and I can't wait to make some of...
NOTE: There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky. I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else. If you don't get anything
from me, it's probably because the support@sewingartistry.com email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through. In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.
As a precaution,
please ensure I'm in your email Address Book and check your spam, junk, and trash folders. Some email clients get extra excited when they see emails coming into the Inbox that go to many other receivers. They automatically think it's trash or spam, and it never makes it to the Inbox. I must constantly check my spam and junk folders to ensure I'm getting the emails I subscribe to.
To view in browser along with past emails, click here. We respect your email privacy. |
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