The Third Bodice And The Second Skirt

Day one of the new job went pretty good. My hips hurt and I was tired by the end of the shift but all in all, it went not too bad. I spent the first hour filling out employment paperwork and reading the policy and procedure manual and the second hour working with the manager at a cutting table. It's amazingly difficult to cut in a straight line when you have two pairs of eyes - the customer's and the manager's - watching you. How nice for that grove in the table top - LOL. After that, I was mostly on my own.

I saw a lot of fabric. I was not tempted to buy any. What might tempt me is notions. They honestly will not be getting any more in before April and stocks are dwindling rapidly. As soon as I decide what fabric I'm using for my current project, I'll need a dress length zipper. It would be good if I knew this morning before I went to work so I don't have to drive over there again before my next shift.




This Vogue 8667 dress is one of the Easy Options series. I wish it also came with varying cup sizes. That would have made life considerably easier. Without the PMB sloper, I couldn't make any advance adjustments to the pattern with my usual confidence so I started with a muslin which will in turn help me to redraft the sloper so it's all win-win.

The pattern is petite-able which means they allowed for a 1" fold above the waist and below the armhole as if somehow all petite people are simply shorter in the torso. I once read that to be truly petite would mean taking out through the armhole which is what I have to do - one inch - as well as through the torso - 3/4 inch. You can see how short waisted I am. I started with a size 14 and made adjustments for my shape by increasing the waist and hip measurements although it was not quite enough. It's still too tight. This is the first full muslin. I'm currently working on the third bodice muslin and the second skirt muslin because....




... I didn't need to make the same length adjustments to the front due to a fuller bust. What I'm working on now is the amount of the bust adjustment, lowering the bust point, and keeping the waist level. I'm almost done. I might have finished last night except that I curled up in a chair and read which seems acceptable after the first day on a new job spent standing after twenty plus years of working from home spent sitting. I hope - VBG.

When I pressed the pleats, I pressed each one flat and wide. You can see what I mean by looking at the see-thru seam allowances. There's some on each side of the center line of the pleat. I did that before I read the instructions which tell you to press the pleats toward center making them boxier with more fabric over the stomach which isn't exactly where I would want it. I tried that pressing pattern with the second skirt muslin and prefer the look above - without the gorgeous black socks that is. Isn't that a style statement! Too fun.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - my feet are happy that my first shift was only four hours.