I am not accustomed to making muslins, I only ever thought they were used for things like coats and wedding dresses, and not for everyday garments like skirts and Violet blouses. I think you know where I am going with this. I made my black silk blouse with lace collar and side pleats only to discover after finishing it that my shoulders are too narrow. Unfortunately for me that was all the silk I had so my new Violet blouse will be graciously donated to a friend of mine with slightly broader shoulders. I still really like it though and think it will look great on her.
However, I wasn't going to let this put a damper on my first project, after all this is a learning process and I've learned my lesson - make muslins.
As I see it, this was really a great excuse to make myself another one in this great maroon, mini polka dot cotton I had lying around. I made a muslin and found my shoulders to be 1.5cm narrower. So, using the slash and pivot technique, I re-traced my pattern and using this
helpful video, I narrowed the shoulders of the front and back shirt pieces by 1.5 cm.
The finished Violet is a thousand times better! I love it! I decided with the remake that I would keep it simple with the plain collar and no tucks and now that I have the pattern altered to fit my shape, I can start experimenting with different variations.
The best part of Violet is that is only takes a few hours to make so whenever you have an evening free, it's easy to whip one up for the next morning. All and all, it is a pretty great pattern with lots of room to experiment. I'm already thinking of the fabrics and details to make for my nest one!
