A Tip for Solo Zips and What I’m Working On

Boy, people really want that book, eh? Tomorrow afternoon is the drawing. I may just use a random number generator to pick the winner, since it would be an awful lot of trees to kill paper to cut up to put in a hat.

In my last post, I mentioned that I had tried and failed to fit a muslin for a summer dress, so I fell back and punted. Instead, I made a muslin of a Vogue pattern, V8727.

Vogue Easy Options 8727

Since the fit on Vogue patterns has been wonky of late (don’t even get me going on the utter lack of descriptions on their new patterns), I decided to make a muslin of the bodice. I did my usual FBA, and I lowered the bust point about half an inch. I started out with a size 12. Since this is closely fitted through the torso, I went out to a 14 at the waist. Even with a 12, it was too broad through the shoulder area and was gaping at the neck. The real problem is that the center back is perfectly straight. While I’m pretty straight, I benefit from a slightly curved back seam. So I pinned out the excess in the muslin, as you can see on the right shoulder here, and adjusted the pattern accordingly.

If you ever wished for longer arms...

Here’s a tip if you’re ever trying on a muslin, or donning a back-zip outfit by yourself. Ever wish you had longer arms? I wrenched my shoulder skiing, and while I haven’t lost mobility, my reach in the back isn’t as flexible as it was before I did that. When I tried on the muslin. I wasn’t able to reach the zipper easily. But I’ve been a SCUBA diver (have I told you that?) since I was 24 years old, and here’s a neat trick that I learned from wetsuits.

Cut a long piece of ribbon or string. 48 inches is a good length. Thread it through the hole on your zipper pull so it’s divided in half, as you see in the picture above (the ribbon is green). Grab both ends of the ribbon (that’s important) and pull them to zip yourself up. Ta daa! Who needs a man or roommate? Unthread the ribbon from the zipper pull and you’re ready to go.

Once I adjusted the fit on the bodice, I cut out the dress from this (sold out, sorry) green seersucker from Gorgeous Fabrics:

Tra La, It's Spring! Seersucker

I’m going to line it with White Bemberg Rayon lining, which is in the wash right now. I’m hoping to get the lining cut out before the weekend is over. Maybe I’ll try to cut it out tomorrow night, since I’ll be up late worrying about DS the elder, who will be at the Junior Prom (!!!)

That’s where things stand. I hope we get some weather soon that will allow me to wear a summer dress! Don’t forget to put your name in the comments of the last post if you want a shot at winning “Fast Fit”.

Happy sewing!