Made my first toile for a simple button front shirt in cheap calico. Drag lines from the bust to the armpit, gaping at the neckline, and the shoulder seam sits about 2cm behind where my shoulder actually is. I measured and cut a size 14 based on full bust. Is a first muslin supposed to be this far out, or did I choose wrong before I even started?
Yes, normal. A muslin that fits first time means you got lucky, not that you are good. The point is for it to be ugly on the table instead of on fabric you love.
Photograph front, side and back with your arms down, and mark the drag lines directly on the calico in pencil. Drag lines point at the place that needs more room - follow the line and it takes you to the problem.
One change at a time, new muslin each time. Slower, but if you change three things at once and it gets worse you have learned nothing.
Check the finished garment measurements rather than the body measurements too. Some shirts have 15cm of ease built in and you may be fighting a design choice.
@muslin_mira · 3w ago · 4 replies
That muslin is doing its job. All three things you list are normal, named, fixable adjustments and none of them means you picked the wrong size.
Do the high bust size next, add the FBA, and the other two problems shrink to almost nothing before you touch them separately. Also, calico behaves nothing like shirting - expect the real fabric to be friendlier.
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@muslin_mira · 3w ago
The envelope will never tell you. Most commercial patterns are drafted for one cup difference, and that single fact explains most beginner fitting despair.
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@weekend_margin · 3w ago
High bust rather than full bust. Nobody in any of the pattern instructions said that out loud.
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@patch_pocket_pia · 3w ago
I sewed for two years choosing by full bust and blamed my body. It was a drafting assumption.
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