Yep. I went ahead and did a quick and dirty muslin of dress #131 from the current Burda Style:
The results weren't too bad. Yes, I used flannel again, this time with Penguins. I apologize that the print makes it a little hard to see the lines.
I cut a 42 from shoulder to hip and a 44 from the hip down. I made no adjustments for the muslin. I can see that I need to make my usual tweaks- lengthen the waist, shorten above the bust, possible princess FBA, etc.But let's just talk about the obvious, shall we? That neckline. Oh, Burda...
As you can see it is way too low. And believe it or not, the picture makes it look a little higher than it really is (I had to use my shorter photographer.) And don't let the flaps fool you, it is also scandalously wide. In the photo above, I have the shoulders pinned to my bra straps.When I took the pins out, the shoulders immediately began to slip:
And continued to slip and collapse right off my shoulders when I so much as turned my head:
The V-neck in back doesn't help. I'm wondering if converting the back to a higher, round neck would help support the shoulders and keep them in place? I also wonder if I need to narrow the center of the dress and widen the side fronts, bringing the princess seams in toward the front and giving more coverage of the area above the bust toward the shoulders.
I like the dress, and I'd like to make it anad wear it, but I just don't know if all these tweaks would somehow ruin the style lines and turn it into something completely different.
I suppose one more muslin wouldn't hurt...
10 comments:
The muslin looks not bad at all. When I look at the magazine picture I have an impression that the dress is hardly holding on the model's shoulders and she is rather broad-shouldered. The neckline is low, doesn't surprise me when using Burda magazine patterns.
Nice that you made the muslin first. Cute penquins BTW :)
I love it! It is so avant guarde and striking.
I have made one Burda dress where the shoulders kept slipping off because of the deep neckline - in that case, all that was required was a very tight sloping shoulder alteration - cutting about 3/8 inch from the top of the shoulder narrowing to nothing at the bottom. That helped it keep its grip - however, I do have very sloping shoulders so it was a necessary alteration for me anyway.
What I'm wondering with your dress is whether the destabilisation of the shoulders is caused by the deep back "v" - with such a scoop at the front, and such a deep slice out of the back, is there anything left to keep it on? In which case I'd experiment with ties across the back, because I think there is something very alluring about ties, and practical, too!
I would love to make this dress but I cannot think of a single occasion where I could wear it. Hmmm.
It's physics - if you have both front and back open there's nothing holding the shoulders in place. I'd start with some little bra-strap stays, ribbons to snap around them, if you want the dress to stay on.
That said, I can't believe you're using that gorgeous penguin flannel for muslin. I'd kill for some of that :-).
The muslin looks pretty darn good! The penguins make me smile. It's meant to be a dramatic dress. So, maybe the low neckline is ok for an after 5pm vibe? You just need some sort of special bra.
I loved this pattern in the magazine, but haven't gotten around to making it yet (and I have no idea where I would wear it, anyway). Do you maybe need to cut a smaller size in the shoulders? It's hard to tell where the shoulder seam falls on you, but might be something worth considering...
I love the neckline and I never think they are too low but it seems in the US they are very modest. I like it and the shoulder adjustments Mary Nanna suggested would help. I have sloping shoulders too!
My compliments to how patient you are in considering yet another muslin. I am so impatient that I would have not bothered with the first muslin, but just made it out of my expensive fabric and then been sooooo disappointed that it didn't fit properly. Go figure! All in all, the neckline is not really too terribly low. Rather flattering actually. Perhaps a lower cut bra would solve the dilema. As for the shoulders, hmmmmm, yes, raising the back neckline could help. Can't wait to see the final result. Thanks for sharing.
Brilliant! I hope you can make that bodice work because it's a great dress.
That muslin looks great!! Those penguins are cute!!
It's such an interesting shape of neckline! I have this problem with Burda too - always way too low cut even though I'm tall, and designed for people with much broader shoulder than mine. I do look forward to seeing the final dress when you've fixed Burda's proportions!
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