Hazel and I are becoming wary friends at the moment.

Colette Hazel: Muslin Take 2

This is my Colette Hazel Muslin: Take 2.Colette Hazel Muslin: Take 1 was a disaster of baggy proportions.So with much stitch ripping, pinning and tucking we now have Colette Hazel Muslin: Take 2.I think this is much better – still lots of little fiddly fitting to do but I’m much more pleased with this one.I took about an inch out of each side of the back and then angled the side seams in just a tiny bit at the top to help pull in the gape across my bust.

I also moved the straps in about half an inch on the front. They still don’t sit perfectly but they are not quite as scary.

The inside finishing on this muslin is less than spectacular. I have no intention of wearing this, it really is a muslin! I hate how you can see the pockets and the facing through the fabric. I can be picky about weird things. I want pockets but I want them to be my little secret – this probably explains my love of the Tardis Skirt.

I have not bothered with the hem – this little number is just about finally conquering a Colette pattern!

I was quite stupid and did not think to take some fabric out of the back skirt to reflect the change in the bodice back. I think the back of the skirt is too full. So I have a slightly puffy midriff and a much puffier bottom! I’m wondering whether this would work with more of a pencil skirt, then I would need to install a back vent so I would walk properly and not ‘mince’. I might just be making life hard for myself – because if I changed it to a pencil skirt I would insert a band at the midriff with stripes moving in different direction just for ‘fun’ and to have the skirt starting closer to my natural waist. Or maybe more of an a-line skirt?

And then it really would not be a Colette Hazel any more, would it?!

I really didn’t like the gathered skirt. I felt that the bodice was quite short and the gathers kinda ‘puffed out’ over the rest of me. So I experimented and put four pleats in the front and back of the skirt. It’s still puffy but I think it’s an improvement on the gathers. Ever Lovin’ Hubby pointed out perhaps the pleats should be pointing the other direction and that might minimise the puffiness over the stomach area. Perhaps darts?

I’m still not thrilled with the dress but I do think it would look much better in a fabric with a more drape, this cotton is a little stiff for the job. I would also prefer a slightly darker fabric as well. I have seen a nice striped shirting fabric which would work…

I’ve always just thrown patterns aside and written them off a loss if it doesn’t fit straight off the machine. However this little battle with Hazel has taught me…

1. that is it possible to tailor sewing patterns to fit you better.
2. unpicking things and sewing them back together is loads of fun in a very weird way.
3. I love hand sewing at night.
4. I have more confidence to tackle the Colette Sewing Handbook patterns now. After this little battle with Hazel, I think I can make Pastille into a very cute wearable shift and I have a lovely cotton sateen for the job!

I think I might make a skirt next rather than launch another attack on Hazel, although I do hope that this battle concludes as a successful trilogy!

I’ve very tired (three hours folding clothes for the school fete second-hand clothing stall will do that to you after five days at work). So it will be either Simplicity 2451 in view D if I’m too tired for anything more challenging or Rachel Comey’s Vogue 1170 if I think I can manage it. This is all dependent on waking up with more energy tomorrow to start tracing the patterns – unfortunately I do have to spend the day manning the second-hand clothing stall at school and packing up (and all the clothes are hideous, people donate such rubbish – or just have bad taste I guess!)…

Argh, horrid photos. I am so not a morning person… excuse some of the puckers and whatnot, I was standing very lopsided on our very steep front garden in very stupid shoes.

Colette Hazel – back (Take 2 muslin)

Colette Hazel bodice: Muslin Part 2

Colette Hazel, size 0, waaay too big

Unlike Colette Peony – which I tossed aside in a snit – I am determined to beat Colette Hazel into submission.The day started out well. Mother’s Day – breakfast in bed, cups of tea, presents and a walk on the beach. We are only a couple of week away from winter and I wore my Stamp of Approval dress (with a white belt on loan from Miss 9) and bare feet. The kids and the dog swam. It’s odd weather, it’s been warmer the last couple of days than it was during summer!

This afternoon I trotted off to the sewing room to tackle Hazel. She bit back.

This is my muslin, my very baggy muslin. I suspected that I was going to have major fit issues as my last two outings with Colette have been very ‘confrontational’ in my little sewing room. Poor old Homer in a Muu-muu has been watching on aghast. The muslins have not made it to this blog. In fairness Crepe is not too bad, probably because it’s a wrap, but Peony is horrid.

The fabric for my Hazel muslin is a cheap cotton that was on sale at Spotlight so it was not a big investment (or loss given the result). It is pretty though and I wanted to try this dress with stripes as the bodice lends itself to stripes in a very flattering way otherwise you might as well use any old summer dress pattern…. I think it would look great… if you can get it to fit…

Colette Hazel, size 0. Hello! there is a huge gape at front

The zip is not an invisible one like the pattern suggests. I just used one that I rescued prior to throwing out one of my daughters’ old threadbare school uniforms. It’sjust a zip and it doesn’t impact on the fit, clearly.I acknowledge that I am a small person. I’m 5 foot 4 which is pretty average but the rest of me is slight – or perhaps better described as skinny. I’m not boasting or moaning, its just a fact of life that I am naturally built like this, I do zero exercise and don’t diet. Yes you can start throwing rocks now, I’m used to dodging them. Many kind people constantly comment on how ‘skinny’ I am, questioning my eating habits and how I look like my dog… I’ve got a whippet. Yes, I’m blessed to have so many people keep my ego in check. Anyway, moving on to more important issues like fitting clothing my seemingly sparrow’s rib cage.

I know that my frame is small but I am always very surprised at the size of Colette Patterns. This is a size 0. It’s huge.

Fit problems:-

1. It’s gaping badly across the top of my bust – but it seems to fit nicely across my bust.
2. It’s huge in the waist and across my back.
3. The straps are whacko. I took them up but I think my shoulders are too narrow for the placement of the straps. I often buy the smallest size in jackets to get them to fit across my puny shoulders. The strap buckling stops if I move them further out to the edge of my shoulders – where they fall off all the time. Very stylish.
4. I put a belt on with it as I think that, given how high the waist sits, the light gathering of the skirt just doesn’t work. It just not flattering – on me anyway.

In the past I would have just chucked it to the side and written it off as a total loss. Thanks to all the sewing blogs out there and all the sewing alongs and sewing parties I have watched on the blogging sidelines, I realise that fitting doesn’t have to seem like tackling Mt Everest (or a molehill in my case).

So here’s my Colette Hazel fitting plan…

Colette Hazel, size 0, pinned back

1. Take a wedge out of the bodice centre to counteract the massive gaping at the front across the top.
2. Take about an inch out of each side of the back.
3. Move the straps in a bit at the front or set them in straight rather than at an angle.
4. Consider changing the skirt from gathered to pleats.
5. The stripes need more contrast

I’ve got a little weird wacky plan bubbling away in the back of my mind for this pattern. It could be a complete failure but I want to get this pattern to work as I think the panels of the bodice could be used as a base to dress up this little dress in quite a unique way.

Before I get ahead of myself I have to conquer the fit first! Evil plans must come second.

I have been most envious of all the Me Made May 12 stitchers wearing their creations. I just didn’t feel like I could participate – even in a small way because I have so little sewn by me at this early stage. So this year I am watching… and waiting… I am proud though that yesterday I wore my beloved Tardis Skirt (Vogue 1247, how I love this skirt! I must take a better picture) and today I wore my Stamp of Approval (Simplicity 2209) dress and tomorrow I plan to wear my Four Foot Dress (Simplicity 2060). I guess it’s my Me Made May 12 blip on a radar!

In the meantime I think I have pinned the muslin into submission – does this look better??

Colette Hazel, size 0, after being pinned into submission – pins in the front as well!

 

Back to work tomorrow for another five days in the hamster mill and this week I am thinking ‘what to make to wear to the opera’. Open to suggestions, watch out for the post in a few days! I need a new challenge…