An Unexpectedly Wearable Muslin

I was recently sent the most beautiful fabric from Sew Loco to review and it immediately inspired me to make the Sointu Tee from Named Clothing. The fabric just seemed absolutely perfect for the pattern but as it is precious Lady McElroy Ponte Roma I didn’t want to waste it on a style that didn’t fit or suit me!

Now I don’t often make muslins at all, definitely not for stretch fabrics as I find the stretchiness usually can hide any slight fitting issues but I really wasn’t sure about the amount of ease there is in this pattern. I want it to look oversized, not like I am drowning in fabric! So I turned to my stash, but there was only one fabric in my whole stash that even remotely felt like it had a similar weight and stretch to the Lady McElroy Ponte – this blue tartan Liverpool (like a crepe scuba). I had kind of gone off this fabric and had actually put it in a destash pile so I didn’t mind using it for a muslin but I definitely didn’t expect it to be wearable. The beautiful top design certainly doesn’t scream tartan/plaid to me!

This pattern actually only comes in five sizes as there is so much ease and I cut the size UK12/14 as per my measurements – the pattern pieces looked huge and I fully expected to be sizing down for the next one but I do love how it fits the model in the pattern pictures so I stuck with the size based on my measurements and I am really happy I did! I think the oversized look is just right and the tie around the waist brings it in enough to look intentional. The only change to the pattern I decided to make for the next one is to lengthen it by about an inch.

There is one glaring mistake that you can see and that is the neckline – something I definitely took as a learning experience and a mistake I definitely did not make with my fashion fabric! The neckline calls for a bias bound edge, as the fabric has very little stretch I decided the neatest finish I was going to get was with a woven binding – I hate using stretchy binding and this seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t. Even though the binding has some stretch due to being cut on the bias, it was nowhere near stretchy enough to get around the curved ‘V’ neckline. No amount of clipping the curve made it lay flat but I didn’t expect to like the top so I just carried on. I have taken it as a failed experiment and a lesson learned for the next one (side note: the binding I did with a scrap of jersey on my Lady McElroy version is immaculate and I definitely learned a lot by doing it the ‘wrong’ way first!).

The big surprise was when I tried it on and realised I actually like it! The fabric looks weirdly great in this style and I’ve actually worn it a bunch of times since I made it! In fact, it is now back on my sewing table for me to re-do the neckline so that it will be a top that will last me years to come. A very wearable muslin indeed! Oh and did I mention this is another one of my #2018makenine ticked off the list?! Yay! Have you had any unexpected wins like this one? Made any muslins that you absolutely love? I’d love to hear!