Another Fitting with Susan: Wrap Skirt + Altered Bodice!

Susan had a fitting yesterday at that little French café that doesn't seem to mind us using their bathroom or seating area.  (We do usually eat there too of course!)

I had made a new muslin for Susan to try on -- a wrap skirt drafted according to the specifications found in Dorothy Moore's pattern drafting book.  I made sure to add horizontal (as well as vertical) balance lines as per Sarah Veblen's recommendations, which helped a lot.  The primary problem with the wrap skirt is that it doesn't extend far enough across the front, which has nothing to do with Susan's measurements, but rather with the design of the skirt itself.



Here you can see that the horizontal and vertical balance lines look pretty good.  But both the under and over (lapped) layer need to extend farther beyond the center front line, both for the look of the skirt and to make sure the opening doesn't reveal more of Susan than she wishes to share.



The back pleats could be a little shorter; there are no front pleats at all.





You can see (below) that the skirt needs to extend another 3" or so.



Next Susan tried on the bodice.  I'd inserted a 1-1/2" shoulder dart, which narrowed the front shoulder dramatically, and I trimmed the width of the back shoulder to match it.  I inserted a thin shoulder pad on Susan's lower (right) shoulder to correct a slight imbalance there.

To my eye, the shoulder seams sit where they should be.





I pinned out a little in back; perhaps a shoulder dart, similar to the one in front, would be helpful (and I wouldn't need to trim the outer edge of the back shoulder to match the front).

Some of the poofing under the armhole is due to my badly pinned left side seam.

Here's some live footage of Susan wearing bodice and pencil skirt so you can see her move in it.  (Michael just told me I should have held my phone horizontal so apologies for the big black spaces.)



I think I'm ready to make a fresh muslin and take it from there.  (Sarah Veblen recommends addressing just one alteration at a time.)  Susan called my attention to the moderate tenting of the stiff muslin in the horizontal hollow between her breasts but I think that's inevitable with stiff fabric like this, don't you?   I tried cutting a slightly lower neckline, which alleviated this issue somewhat.





I do think this is an improvement over the last fitting but I still think there's work to be done.  A princess-seamed bodice might be more flattering, frankly.

If you have any insights/ideas, I welcome them.

Have a great day, everybody!