Yay for Fast Shipping!

I was unable to meet with my customer over the weekend so I have no new news on the skirt, but I ordered a pattern from Burda (#8347) last Thursday hoping I would get it by the weekend and to my surprise it was in the mail today!! I was too excited not to jump right in!

Here are pictures of the pattern (right) side by side with the desired garment (left and bottom):

Now My original thought, after talking with the customer and gaining her point of view, was that since I will be applying a ruffle to the front, I want that to be one piece (not button up) and I would make the collar so that it opens completely and then buttons to close in order to make it easy to put on. As you can see…I didn’t think that through as the entire top has to be attached to the collar. I called my friend Lynn Douglass to see if there was any other way she could think of doing it besides making a hidden button placket in front. She wisely counselled me to add the button closure. So, seeing as how the pattern definitely does not have that feature, it was time for me to grab my trusty “Patternmaking for Fashion Design” by Helen Joseph-Armstrong

So i cut the front shirt pattern on the center front and added the hidden button placket (Patternmaking for Fashion Design, page459). I also adjusted the armsceye so that it attached at the neckline and not at a shoulder seam, as the pattern is drawn originally

I then traced the other side of the shirt, adding a 1 1/2 inch self facing, and then drew the back piece down into a halter (one of the design change requests was to make the back of the shirt higher than shown in the picture).

OH how I wish I had time to cut and sew that muslin tonight!!! When Saturday comes I will definitely get to it, take pictures and, if I meet with my customer between now and then, be starting the actual skirt! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!!