Fitting the Muslin, Polonaise - Lisa

I finally cut the muslin for the polonaise.  It took longer then I thought because, well, while searching for my measuring tape I decided I need to clean up the knitting pile and that led to organizing my box of notions, and now I've tidied my office and the spare bedroom.  In among the knitting I found an packet of sewing carbons that was so old the price tag was marked $0.39.  I can use those!  (actually they were so old they didn't really work very well).

With the muslin cut and basted I need to get my first fitting.  I don't have a dress form so it's up to Robin to re-pin darts and adjust shoulders and all the other necessary evils.  Has there ever been a dart that fit?  The instructions were great and worked really well.  I followed them religiously.  The result was very close to accurate.  As expected, the muslin is too wide in the shoulders and needs an inch more in the bust.  There is no adjustment for shoulder width in the cutting instructions and I have narrow shoulders and a short torso so this was expected.  The bust initially seemed good but changed after the shoulders were fitted.  I may add a small dart at the armscye to eliminate some bunching.  I'm only basting it now and will figure it out when we fit the sleeve. 

And yes, since we live rather far apart, the easiest place to meet and fit was the ladies room at my office.  This restroom is shared with other tenants on the floor of one of SF's largest office buildings.  So, or course nearly every woman on the floor wandered by as we were fitting the darts. 

I used safety pins for the fitting since I didn't want to lose pins carrying the muslin back and forth from home.  Robin also delivered two big bags of fabric we bought online.  I have at least two bags more at her house.  Most of this is for undergarments but, at under $2 a yard, I bought some cotton 'on spec'. 

I'll be back after my extended-family vacation in SoCal with the final fitting and then I'm getting to work on the real thing.  But now?  I'm goin' to Disneyland!