 So the first thing that you're going to want to do is find your size on the pattern and The back of the envelope does give us some clues as to the direction that we are going to go in in terms of size So if you see here This new look pattern and I think a lot of new look patterns have six sizes in one Which is really nice because you have the range from a size 8 all the way up to a size 18 in terms of bus That's 31 and a half inches all the way up to 40 inches so you really get a good range of sizes for someone who is pear-shaped or Hourglass figure where you have to grade in between sizes a lot This range is really helpful. So right off the bat. I really like that Okay, so you need to know your own personal measurements and for me That is 37 and a half bust 33 waist and 47 hip so you can see I am a bit of an hourglass maybe even more of a pair where my hip is much larger than my waist and bust and these measurements in this box here are all kind of a Guestimate or a suggestion for you We'll find out how to get to the specific size of the actual pattern piece in a second But you always want to start here because it's going to give you kind of a good ballpark to go on So I'm a 37 and a half like I said So you'll go to the bust measurement here and go across and you'll see that 37 and a half falls between a 14 and a 16 So I just go ahead and write down 1416 then you go to your waist. I'm a 33 and if you go across 33 is technically not even on the chart So I write down an 18 and then the hip measurement It is marked here But it really doesn't matter for a pattern like this because the skirt is so full and so big You'll never really need to worry about your hip measurement here Which is why I happen to love fit and flare dresses so much Okay, so then you want to try and find the actual pattern measurements and this is the measurement of the finished garment whenever they Take out any consideration for size and it's just from seam line to seam line So on new look patterns, they actually list garment measurements down here at the bottom So we have our bust for ABCD and you'll see so I am 37.5 So we want to go across and again It's going to fall in between two sizes. However, this time I'm falling between a 12 and a 14 And that is very common for your actual garment measurements to fall a size below So I think that just for the muslin. I'm going to start with a size 14 Now for the hip for the waist it gets a little bit complicated on some patterns They will have the waist measurements written on the pattern piece with like it's like a circle with a plus sign through it And they'll have all the sizes and what the actual garment measurements of that waistline are on these new look pieces However, they don't have those measurements provided to us Unfortunately, but it's not too too difficult to find the waist measurements of these pieces I like so you're so by looking at the front You see that the bottom of the waistband is going to be where your waistline should hit So we know that it's the bottom of this pattern piece that is going to be your waistline If you wanted to get really, you know, precious about it you could measure your 5 8 seam line where did my pencil go and You know you mark it on the pattern piece, but This is just the muslin It doesn't have to be super super accurate because we're going to end up making some adjustments after we make the muslin Anyways, so I take my curve ruler which this thing is Amazing if you don't have one I would highly look into getting one I'll link in the description box below where you can find it, but I love this thing And there's a smaller one and a larger one. It comes in one pack. They're great okay, so you want to start with the zero measurement and You start at your seam line and you just run the ruler all the way across following the seam line until you get to Your the size that you think you're probably going to make which for me is an 18 So I'm getting roughly nine and three-quarter inches. So that's the mid-draff front for a B So if you see on my notes page here I ended up writing down front for a and B and then I took the same measurement using the same technique for the mid-draff back all views and the mid-draff front for C and D same same method using the same ruler and Coincidentally, I ended up getting nine and three-quarters for all of them That's not super common. I don't guess but it's not freaking me out. It's not so weird that I feel like I did something wrong So then you want to take so all of these are done on the fold So you have seam allowances here and no seam allowances here so you want to take that nine and three-quarter measurement you want to double it because you're on the fold and then you Want to remove the seam allowances and when you do all of that you get 18.25 Then you do all of that again for the back and you get 18.25 you add them together and you get 36.5 So that is your measurement for size 18 in the waist just about again I'm not being super precious about this because I know we're making a muslin and we're gonna have some room to play with So then I decide that okay Well, let me see 36.5 is actually three and a half inches Larger than my actual waist measurement and that seems like a lot of ease for a waist So I went ahead and did 16 as well and you just take your pattern And you can do this same method again and measure what a 16 is or you can just come over with your regular straight ruler And you'll see the difference between 18 and 16 is half an inch So you can do all of this measurement again, or you can just take half an inch multiply it by the four seam allowances that we have two for the front and two for the back and That will be two inches. So, you know, there's gonna be a two inch differential between these two or you can see here I did all the math for you and it proved out 34 and a half. So You know a my actual waist 33 One and a half inches for a waist measurement might be a little bit tight So I'm feeling like I'm in between these two You have two options here You can either go the smaller route and just know that you have those five eight seam allowances to play around with Usually that equates to three and a quarter inches if you went all the way down to just a quarter inch seam allowance You would have three eighths of an inch to play around with times four. So that's that's kind of a lot So you have one and a half inches to play with which is a lot. So this is really three thirty four point five Two thirty six you have that much room to play with Or you can just say, you know what? I'm just gonna make the larger size It's easier to take out than it is to add and you know that you're gonna have to grade down your waist seam allowances whenever you make your muslin two schools of thought take whichever one You feel more comfortable with For me, I think that I am going to make the Size 16 That's kind of from practice And also just like I like I know I like a tighter Waist line than a looser one. So I'm going to go with a size 16 for reference I went ahead and measured out everything for you guys because we're all in this together So I have the waist line measurements for a size 14, which is 32 and a half a 12 is 30.5 a 10 is 29 and an 8 is 28. So jot those down Again, this is not super precious. If you're not making a muslin I would do your own measurements and not trust mine. The last thing I want is for you guys to Comment and say my fabric is ruined because I made a size based on what you told me to do This is only applicable if you are making a muslin. I want to be super super clear about that So I will leave these measurements down in the description box below also so that you you know If you didn't if you didn't have a chance to write them down you can reference them there So for me, it looks like I'm going to make a bust of 14 and a waist of 16 And that is super easy to grade between The bust and the waist because again, we have all these ranges of sizes So you would just simply blend this line here With this line here using a straight angle something along these lines here Um, so you have your bodice front. This is view a and b which actually has a princess seam So you've got to kind of visualize with me these two go together here and you can see from the pattern model that the Top of the midriff is very very high on the waist almost like an ampere waist right below the bust So I I'm not going to grade out on the bust from a 14 to a 16 Because I just feel like it's going to be too big here and then be fitted down here So I'm still going to make a 14 In the arm side a 14 in the bottom of the Bodice a 14 in the top of the midriff and then then grade out to a 16 That way you get you know that 14 out to a 16 and it fits at the waist That's where the waist measurement is taken So on these pieces here on the side seam I am going to just cut a straight 14 and then whenever you bring the midriff piece in the size 14 of the The bodices once they're put together with the princess seam Will match up with the size 14 of the midriff and then I grade out Like I said from 14 to a 16 on the midriff piece and then I cut the skirt at a size 16 So that the midriff Size 16 the bottom of the midriff will match up with the top of the skirt And then that'll get you your perfect waistline there that should fit and then again the skirt flares out so much. I can't imagine um I just can't imagine everyone's waist. I mean everyone's hip not fitting Fitting in there. There is one situation where that might apply and that is if you have very very narrow hips You might consider grading down But I think mostly everyone is going to want this, you know, super elegant fitted top and super flare dress No matter what your hip situation is going on down here. So That is the plan for me. Um, I do have some tips for sewing uh muslins So let me clean up my space here. I'll get those tips together and then I'll be right back Okay, so This is muslin fabric. It is a very inexpensive tightly woven usually on a percent cotton Like material it's not pretty. It's not meant to be worn Out like it's just meant to test the fit of a garment. Um, I've seen it Oh, gosh, maybe three dollars a yard four dollars a yard something like that. So you can definitely buy this um And make your muslin out of this no problem But I do have some other tips for you If you don't want to do that and the one I use most often is to take scraps from previous projects and use those as my muslin So you guys know, I mean you usually have like these pretty big pieces of fabric Um that you can use. I mean look how large this one is it's going to take up the whole screen here So I could easily get, you know, one of the bodices Um and probably uh the waistband Um out of just this piece Um, but you know, you have bigger pieces from other things the only Caution that I have for you about using scraps is you really want to use scraps that mimic Whatever your final garment is going to be like so don't use knit scraps You know, don't use like something really Lightweight if we're making, you know, this structured fit and flare dress like we are try and stick with that Doesn't have to be like you don't have to use a brocade Scrap for a brocade dress, but you want to just kind of keep it in the same vein. Um that way it You know, it holds its shape the same way that your final garment will And then the third option I have for you is actually to go to your local goodwill salvation army thrift shop, whatever Um and look for these dresses that they sell there inevitably that have very few seam lines I mean look at this. This is just like basically A very long tunic um and outside of the Placket and collar like the rest of it is just Fabric yardage, but you can find dresses that are like huge like gigantic um like two excel four excel, you know, ones that are very very large and Make your muslin out of that The third option or the one number we on fourth option that I have is to actually make your muslin out of the lining That you're going to end up lining the garment with so this is a very cheatery type of method um It's a shortcut because you're essentially already you're skipping ahead and you're making The lining for your finished garment. Um, I would only recommend doing that though. If you feel like you're really close um To Based on the measurements that we went over earlier if you feel like you're not going to have that many Fit issues because you can't really go back. Um, you can't really make major alterations If that's what you need to do, you can only kind of nip and tuck Um from the lining and again You're not truly going to be able to assess it because the lining is going to be a little bit lighter than our Finished garment, but it is free. It will depending on how you look at it. Maybe our sewist math Will tell us that it's free because you're going to put it in the garment anyways, but um I just wanted to give you guys some options other than just running out and buying muslin But you can absolutely do that. Um If you don't have any though, there are a few other options for you One more thing about using fabric scraps for your muslin You have to make sure the scraps have a selvedge edge so that you can still cut on the grain line If your scraps came from the center of your yardage and you don't have a selvedge anymore I don't really know what you're going to use those for other than like projects where um Grain lines don't matter like zipper pouches and stuff like that But yeah, you want to make sure you have um a selvedge edge and you still want to honor You know the grain line and cut it out as if it were a full piece of fabric Okay, so I am working on cutting out my muslin from some scrap fabrics And ironically, I think these are actually going to look really good together. I ended up using um this blue and this print Um, probably could have done something a little more creative than a muslin with those two, but whatever What can you do? I'm jumping on here really quickly because I wanted to point out that on the bodice pieces for a and b You're going to see that the pattern pieces only have the grain line Running selvedge to selvedge and that is because the pattern envelope um The pattern is Drafted for a border print. This isn't just done For example, this is actually how the pattern is drafted and how the instructions are laid out So if you're not using a border print In my opinion, I think you should Mark the grain line that you typically see on a pattern Which is one that runs from cut edge to cut edge where the um grain line will be parallel To the selvedge line. So all I did is took Um this little line that they provided here I got my little square ruler and I You know lined up The horizontal line with Uh a mark on the ruler and then drew a long grain line So that the two make a perpendicular little mark. Um, and this is going to be your grain line if you aren't using a Border print fabric if you're using border print fabric the borders are usually printed on the selvedge sides Each one and they kind of grow in like this Um, so that's why they have you do that because you'll need to cut your pieces So that the you know the bottom of the the border that runs along the selvedge Kind of crawls up your body into the bodice So I thought that some of you might see that and be a little bit confused or think that it's a misprint or something And just wanted to point out that that's why that grain line is turned sideways and here's how easy it is to Turn it the other way. So that's what I'm going to be doing since I'm not using a border print I'm going to cut all of these With the typical grain line that you see All right, so I've got all my muslin pieces cut out for both bodice versions um, this is the V-neck and this is the wrap front I did want to say i'm not going to muslin the sleeves simply because i'm not making the Any either of my final garments in like with sleeves So i'm not going to do that. But if you're making the sleeved version, you should definitely definitely muslin a sleeve and attach it So i'll go ahead and muslin these two. I typically muslin multiple bodices no matter what pattern i'm making like this butteric one has this sleeved raglan version as well as this wrap front roughly version And so I will muslin both of those I mean that's not a great example, but you know what I mean So um, it's like I call it bulk muslinning and then I'll keep both of these muslins I'll either um, go ahead and stuff them down into the pattern envelope or keep them like in a baggie together So that when I go to make the other version if I weren't going to make them You know, both of them right away. I have the other version to try on to fit. Um I also think it's good to hold on to your muslins because well, not everybody's but my body changes. I feel like, um Fairly often I've had some health issues. So my weight is like fluctuating. So I like to keep Um the muslins to try on if I ever make another version of the dress I'll have the muslin from before that I can compare to my current Um measurements and body shape and all of that. So I'll just another little tip I wanted to throw in there. So I'll um, sew these up and then We'll see how they look So here we go. This is my bodice muslin for view c and d the wrap version of new look six five two six um, I have Obviously sewn the wrap pieces together Added the midriff front and then I turned under seam allowances On the midriff where the skirt gets attached on the bodice front And on the arm side just so I could see how everything would look as if it were finished Um, I have not attached the skirt because again, so long as the skirt fits in the waist there's so much Ease and fullness to that skirt that it really just you don't need to make a full muslin of the skirt So assessing this there are a few things that I am noticing first off I think that the front bodice is looking really good Some things you want to look for are this bust dart that's right here You want to make sure that that goes, you know up to the apex of your bust and not beyond and not in a funky direction or um Not even too short. Um, you want to make sure it goes right to your bust line as it should Another thing you want to look for is front gaping here if you have any like, you know Any gaping at all in the front or even in the center front sometimes you'll see that it can get really big in the front here That is an indication that you might have chosen a bodice front piece that is or bodice size that is too big And maybe you need to do a small bust adjustment or go up a size. Um, you'd have to adjust that there Um, something that I'm noticing on mine is my natural waist is I mean It is right at where this folded edge is hitting. Um So that is good. You want to make sure wherever your body naturally like when you bend over Um, can you see when you bend over? That's where you want that Seamline to go and you can see mine is hitting almost exactly perfectly which makes me very happy Um, you want to check your shoulders and you want to make sure that the shoulder line is You know straight on top of your shoulder not too far forward or too far back Um, and you also want to check the arm size and see if they are too high or too low for you Um, mine do feel a little bit tight Um through here. I don't feel like I have a ton of room, but also It's not so tight that it's uncomfortable So I think I'm just going to use the seam allowances that are there and maybe let this out Like a quarter of an inch on each side, which as you know would buy you like half an inch on each side So it still can be very Rummy in terms of the back a little hard for me to see. I did install a zipper Um, because it's just me and I don't have anybody to pin My bodice for me, but I think the back looks really good. It's very flat. There's no pooling going on There's nothing pulling, you know up here Um, when you attach the shoulder when you if you're making the version with the sleeves You might notice some different things sleeves can add a whole other element to this The sleeves can cause this to pull if it's too small or cause your back to wrinkle if it's too small But if you're going sleeveless, it's a little bit more forgiving in the fit department So in general, I think that I am Really really happy with this. Um, I think that This is good to go for me outside of just at the very very top Of the um side seam letting that out a little bit So I'm going to make a and b now and show you what that looks like and assess the fit of that one as well Okay, here we are with the other Version of the bodice. This is a and b with the lovely v neckline um Some things that I wanted to point out about this one are that This is very wide. Um, normally my bra strap would come like Somewhere around there. Um, so that might be something to consider Making the straps wider so they come in more and then blend into this But at the same time, I kind of really love this really open beautiful collarbone neckline area Um, I don't feel like this is too low. Although it is a little bit cleavagey So if you are more full busted and you have like a deeper cleavage, you might want to raise this But I kind of like it Um, I am having some gaping issues. This might be tmi for a lot of you, but um, this happens a lot on the necks And it could be that this stretched out while I was pressing it So I need to go check it against the um original pattern piece to make sure that The measurement along this seam line is the same as the pattern piece If they are then it's a very simple fix because we have a center front seam. You just need to pinch out Um a little bit from the front and it looks like the pinching out would equate to Maybe three eighths inch pinch um So that's about three quarters of an inch um in total Removing so when you do that, I think that a it feels a little bit better and b it looks a lot better too So let's go ahead and pin that out There we go And you can see that fixes any problems that you have there Another thing with this bodice that unfortunately is hard to see with this zebra print But there are princess seams running along here and you just want to make sure that those Crossover the apex of your bust very similarly to how that dart did in version c and d Um, and if they do you're good to go Um another thing that I don't think I mentioned With the other version is that this seam line needs to sit underneath your bust So when you have the skirt and the weight of the skirt Attached here, um, you need to make sure this is at the bottom of your bust if this is somewhere up here Like I see this and ready to wear all the time and I just want to tell those people There's a better way. It doesn't have to cut you off like mid-boop Um, if it's up this this high Then you need more room in the cups and you need to probably do some kind of Full bust adjustment at the very least lowering this however much you need to lower it But on me since I have a very average size bust, um, probably the only thing that's average out of my body Um, it's fitting really well and then again with the seam line when you bend over the waist seam where the skirt attaches Again, um, it hitting right where it needs to hit Something else that's kind of interesting about this is that the arms on this one feel great Um, I don't feel like I need to let out these arms at all so that could be because the wrap was Doing something or I really don't know. I there. I mean obviously your separate pattern pieces Maybe because this one has the princess seams. It's sitting lower. I'm not sure. I didn't do anything different I still cut the same size and I'm not going to make any changes to the upper side seam on this one. So Maybe that's a case for why you should muslin All the versions of a dress, um, even if you already made one version you should still muslin the other one um on the back Again, everything looks really good across the back. Um, there's no pooling Um, there's no pulling really except for um right here and that could just be because the um arm side Seam is not pressed under there. So I think that that curve Is not clipped and so that is what is pulling that. So I'm not too concerned about that Um, but again with the weight of the skirt, um, everything's going to look really really good What do you guys think? So I'm very happy with the muslins I feel like getting off on the right foot with the measurements will really help you succeed In the fit department. Um, so take that take your time with that take that part really seriously And then all of this should go a lot smoother So what is next for us? Next week, I feel like I should Calm down here Next week, we are going to cover How to construct these bodices? So if you watched this muslin video today and you're like, yeah, but I don't know how to make that fear not Give do all the measurement part and then when it gets to the sewing of the muslin part just give it another week And next week we'll cover how to construct the bodices. So you will have that All taken care of. Um, but if you know how to construct Basically pleats and darts and straight seams You should be good to go on constructing these. Um, I will have some tips Next week, um for constructing them out of your fashion fabric. Um, so tune in for that In the meantime, don't forget to follow, um, the everyone's progress on the Uh, Facebook group. I will have a link in the description box for that And then as you start to make your muslins, I think it will be super cool if everybody posted theirs to that group Um, that way everybody can be providing feedback on the fit that you're getting if you have questions Um, you won't just have to wait on me You'll be able to get feedback from the entire community of the royal wedding so long which would be super super fun Um, and if you're posting anywhere on social media outside of that group, make sure to use the hashtag Royal wedding so long So all of that said I have a ton of information. Um, that I have Sprinkled throughout this video in the description box. Please check that out and leave comments We have any other questions and I'll see you guys next week. Bye