At what point do you give up on fit faffing and decide it’s good enough? Or conversely give up on a project altogether?
I’ve made two muslins of Vogue 8633 this week and I still can’t get it quite right, despite all the helpful suggestions! This is on top of the two actual dresses I’ve made from it previously, one of which also involved a muslin. But I love the style so much I don’t want to give up. How does Vogue get such a smooth line from the shoulder to the bust on the photo below? My body definitely does not have a straight line there. More of a concavity, in fact. And the alterations required to make the shoulders fit me at all are dramatic. The pattern pieces look nothing like the original.
But despite the less than perfect fit, the two dresses I’ve already made from this pattern are amongst my favourites. And I have some gorgeous black stretch twill to use, and I am completely sick of making muslins. So no more faffing, full steam ahead.
Catherine Daze's Blog 
I give up faffing pretty early on, and if you love the dresses you have already made I wouldn’t worry about it. The lines on the ones you made really aren’t that noticeable and to 99.99% of people, especially when you are moving around & wearing the dress in real life are not going to see a thing. I had to go and try mine on though after reading this to check & this is what I found. If I stand with my normal, natural (i.e bad) posture I get no lines. If I pin my shoulders back and stand very straight I get lines. What this means (other than your posture is obviously better than mine) I have no idea!
I wonder if this is one of those occasions when you wear the toile and someone else makes the adjustment for you? After my two college courses, I do worry how I would adjust a dress without a sewing tutor on hand!
Wow, we sound like twins seperated by an ocean. I know what you mean about fitting ad infinitum. Sometimes you just have to go for broke, or what I call turning left into oncoming traffic with your eyes closed and hoping for the best.
😉
Good luck!
I have “forward thrust shoulders” and have had tops with those same creases. The bodice appears to be pulling to the back which is why the neckline opens up around your neck while it is more vertical on the model. I have to add fabric to the back and reduce it in front. This changes the direction of the shoulder seam. This also requires a change in the curve of the armhole. It’s a little tricky, but definitely solvable. Very few fitting books deal with this issue. I think I can find those references is you want more info. I’ve only just started reading your blog. Very enjoyable.
I’ve certainly had to remove quite a bit of fabric from the front shoulders and it helped the neckline a bit. If you’ve got a reference that would be great, thanks! My armscye looks distinctly odd right now 🙂
Normally I do not make muslins, and I wear the dresses anyways. Which is not a good way to go about things, but I am so impatient. the most important thing is to love what you make, and as you said you love them already, then I think you are right to stop making muslins.
The more I look at your brown dress picture the more it seems to me that if you release the centre front seam just below the “V” the armscye should relax back a bit. I can see that in your silver version the armscye is not as pronounced because you have it unzipped and “V” became lower, adding to the front width