All told it took me two nights of sewing to make a full muslin of the Michael Kors dress.  The first night was spent cutting and marking, and the second sewing.  I’m really glad I took the time, because this dress needed some adjustments!  I tried it on last night and then made a few changes – here are the results:

It’s a very dramatic shot, yes?  I look very pensive about the outcome of my muslin… but actually I’m just not wearing makeup, and waiting for my morning coffee to brew.   I think I’m happy with the fit.  Here are the changes I made:  I took one inch out of the side seams of the bodice and added one inch to the side seams of the skirt.  I shortened the skirt by 2 inches.  I considered shortening the straps, but after fixing the size of the bodice I decided that it was fine.  I think this pattern runs a little odd, sizing wise.  I cut a 10 in the skirt to start and an 8 in the bodice, and I basically turned them into a 6 bodice and size 12 skirt.  I have larger hips that my bust, but not that much larger!  Here is the back:

You can see that I’m going to have to shorten that slit – I shortened the skirt along the lines marked, but that makes the slit way too high.  The wrinkles on the skirt are caused by some shoddy easing late last night, and not a flaw of the fit.  The actual dress will be made of wool.  Sometimes I use a fabric more similar to the one I’m using for a muslin, but in this case I didn’t have anything.

The pleated bodice is lovely, and it fits me fine – the pattern is definitely drafted for a B cup.  I did have to have my husband help me stare at one portion of the diagram to figure it out, but it’s really not bad.

So… now comes cutting my wool and my silk lining!  What do you think about the length?  With a hem it’s going to be right above the knee.  I know I don’t like the just below knee look on me.    But should it maybe be mid-knee?  I’m not sure… This pattern also calls for about a million different markings, and they are all important.  What should I use to mark black wool?  I hate using chalk because it always brushes away before I get to it, and I think the chalk wheel markers are even worse.  Any suggestions are very welcome!