Grading and muslins - A Sew for Victory Up Date

Having received lots of encouragement from the Sew for Victory flickr group, I've dived straight in to grading up my Sew for Victory pattern. Never having done this before I used Casey's from Elegant Musings tutorial on pattern grading. I found the tutorial very clear and easy to follow. Conveniently Casey uses a four inch even grade, which was exactly what I needed to do. 

The only slight complication with my pattern (see left) is the overlapped piece at the front. I had to make an additional increase on the front button down piece so that it reached over to the same place on the increased under front piece, as in the original design.

The whole process of grading up turned out to be much easier than I had anticipated, and if I'd realised how easy it would be, I'd probably have given it a go before now. I think this pattern was probably quite an easy one to start with, which was just as well, and Casey's instructions were very clear.

Yesterday, I made up my first ever muslin from my new graded pieces. I have to confess here that I don't think I have ever made a muslin before. They have always seemed a bit of a faff to me, although given that I have had some fitting issues in the past I probably should have made one before now. Not being totally sure that my pattern grading was done correctly, I though this was a good time to make one. 

To my slight surprise but considerable delight, it fits fairly well. It is a smidgen on the large size, but nothing that can't be taken in by adjusting the seam allowance and darts. 

I made the muslin out of some old sheets (very make-do-and-mend) hence the two colours. The only problem is that it does make it a hard to guess what the final dress will look like. Also, I didn't put the collar on as I was more worried about working on the size and fit, which again will change the final look. But, I am loving the little sleeves, and their puffed up top.

So far, Sew for Victory is going well for me. I've got the majority of the grading done, I just need to trace out the new facing pieces, and increase the size of the collar and cuff pieces to fit the new size. Then I guess, I'm ready to start cutting the real fabric.