Upton Nirvana

O.M.G. I did it. I completed an actual Upton in real fabric (a lawn). 

I lost count but looking at this pile, it was at least 10 muslins. ​

This post documents the first set of muslin making, which mostly was trying to figure out which base size to start with and a few major adjustments (lower bust point, lengthen torso, and do forward shoulder adjustment). I went with a size 4 and a C/D bust. I also lost track of all the changes I made, but here are those I remember:

1. Graded to a 6 at the waist and hips
2. Lowered BP 1 inch
3. Lengthened torso 1 inch 
4. Made a forward shoulder adjustment
5. Scooped out curve on princess seam above and below bust point
6. Took darts out of neckline to reduce gaping, 1/4" on each side, tapering to nothing toward bust
7. Lowered armpit 1/2" and lengthened sleeve curve correspondingly
8. Shortened skirt. A lot. A total of maybe 4–5 inches
9. Changed closure from a back zipper to a button front (Cut back on fold instead of front. Cut front along center front and added seam allowance. Added a placket.)
10. Finally, I made bias binding and used it on the neckline

Oh yeah. I did add the pockets but could have kicked myself after. I don't really need pockets and I think they might disturb the fall of the skirt. Also, I didn't put notches on the pattern where they were supposed to go and I put them a little too low. 

Still this is super comfortable and I'm pretty pleased. I'm not sure I like the box pleats. The next one I make (I bought the fabric at the same time I bought the fabric for this version) might get regular pleats like on the McCalls shirtdress I made that this Upton is supposed to be an improvement on. It is, with the possible exception of the pleats.

Oh, I almost forgot. I discovered a couple new things about my machine. First, OMG it's so easy to sew buttons on with it.

However, I had to lower the feed dogs to do it—that's how it's done on my Pfaff—but I forgot that the stupid things get stuck when put down. So, I found a single YouTube where a guy explained how to fix it on a machine similar to mine (the predecessor, I suppose), and I managed to fix mine using his information even though my machine is not constructed the same. They updated the guts but still made a feed dog mechanism that sucks.

Finally, my buttonhole function is going haywire. I sewed about 5 buttonholes, and it started screwing up, jamming and bunching thread. Then I noticed only 1 of the buttonholes I'd sewn was correct. I had to take them all out and research alternatives. I found a good YouTube that showed a system that worked for me. 

1. Mark the buttonhole placement (a vertical line through the middle and a top and bottom line that can be seen when the presser foot is down)
2. The basic idea is to sew a wide zigzag at the top of the hole (5 stitches), a narrow zigzag along the right and left sides, and another wide zigzag at the bottom (another 5 stitches). 
3. The settings I used for WIDE were: length, 0.8, width 6.0 and NARROW: length 0.8, width 2.5. Worked like a charm and without the anxiety of that stupid automatic buttonhole.

The Upton fitting directions say to sew up the WHOLE dress for each muslin. Thank goodness I was reading Sarah Veblen's fitting book while I was working on this dress. She says no to sleeves and skirt, just fit the bodice first. I also found her HBL or horizontal balance lines very helpful with the second set of muslins. But I learned how to adjust the princess line by watching this really helpful video where she explains how a princess seam is just a version of a darted bodice and how to get a good line for your body.