Melissa's muslin and fabric prep

I made my coat muslin over the weekend and a few things were apparent to me in this first fitting. Most apparent is that I need much more ease in upper arm! I'm a textbook BWOF 42, but it doesn't appear like they've added any additional ease in this pattern than they do in their standard shirt/jacket/skirt patterns. So it fits ok if my arms are at my side and I'm only wearing a teeshirt underneath, but as soon as I lift my arms or wear something heavier underneath (as in the below photos), it's obvious that I'll need to increase the circumference at the bicep, and also add about an inch at the sleeve (I like the length as it is, but that's supposed to have the seam allowance in that, too).

Another thing I realised when I tried this on is that the horizontal welt pockets are just NOT going to work for me. They look fine, but I definitely need to be able to shove my hands in my pockets in a winter coat, so I'll be ditching the drafted pockets and using vertical inseam pockets instead.

Here's the photos. Apologies for the lighting - between the reflective zip on the jacket I'm wearing underneath (all of my winter clothes are in storage!) and the distance away my photographer had to stand in order to get the hem in shot, the flash was having some issues picking up all the details (you can click to get a bigger photo, though, or I can email hi-res ones if necessary).

Front view:

Standing like this, I'm pretty happy with the fit. I like the way the collar lays, and I feel I've got enough ease in the waist (and tons in the hip).

But when I raise my arms slightly to mimic putting my hands in the imaginary inseam pockets, my sleeve bicips really tightens up and I get bust draglines between my arm and my bust:

I have a book which shows how to adapt the sleeve pattern to increase the girth, but I have no idea how to correct for this bust pulling. I've never had to do any bust alterations before! Or is it an armscye issue? The sleeveless side seems to fit okay (though I don't have my shoulder pads yet to use here, there's definitely room for them in the shoulder).

The side view:

Everything looks fine to me here, and the sleeve seems to be hanging okay.

And the back view:

Everything looks okay to me here, too. The fabric is hanging on my bum a little, but that's just a friction issue that should go away with some slippery lining fabric underneath.

So to my eyes I think I just need to enlarge and lengthen the sleeve, change the pocket, and do something about the bust-pulling issue.

Last week I also did some draping experiments with my microfleece and wool coating (more on fehrtrade.com) and I'm really happy with the way they behave so I've decided to go with that. I've prewashed the microfleece, and I've cut a swatch of my coating and put that through the washing machine twice now (we don't own a tumble dryer, and we always use the very eco and very gentle soapnuts since our grey water goes straight into the river) with zero shrinkage, so I'm going to put it through a third time and really scrutinise the swatch vs the virgin fabric and take a view as to whether to machine wash the whole lot.

Admin - What type of Pocket are you making?

Marji would like to get a feel for what type of pocket you are making. I have put up a poll on the sidebar for everybody to answer. It should be the top poll. Please indicate which type of pocket you are going to be making. I have disabled comments for this entry. By answering the poll Marji will be able to see what she wants at a glance rather than read through all the comments.

Thanks everybody. - LindaF

Marji: I see that there is a category for Other, and already someone has put "Other". If you're making the Other - can you please leave a comment to tell me what that is?
And, just to help you define them, I'm adding a picture to this post.
I'm at a bit of a loss for "other" at the moment.

Ah, one more thought. Your pattern may show one type of pocket. Know that you are not obligated to use that particular type. In-seam pockets can be used anywhere there is a seam to put one, welt pockets can be substituted for in-seam if you prefer that look, and faux welts can be turned to real welts.