Last weekend I made the paper pattern here for the Christmas frock intended to adorn the person of Mabel Watson Payne. This weekend I used that pattern to construct a muslin mock-up of the dress itself, ready to be fitted on the celestial infant at a time when she finds it convenient.
The gathering of the front and back into the yoke has been reduced in bulk from the rather florid model we started out with, but could be reduced further if its poofiness is still perceived as excessive.
Ditto the little puffball sleeves, which I think may need to be reduced in scale another notch or two in pursuit of the most seemly proportions overall.
I forgot last weekend that I would need to cut out a yoke lining, which the model garment did not have – because it had an elaborate collar treatment instead, which my daughter and I ditched in the early planning stages. I had run out of the off-white muslin, it turned out, so part of the yoke lining had to be cut out of a different muslin bolt in bright white. Attaching the lining allowed me to create an accurate neck opening, which is another point where an adjustment may well need to be made to match the divine bodily specifications of Mabel Watson Payne in person.
I tacked down the outer edges of the yoke lining by hand, and then ran up the side seams on the machine. Put gathers on the sleeve openings, but left them unfinished so the fullness can be adjusted – either tightened or let back out. Perhaps we will want the sleeves to be shaped like little wings instead of little puffballs.
I felt somewhat uncomfortable setting in the hem on the machine at the end. Hems are always put in by hand. But this is not really a garment. This is more of a tool on the way to a garment.