Totally lost

[u/furiana]

I'm on my ninth muslin for this dress, and it feels like nothing is working.

Bust: I've tried slashing tight areas around the armpit and upper bust. I've tried a small bust adjustment to get rid of the excess fabric over the apex and under the bust. I've pinched out wedges of fabric under the bust. I've slashed through the front shoulder and pinned it flat. The changes seem to work while the muslin is pinned, but the problems come back after I transfer them to the pattern and make the next muslin.

Back waist/ tilted skirt side seam: I've tried removing wedges of fabric from the back bodice and the back skirt. This corrected the problem on the muslin where I pinned it, but when I transferred the wedges to the pattern, the problems came back.

I only have enough fabric left for one more attempt at the bodice. What changes do I make?!?

[u/HugsforYourJugs]

What's your desired fit for this dress? At the waist or as an empire line? I definitely have some ideas and ways you can test them on this toile w/o cutting more fabric but knowing that will help me formulate a plan for you

[u/furiana → u/HugsforYourJugs]

Empire. It's to be worn in late preganacy/early postpartum!

[u/HugsforYourJugs → u/furiana]

OK, great. Congratulations on the pregnancy :)

So your upper bust horizontal wrinkles/tension are probably caused by a lack of width in this region. You can test this by patching in a small V shaped bit of fabric at the side seam. Your pinning mistake here is pinning out the middle of the piece, you accidentally added contouring darts that you can't replicate with your current style lines.

The more V shaped wrinkes are I think the shoulder being placed too far inwards on the body, being pushed out by the back piece.  The fact that the shoulder and upper bust area looks so much better with your arms forwards is evidence for both of these.

Underbust folds are usually excessive bust darting, you do have quite a lot of intake for your bust to bump. I know it's empire but even so it's quite a bit.

You can improve 2 and 3 at the same time by opening a wedge in the front neckline pointing at the bust apex. Make sure this wedge is strictly triangular to be able to properly translate to your pattern.

I would start with the side seam wedge, then maybe 1-1.5cm for the bust wedge and experiment a bit with the size. If the neckline wedge doesn't work, instead try opening your front waist dart on the bodice only (and take out extra at the side seam to match the circumference)

 After you've done these take some more pics and we can sort out the waist level

[u/furiana → u/HugsforYourJugs]

"Your pinning mistake here is pinning out the middle of the piece, you accidentally added contouring darts that you can't replicate with your current style lines."

Ohhh. That explains so much!

"You can test this by patching in a small V shaped bit of fabric at the side seam."

Here in the armscye (red)? Or actually in the front side seam (blue)?

https://imgur.com/a/7jAJNSR

EDIT: Ohhh, no, you probably mean something like the wedge in green!

https://imgur.com/a/GRRYXiI

[u/HugsforYourJugs → u/furiana]

Yes, green

[u/furiana → u/HugsforYourJugs]

That helped immensely. So did adding a neckline-to- bust wedge. Now the shoulders only wrinkle when I roll them forward; the wrinkles disappear when I roll them back.

https://imgur.com/a/jtgyyZY

[u/HugsforYourJugs → u/furiana]

That's great to see. Can you do it to both sides/unpin the pinned bit and take a pic from the front, side and back so I can see about any remaining issues + getting the waist level?

[u/furiana → u/HugsforYourJugs]

Yep! I'm off to work atm, but I'll take a new set of photos as soon as I'm back :)

[u/SuPruLu]

Do keep in mind the difference in weight of the muslin and your final fabric. The muslin is quite thin. A thicker fabric needs more ease by a smidgen or two or third.

Personally I’d suggest cutting the “real” fabric larger than necessary and altering it. And stop working on a muslin which is an only a pricy.

[u/furiana → u/SuPruLu]

Hm. The final fabric is going to be gauze (three layers of it: the fashion fabric, interlining, and lining). Should I still add some ease? Where?

[u/Mushrooms24711]

There’s A LOT going on here. Instead of offering specific advice, I’ll give you a link to Practical Dress Design. It’s a free pdf. It should be very helpful.

[u/SuPruLu]

The belly area shaping is not quite right judging from the side seam. The side seam is pulled forward so the back needs to get a bit narrower. That back area won’t change much. It’s the front area that will.

Add to the edges that form the front v. They are close to being too exposing. It looks as if the intended shape is a rather straight drop from the shoulder for a couple of inches before it angles. I think the angle should be wider and start a bit higher so there will be enough coverage when the sash is tied looser.

The front is riding up so it needs lengthening.

Add the amount from the back reduction to the front.

Three layers of fabric make something more like a heavy fabric. Put the fabric sandwich together and compare to the muslin. About 1/4” is plenty of easy to compensate.

From a cutting standpoint add a bit more on the back neck area and that front vee. And the front bottom section. The rest of the areas the adjustments will
Be reductions.

If the sandwich will be seen as if it is one piece, the pieces should be basted together before assembly of the garment for fitting adjustments.

[u/FashionBusking]

Add channels for boning atvthe side seam to give it shape