Myrtlewood muslin

Well, I got the muslin for the Myrtlewood dress put together.   It took me quite a while, mostly because the kimono sleeves have underarm gussets, which I've never done before, so I took my time trying to learn how to insert them.  I'm definitely going to need more practice before I do the real dress!

I'm just doing the bodice, since the skirt is a simple straight skirt, and I'll just tissue fit that.  I am pleasantly surprised at how good the fit is out of the envelope.

According to the envelope measurements, I am an 8, but that is based on my upper bust.  Since the design has a bit of extra ease at the bustline, I don't think I'll need an FBA, but there are a few drag lines around the bust I'm not sure about.

Sorry about the blurry-ness, but you can see the lines that point to my bust point, right along the line where I might add a dart if I were to do an FBA.  What do y'all think?  Side darts and kimono sleeves don't seem like a good combo to me, but I'm not sure of another way to fix those lines.

I did let out the back darts just a smidge, based on my tissue fit on my dress form, who is slightly bigger than me.

I think it looks pretty good in the pictures, so I think I'll keep it this way, but I'll be trying it on a lot as I go.

I did manage to get all of the other things I need to make the dress at the MLK sale at Hancock.  I decided on a dark brown dull satin for the hip sash and coordinating dark brown lining and buttons.  I also got the shoulder pads, which I needed for the tissue fitting. They make me feel like a linebacker.

Here is how it looks without them.  Yeah, I'm thinking I'll get used to them.

Conveniently enough, the copy of Connie Long's Easy Guide to Sewing Linings that I ordered last week arrived yesterday.  I'm planning on using her "quick lining" method to line this dress.  My wool fashion fabric is beautiful, but it sure is itchy!

ETA (1/19 @8:10AM) So after staring at these pictures this morning, it occurred to me that maybe those drag lines weren't pointing to the bust, but actually were pointing to the shoulder!  I noticed that although I don't like the shape of the bodice without the shoulder pads, the fit is actually better.  So, I let out the shoulder seam a bit.

Look!  I think I fixed it!  Thoughts?