Making a Full Torso Moulage: Part 2 – Printing, Stitching, and Refining
Today’s post is part two of our series on creating a full torso moulage. If you haven’t seen Part 1 yet, I highly suggest you [check that out first]—it covers how I wrapped my body in foil and tape to create the initial shape and digitized it in Illustrator. Today, we’re taking those digital files and turning them into a physical reality.
For my
Visual Learners
I am so incredibly excited to show you how I made my very first sweater! If you love seeing things in action as much as I do, you can watch the whole video and my full explanation right here. Just hit play and let’s get started!
Tools & Materials
Why a Moulage is Your “Secret Weapon”
Think of a moulage as the ultimate blueprint. It is a skin-tight representation of your unique body. From this, you’ll eventually create your sloper (where you add ease), which allows you to design any silhouette you can imagine.
While you’ll still need to make a mockup for every new design, starting with a perfectly fitted moulage means you’ll only have minimal adjustments later. It’s all about getting it right from the start!
Step 1: Printing the Pattern
For this project, I’m using my Phomemo printer. Just a heads-up: this isn’t sponsored! I bought it because I was tired of regular printers running out of ink.
A few tips if you use a thermal printer:
- You’ll need to unroll the paper and tape the strips together.
- Do not iron the paper! It’s thermal, so heat will turn the whole thing black.
- It’s a great, cost-effective option for patterns, and I’ve linked it in the description if you’re curious.
Step 2: Transferring to Fabric
Accuracy is everything here. I used transfer paper to get my Illustrator lines onto my muslin. Since the bodice pieces are larger than a standard A4 sheet, I taped several sheets of transfer paper together to create a larger surface.
I placed one layer of transfer paper under the muslin and one on top. Using a tracing wheel for the internal lines and an empty pen for the outer edges, I was able to get clean, visible marks on both sides of the fabric.
Step 3: Assembly & Stitching
When it’s time to sew, notches are your best friends. I always align my notches first and pin from there.
Work in pairs: Don’t pin everything at once. I started by pinning the center front to the side front.
The Back: I stitched the darts first, then joined the front and back at the side and shoulder seams.
Press as you go: I pressed every seam flat with an iron after stitching to keep things crisp.
Clip your curves: To release tension and get a smooth fit, snip the fabric close to the stitches on every curved seam.
I stitched the top bodice and the lower torso (the skirt) separately. When I first tried them on, I noticed a major issue: the waistline. The waistline I drew was about 4.5 cm too low, causing the fabric to gape and pull. This is exactly why we do mockups! By using a hemometer, I marked 4.5 cm up from my initial line all the way around and folded the excess fabric in.
The result? A huge difference! The gaping disappeared, the back sat flat, and the “drag lines” vanished. Once I was happy with the new waist height, I attached the skirt and added a zipper to the center front for a refined fit.
Now that the physical mockup is perfect, I went back into Illustrator to update my digital files.
My Tip: To add the zipper easily, stitch the center front closed first, press the seam open, sew the zipper face-down using a zipper foot, and then use a seam ripper to open the front!
And Voila!
A perfectly fitted blueprint of my body!
I am so excited because this is officially the best mockup I’ve ever made. I’m now confident that this sloper is perfectly fitted to my body. I can use it to make blouses, dresses, trousers—you name it!
I’m also dreaming of creating a half-scale mannequin using my scrap fabric pile so I can test out whimsical shapes without wasting material. Stay tuned for a tutorial on that soon!
Happy sewing, and I’ll see you in the next post!
