Muslin complete!

Here is the new muslin:

And here it is with the actual fabric:

Muslin-wise, I think we’ve taken a step backwards in design.  I would like to move the end of the collar about two inches up and maybe an inch and a half over; as it stands, it “hits” a little to the left and maybe an inch below the bust point, which I think is too close to the bust point and also too far over.  Currently the yellow panel completely dominates – I would like a little more of the dark panel to show.

Kind of like this:

(If you’re wondering what is not-quite-right about the second photo, I accidentally flipped the light panel to the “wrong” side while draping it, so the leaves are dark and the fabric is lighter.  But you can still see the colorplay.)

And the mandatory collar color mockups:

In this round, the blue-purple is the clear winner: there isn’t enough contrast between the burgundy and the darker panel, and also (as some people have pointed out) the blue-purple balances the darker colors on the opposite side.  (Remember that these are just color simulations: the actual fabric will be different.)

Based on this, the next step will be weaving up two samples of actual fabric for the collar.  One will be indigo blue/purple (the color about 3/4 of the way down on the dark panel in the photo), one will be the plum (visible in the dark panel at around the midpoint).  I’m guessing the blue-purple will work better, but would like to try both options.