Crepe Sew-Along, pattern cutting

I finally cut out the muslin for the Crepe dress this week. Yay! I was a very bad hostess and traced my patterns during a friends-over-for-movie-night event. I was in the same room as the movie and the friends, but I was just looking down a lot at the pattern pieces I was adjusting.

Besides showing that I really am working on this dress, this post is actually about the small conundrum I feel I'm facing. One of the benefits of doing a sew-along is that I get to learn new techniques from more competent folks. In this case, Gertie. With the Swing Dress, it was Casey. Both amazing seamstresses and engaging bloggers who obviously know a lot about what they're doing. 

But they do things differently. Casey traces onto paper; Gertie just uses the actual pattern. Gertie uses tracing paper and transfers markings that way; I can't remember what Casey does. Casey uses interfacing, Gertie organza to stabilize fabric. Casey does a small bust adjustment (SBA) one way, Gertie another. Casey adjusts the muslin a little before the fitting, Gertie does it all after.

Finishing seams is another beast altogether. French seams, pinked, zig-zagged (I don't have a serger)?

So, I'm faced with having to decide what option make the most sense for me. Decide on techniques that I don't even know enough about to know the appropriate times to use them! For fabrics I've never sewn, fabrics that are slippery and delicate, where matching prints matter. I have gotten a lot of information that I feel I can use from the Swing Dress Sew-Along, but I hesitate to go straight to that approach, or even to Gertie's approach. What if I choose the wrong one?


Therefore, I am making the following executive decision: I do what I want. And what I want is to not buy more supplies than I have to right now (so, sorry, Gertie, no transfer paper!). BUT, I will try to use all other alternative approaches offered in this sew-along in order to expand my knowledge base and get better and discerning the best techniques for different projects. Anyone have any advice? Though it may add to the information overload, I would love to learn from you too. You may be the piece that finishes my puzzle. :)

On a side note, I have laid out the pattern pieces and found that the fabric I've chosen will have enough to make the dress, which is exciting. As the fashion fabric is a border print, I have to cut the fabric against the grainline recommended on the skirts. Which is iffy, as I don't know what the end results will be. (Maybe I'll do the same with my muslin just to get an idea?) I also have to spread out fabric pieces in a less economical way, since the bottoms all have to be lined up with the bottom. But I have enough, so that is good enough.

I was going to do my muslin of the top in a remnant crepe, but I didn't have enough of it. I would like to see what sewing with crepe is like before cutting the fashion fabric. In case I'm setting my novice skills up for a disaster, you understand. So, is there anyone who wants anything small made out of crepe? I don't even know what I can make; a handbag was suggested. Any suggestions?