Definition
A toile, called a muslin in the United States, is a test version of a garment sewn in inexpensive fabric to check the fit before cutting the real fabric.
Toile is French for cloth, and in sewing it means a practice garment. You cut it from inexpensive fabric, sew the main seams with a long stitch, try it on, and pin or mark the changes. The adjustments are then transferred to the paper pattern before you touch your good fabric.
What makes a useful toile:
- Similar fabric. Choose a test fabric with roughly the same weight, drape and stretch as the final one. Plain cotton muslin fabric suits woven garments; a knit pattern needs a knit test with similar stretch.
- Marked guidelines. Draw center front, waistline, bust line and grainlines on the fabric so you can see where the garment pulls or tilts.
- Only what matters. Skip facings, finishes and hems, but include the closure (pin a zip opening shut) and at least one sleeve.
A toile pays off for fitted garments, expensive or difficult fabrics and any pattern you plan to sew several times. For loose garments, elastic waists and bags, it is usually unnecessary.
Patterns drafted from your own measurements need fewer corrections, but a toile is still the best way to judge a fitted garment on your body. In Sewly, if the toile shows that a measurement was off, correct it and the pattern redraws. Step by step: making a toile.