Burda 08-2014-116, Open-Back High-Low Dress

I have been enjoying the cutout trend and so when I saw Burda 08-2014-116 I instantly fell in love and had to make it.

I just happened to have a trip to New York planned, so finding the perfect fabric for it was on my list.  This lightweight rayon was exactly what I was looking for--I love all the colors in the print, I like that it's a dot and not a floral (I love floral, but have a LOT of it), and it has the perfect floaty factor.


For the back bodice, I did a Broad Back Adjustment and also took a HUGE tuck out of the back neckline, which was really, really wide.

The bust dart on the front bodice is actually pretty small as drafted so I did not do any alteration for SBA.  I think if you are larger than an A cup, you'll want to do a FBA even if you don't normally need to.  The front neckline is a wee bit wide; I wish I had taken a little bit of width out of it at the pattern alteration stage.

The pattern is drafted as a boatneck, which is difficult for me to wear given that I am short.  I lowered the front neckline 2 1/2 inches (!) from where it was drafted, and it is still reasonably high.  So keep that in mind if you are at all chokey from high necks as I am.





For once, I didn't need to do a swayback adjustment to the pattern because the cutout is basically at the swayback.

The skirt was too long as drafted, so I folded out 1 1/2 inches on each piece before cutting.

The pattern as drafted is lined in the bodice, but not in the skirt.  This fabric was too sheer not to line the skirt.  I'm *not* into the trend of having a short lining under a long sheer skirt (the 20somethings in DC are ALL OVER this look--like 50% of them on a Saturday night will be wearing this), so I thought a contrast lining was the way to go.  I immediately thought of the gorgeous green silk/cotton I got during Martha Pullen's epic silk/cotton sale, but didn't want to waste the vast expanse of it needed to fully line the skirt.  After agonizing over it way too much, I finally realized that duh, I could use cheap ordinary lining for most of the skirt and then add the silk/cotton at the bottom where it would show.



I lined up the center front and back skirt patterns and marked where the center front hit the center back.  I later realized that the back skirt dips down below the front skirt at the waist, but luckily I gave myself a good 2 1/2 inch cushion and only the decorative lining shows.  I then drew in the line for the decorative lining, making it about 2 1/2" wide in the front.









It all worked according to plan.  I got my pretty contrast lining without "wasting" an acreage of lovely fabric.




Because there is no front or back center seam I couldn't do my usual all-machine clean finish.  I would normally use this method in that instance, but I was intrigued in reading Burda's instructions for finishing; yes, the Wooden Spoon Method.




I have seen the Wooden Spoon illustration many times.  I imagine that every month someone walks into Dagmar Bily's office and is like, "Disaster!  There is too much white space on the instruction sheet!"  and she pulls her best Miranda Priestly and is like, "Have you used the Wooden Spoon yet?  Seriously, do I have to think of everything myself?"  and they're like, "Of course!  The Wooden Spoon!  The Wooden Spoon will save us!"  Seriously, I think it's in every issue.  But the illustration has always made zero sense to me.  Until now.

The Wooden Spoon Method:

As with my normal clean finish technique, I started by trimming 1/8" inch off the neckline and armscye edges of the lining.



Sew the bodice pieces together with their respective linings along the neckline and armscyes to within about an inch of the shoulder.  Finish/trim the seam allowances (I do it in one with the serger).  Finish the unsewn shoulder edges by serging, zigzagging, or your choice.

Turn the front bodice right side out.  (I actually turned both bodices right side out and did the required pressing, since I figured it would be easier to do with the pieces separate than together.  Then I turned the back bodice inside out again.)




Slide the front bodice inside the back bodice/lining, with the fashion fabric right sides together and the lining right sides together.  Match up the shoulders of the fashion and lining fabrics, and then pin.  You now have four shoulder seams to sew: fashion fabric right, lining right, fashion fabric left, and lining left.

Sew the shoulder seams.



Now for the famous Wooden Spoon:  Pull the front, which is inside the back, further through the back more toward the outside so the shoulder seams are no longer at the edge.  Slide the wooden spoon into the holes where you did not sew all the way up to the shoulder at the armscye and neckline.



Position the shoulder seam over the wooden spoon, and use it as a "ham" to press open the seam.  Frankly, I was pretty disappointed in the wooden spoon, which did not really make it easy to press open the seam.  I should have grabbed my wooden spoon that has a flat handle, but now that I live in a two story house such frivolous trips back and forth to the kitchen are more carefully considered.



Once your shoulder seams are pressed, keep the front pulled through, match up shoulder seams of the fashion fabric and lining (which are right sides together), and pin the little hole you left through which the wooden spoon was threaded.  Again, you have four shoulder edges to do. Sew. 

Pull the front out the bottom to turn right side out.

I have to say, I am impressed with this method.  My alternate method requires a few inches of hand sewing, but this method is all machine.  Well done, Burda and your Wooden Spoon.



I sewed the side seams of the fashion fabric and lining of the skirt separately so they would hang free, and then basted them together at the waistline to be treated as one.  I interfaced both pieces where the buttonholes for the drawstring would go, and then did the buttonholes through both layers as one.








The dress is pretty straightforward to put together.  Once the bodice is completely lined, the bodice and lining are treated as one at the waist.  I basted the two layers together to avoid shifting.  Sew the bodice to the skirt up to where the back skirt dips into its hole.







Use the seam allowance to make a casing and thread elastic in.  Burda has a misprint in the instructions, which tell you to "sew the ends together."  Unless you have a 17" waist and are looking for a figure 8 in the back, you want to sew the ends into each end of the casing.  The join of the skirt/bodice/casing is a little ugly, but it gets covered up by your finishing--I used bias tape as described below.



Burda has you make a facing for the back cutout.  I really don't know why you'd use a big unwieldy fabric-hoggy facing instead of bias tape.  I used self bias tape, stitching it right sides together all the way around the hole then turning it to the inside to form a casing.  Make your ties and join them with elastic in the middle, then thread through the casing.






Love this dress!  It was also pretty simple--it might be a fun 3rd or 4th project for a dedicated beginner.  I may someday straighten out the hem, but the high-low thing is still going on and my other iteration, last year's birthday dress, was totally disappointing due to the poorly drafted pattern.



The cutout is just perfect, and I like the cut of the bodice with the wider shoulders.  I'm considering drafting the cutout right out of it for a simple summer dress pattern--I feel like I'm seeing a lot of the simple dress with elastic waist (like this and this) this year and this one has well-balanced building blocks.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.  I'm still working on a photo location.  Standing at the top of the stairs has more even lighting from the skylight--directly overhead instead of over one shoulder--than standing along the side wall, but then you get the gaping maw of the downstairs look, which is a little weird.  Also, I'm afraid of accidentally getting too close to the stairs and falling backward down them.

Burda 7519, Copper Cowl Carapace Dress

I didn't mean to be gone for so long!  Sadly, no sewing here since early May--which is really a record.  First there was packing at the old place, then there was moving, and then I was in a dilemma with my sewing room:  I can't set it up because the roof hatch is in there, and we need some work done in the crawlspace on our roof beam and to insulate the crawlspace.  So I don't want to unpack my sewing room until that's done because everything will get all dusty (and I don't know how much floorspace they need as a staging area).  I did finally get more shelves and moved all the boxes around for the millionth time--I can at least walk in there now!

I have a couple old projects I haven't blogged but there's a reason for that--you're definitely getting the B-Roll here, folks.

Here's a dress from Burda 7519.  I made this before (the top in the thumbnail) and I think I'm done.  It's more interesting than flattering, especially for the amount of fabric it takes.



When I made this the first time, I fully lined the top and used the back lining to finish the neckline.  This substantial fabric didn't need lining, so I made some self bias tape to finish the back neckline before sewing the shoulder seams.










I found this gorgeous copper silk on G Street's $7.97/yd (now $8.97) silk table.  I bought the whole piece and managed to get this dress and a t-shirt out of it, with no scraps to spare.  I had to use a pocket facing because I didn't have enough of the fabric for the entire back pocket pieces, but didn't want the pocket lining fabric to show.






The sleeve hem is very long and very round, which is a pretty deadly combination for getting a nice flat hem.  I experimented with the differential feed on my serger until I got a nice 3 thread gather to take up some of the volume at the hem.












Then I pressed under the serged edge, and folded it over again on itself before stitching.  I got a nice flat narrow hem in a tricky fabric on a tricky shape using this method and was quite pleased with myself.











I got pretty good drape on the sleeves, but still not the three nice waterfalls you're supposed to get according to the line drawing.  Maybe I'll try this sleeve again on a plainer, more fitted body.  It certainly adds interest.









I was fairly disappointed in the dress when I finally put it on.  It was my first project for Fall and it does look like a Fall dress--but more in a Pilgrim-y sort of way than a chic sort of way.  Belting it helps, as does the shorter length, but it's much more dowdy than I expected.  The volume just doesn't work on me.  Which I already knew from the first time I made it.  I don't know why I made it again.


I do like that it has pockets, though!  And the accidental shirttail hem is a detail I also like.  I guess with that much volume, when you add a belt it distorts the hemline.  Another reason to avoid this style.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 06-2013-102, Pleated Bodice Downton Abbey/Gatsby Dress

A couple months ago BadMomGoodMom stumbled across her local jobber selling silks at $2.99/yd.  She very kindly facilitated my purchase of some of them, including this print.  It's so wacky-cool, with not one, not two, but THREE different animal prints (blue cheetah spots, green zebra stripes, and the pinkish/brown wings) and such excellent quality (thick, fluid, doesn't crease too badly) that I think it has to be designer.  It immediately made me think it was going to have to be a 20s inspired look.  Although the cheetah/zebra isn't very period-correct, the wings seem just about right.

I had been thinking possibly Burda 03-2013-113, but when I got June's issue I had to make Burda 06-2013-102 right away.  It's even a petite (though I've mentioned before that I don't think Burda actually has/uses a petite sloper), meaning I didn't have to grade to a 34 in the bodice.  I cut my usual 34 at the bust, 36 at the waist, and 38 at the hips (or 17/18/19 in petite).  This fits as a true 36 at the waist, with around an inch of ease at most; I wish I'd cut it as a 38 for more ease because it's a summer dress and in the DC heat I'm going to sweat wherever fabric touches me.  I just can't seem to get the waist size right in Burda; occasionally, I will decide to start cutting a 38 at the waist because 36 is too close fitting, but then everything comes out huge.   

The only way in which the dress actually seems petite is the very high waistline.  I have a high waist and Burda's waist placement is usually spot on for me.  This is actually about 1/2 too high, which contributes to the just-exactly-right size at the waistline.  I'd recommend measuring and possibly lengthening the bodice if you are not extremely high waisted.

This was a fairly simple project, which I needed after about a month of not really being able to sew.  I had to take my time and be a little bit slower than usual because I'm a little out of practice.  I didn't have any major mishaps or "I coulda had a V8!" moments, so my plodding caution paid off.



The dress is drafted with a facing, but I prefer to fully line silk because it makes me sweaty.  I lined the bodice with cotton batiste, and the skirt with a flowy rayon.  For the front skirt, I overlapped the left and right skirt pieces, making the skirt as wide as possible, and cut it in one piece rather than seaming. I considered trying to draft a regular darted lining instead of using the asymmetrically pleated front piece, but decided it would be a lot of trouble for not much reward.  The batiste is lightweight enough that it doesn't add any distracting bulk. 

I knew the drafted shoulders were going to be too narrow for my taste, and that the neckline would be too wide (further evidence that there is not a real petite sloper).  I pulled out my altered bodice pattern for the Burda 08-2009-128 boatneck dress since they have the same neckline.  Based on that pattern, I widened the shoulders in toward the neck by 1 1/2".  I still get plenty of boat neck effect, but without any bra strap show-through or danger of shoulders falling off.

I thought I would need to lower the front neckline quite a bit for chokiness and flattery--I have a proportionate but short neck and really high necklines aren't the best for that.  However, I only needed to lower the neckline by 1/2" to get it to a nice spot.



To up the vintage vibe, I used the drapey sleeves from the Burda 03-2008-116 Duchess of Windsor dress (previously made in knit).  Rather than sew the shoulder seam of the sleeve (the sleeves are cut in two pieces), I finished the edge with a serger rolled hem for a split sleeve.  To stitch it in place, I put the edges flush together when putting in the ease stitching.  It worked like a charm!

I had trouble keeping the sleeve seam allowance pressed toward the bodice, so I hand stitched the seam allowance to the lining.


For further vintage-ness, I shamelessly ripped off Kristy at Lower Your Presser Foot and put in a keyhole neckline above the center back zip (I should mention that as drafted the dress has no CB seam and a side zip).  I just sort of sketched the opening onto the interfacing using a Frixion pen, mirrored it on the other side, and followed the line when stitching the lining to the dress.

I used a rouleau loop for the button, tacking it into place on the fashion fabric before adding the lining.



To get a neat finish at the zipper, I marked the position of the upper zipper stop on my lining and stitched my keyhole, keeping the upper edge of the zipper to the right of the presser foot when I got there.  Just above the zipper stop, I put down the needle, pivoted, and stitched two stitches over to put the zipper teeth to the left of the presser foot.  Then I stitched down the zipper tape as usual to enclose the zip in the lining.







I used one of the buttons I inherited from my grandmother's sewing room as the closure.  I don't know if the photo is clear enough to tell, but the brown dots are actually tiny flowers.  I know these are meant to be buttons for children's clothes, but I look for every opportunity to use these special buttons.  I sew so little brown that I didn't think I'd ever use these.









One thing I often forget to do, but thank goodness remembered this time, was to add some interfacing to the lining at the neckline and down through the keyhole opening.

On the fashion fabric, I interfaced the zipper area.  I also interfaced the waistline of the bodice, as it would be supporting a fair amount of weight from the skirt. So as not to interfere with the drape of the waist pleats, I broke the interfacing line there.



I shortened the hem nearly two inches before cutting.  I probably should have only taken off one inch, as I think this could have worked at a slightly longer length.  However, I like the length it turned out so that's fine.  I did a fairly terrible job on the hem, doing a toddler (or even teenager)-sized baby hem where you stitch the raw edge under and the turn it under again.  For the lining, I serged the lower edge, then used the serging as a marker for turning under twice.  The lining hem is much nicer than the dress hem.  *rollseyes*





My "special feature" on this dress is a loop hidden in the skirt pleat to hold my work badge.  I didn't want to put pockets into the side seams due to (1) laziness, and (2) I didn't want to add weight to the side seams that would interrupt the flow of the dress in motion.  Mostly (1) though.





For dresses without pockets, I put a safety pin into the waist seam of dresses to hang my badge on.  For silk, I didn't want to be poking a safety pin into it all the time.  I've been intending to add a small hanging loop to dresses for a while, and with the inverted pleats in this one it was the perfect opportunity.

The skirt has essentially a really big inverted pleat that you layer into two inverted pleats.  I put the hanging loop inside the innermost inverted pleat.

When I finally had some time to sew a couple weekends ago, I couldn't concentrate on one thing for longer than a few minutes.  I wanted to do all the projects at once and was paralyzed (I ended up making a bias half slip, a hat, and some pot holders).  For this weekend, I realized that PR was having its Natural Fibers Contest, which gave me the impetus to focus on one project.  I am happy my brain calmed down enough to concentrate on one thing for more than 12 seconds!



I like this dress.  I'm not 100% sold on my print placement.  I didn't want to have a wing motif anything like centered on the bodice front, as it would look like a strange superhero costume.  But I didn't think about it being right at the neckline; it looks a little like a bib.  Hopefully I will unsee that at some point.



At any rate, it's fun to dress up.  You can embrace the vintage and go all out, but it can be styled more modern as well.   It's one of those pieces I'll keep in the closet long after the current Gatsby trend ends in case a vaguely 20s look is ever needed.

I think this pattern would work equally well in a more casual cotton, and of course  you could easily put a different skirt on the bodice to change up the look.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 7519, Woven Cowl Pullover Top with Carapace Sleeves

I feel that sleeve variations are one of the more underused ways to make a garment special.  I get really sick of making plain, boring sleeves on everything.  When I found this top a couple years ago, I was really intrigued by the sleeves.  They probably have a boring name like "draped sleeves," but to me they look like beetle wings that appear solid until the insect goes to fly when it appears that its whole body splits open.  These sleeves appear solid on the upper side, but when you lift your arms you see they are split to the armscye.  So I call them carapace sleeves.


Anyway, I had no idea how they might be done, so when I saw Burda 7519 with that style of sleeve I was thrilled and picked it up.  I plan to make a copper-colored silk dress with this pattern, but I wanted to test it out before sewing the dress.  The silk fabric for this top was purchased from Fabric Mart many years ago, at least 4 years ago and possibly even 5.  The $9.99/yd sticker was still on it; I'm sure it was the most expensive fabric I'd ever bought at the time!



Although I loved it, something kept me from finding the right project for this fabric.  Finally I realized the problem was that I loved the main motif, and I loved the border, but the fabric is sort of a "double" border print with the narrow geometric border, then a wide band of beige silk with flowers, and then another narrow geometric border.  I just didn't like the flowers at all or their expanse of beige, but somehow I felt that I should reconcile myself to them. After so many years, I acknowledged that I would never like the flowers and it would not be sacrilege to wantonly waste that part of the fabric.  Yes, I do have issues.

Anyway, I think this is one of those rare projects where the fabric for the wearable muslin is more expensive than the fabric meant for the final version!




I was testing out several things with this iteration:  fit, of course, though I didn't expect it to be an issue as it's an unfitted style; the sleeves; the depth of the cowl; and most crucially, whether the front really has to be cut on the bias.  This directional border print really couldn't be cut on the bias, but since it's a flowing silk and the bias isn't needed for fit, as it might be in a narrower-cut garment, I decided to just go ahead and cut on straight grain (the cotton batiste front lining was cut on the bias).



I took a lot of care with pattern matching for this project, and the matches are pretty much spot on (I'm not going to pretend it's perfect, of course!).  I pinned at each black line and used the walking foot to ensure even feed of the top and bottom fabric.





The other thing I changed for this version was to line it.

To cut the front lining, I folded down the self-facing on the pattern and traced where it ended.  In cutting the fashion fabric, I added a 1/4 inch seam allowance at the top of the self-facing, and in cutting the lining I added a 1/4 seam allowance above the marked line.  I stitched the two pieces together using the serger and pressed well.  This creates a neat finish on the inside, and by keeping the front self-facing intact there is no chance of the lining showing at the cowl.  When I make the intended dress, which doesn't need to be lined, I will extend the front self facing the entire width of the shoulder and down into the armscye a bit.

I wasn't overly impressed with the construction order and method for this project, so I used my own preferred method for cowl necks.



First, I finished the back neckline by sewing the fashion fabric and back lining right sides together at the neckline, using the serger to trim off the seam allowance, and flipping and pressing.  (Well, before that I sewed the CB seam, which I had added to allow for swayback shaping.








Next, sandwich the back shoulder with the front and its self-facing/lining.  The fold line goes at the neckline/inner edge of the back shoulder.  Stitch, finish the seam allowances, and turn.  The seam allowances will automatically turn toward the front.  Press.

Next I sewed the side seams, starting on the fashion fabric and continuing onto the lining.



I treated the fashion fabric and lining as one at the armscye.  This method does create a visible seam inside the garment; it is not neatly finished as a fully-lined garment would be.  This can be remedied by setting the sleeve only into the fashion fabric, folding down and pressing the lining seam allowance, and then hand stitching the lining to the armscye's seam allowance.  I don't go to the trouble unless it's a special garment.






The one review of this pattern that discusses the sleeves mentioned that they are really restrictive.  Cutting out the voluminous sleeve pattern, I didn't see how this was possible.  The instructions weren't clear on how to install the sleeve.  The sleevecap is longer than the armscye so at first I overlapped the finished lower edges of the sleeves.  Whoa.  I couldn't even pull the sleeve over my arm enough to get the shoulder to my shoulder.  How that much fabric can be too tight, I don't understand, but I stopped doubting the reviewer.

I ripped out the sleeves.  This time I eased the sleeve cap and abutted the finished edges of the sleeve so they met exactly at the side seam.  Huge improvement.  The sleeves are no longer tight and uncomfortable.  However, I am a little disappointed in them.  The distinct tiers of drapes pictured on the envelope don't really show up in my project, though the print could be obscuring their appearance a little.  For the intended dress, I might try to figure out how to use the sleeves from Burda 12-2010-102, which are a similar style but a regular "tube" sleeve.  It might be tricky because the armscye is cut semi-raglan on that pattern.



After carefully pressing the hem exactly at the border motif, I machine blind hemmed the fashion fabric.  The blind hem stitches disappear pretty well into the border print.  The lining, which hangs free below the armscye, was hemmed with a regular straight stitch.









 This can *almost* be worn as a true tunic, but the side view is pretty atrocious so I will likely wear it belted at all times.  We can wear jeans to work on Fridays.  I always feel like I should wear a nicer top to go with them and this really fits the bill.

This is one of those things that I think doesn't look as good in the photos as in real life.  It looks more bulky than it really is--the silk is very lightweight and the batiste lining is also light. 

I am happy both with the pattern and that I have finally sewn up this special fabric!  I normally hem tops at the high hip for the most flattering spot on me, but I wanted a couple longer tops to wear with my jeggings.  I cut in between the shirt and tunic length on the pattern.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 7442, Knit Dress with Pannier Pockets

Miguelina Marina (once sold on Gilt, can't find a better reference)

Source: gilt.com via Trena on Pinterest

The pannier style is a little weird and fashiony, but for some reason I love it (last seen in my Drape Drape dress of a couple years ago).  Counterintuitively, I find it flattering on a pear shape with large hips and thighs--those curves are meant to be part of the silhouette.

I love that Joann now has occasional sales on Burda envelope patterns and at the last one I picked up Burda 7442, which also comes with a jumpsuit in the envelope.  I don't think I'm going there but it's an option. 
Size 34-42






The bodice is meant to be fully lined, but that seemed unnecessary, so I cut it single layer.  As usual for a wrap style, I shortened the front crossover for an SBA, though I needed to shorten it even more.  As an ad hoc additional SBA, I overlapped the bodice sections about an inch more than they were drafted for--the notches in the photo mark centers front and are supposed to be lined up.


The panniers/pockets are drafted as giant projections on the side of the skirt.  To sew the skirt and bodice together, you clip into the skirt's waist seam allowance where the pocket begins.  You are supposed to just leave those ends flapping, but I found it difficult to make sure they were properly caught into the waist seam so I used a narrow zigzag to join them.





The seam allowances are meant to be exposed at the waist seam.  That look can work in a cotton or rayon jersey, but in a polyester print with a definite wrong side that would just be droopy and sad.  The bodice and skirt have different seam allowances at the waist, so I marked both seam allowances and joined them along that line, offsetting the upper edges.

Once it was sewn, I turned down the seam allowances and stitched them to make a casing for the waist elastic.

I found this green picot elastic at PR Weekend Montreal and was just tickled, as it is one of my colors.  It doesn't like to be sewn and I had to hand baste the whole thing in, ugh, but I think it's a nice touch at the bodice, especially at that crossover.

You can also see the stitched in elastic casing on this shot.


Because of fabric limitations, I had to shorten the pocket/pannier extension several inches.  I suspect you'd have this problem even if the pockets are full size, but mine did not want to stay put.


I put on the dress, tucked in the pockets to what seemed the optimal place, and pinned.  I took a few hand tacks at the pin to keep the pocket in place.










This is a fun pattern.  I realized after I started laying it out that my fabric was a border print.  I didn't have enough of it to be very strategic about my layout (centering the turquoise motifs in the middle of the skirt, rather than the side), but I think the somewhat jester-y final result fits the style of the dress.  I was able to cut the back to center that large medallion motif.


I'm not sure I'll make another of these--a little goes a long way with this style--but the bodice is incredibly flattering on me--almost makes me look boobalicious. I will be reusing it with a different skirt.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.