Tag Archive for 'burda'

13 DRESSES : DRESS 7 & 8

Published on July 28, 2008 in stitchery and textiles. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Dress #7, originally uploaded by the workroom.

Dress 7 – Burda E971 Tunic
Fabric - Grey Asha by Kaffe Fasset

This tunic dress is a free download from the Burda Fashion website. If you’ve never downloaded a pattern off the internet, it usually means that the pattern has been tiled over many pages. Be prepared to print off 30+ sheets of paper and then have to tape them all together. I found this to be one of the few perks of working in an office, the endless supply of paper and high quality printers to facilitate such projects

I was very excited about this dress. I taped the pattern together, cut it out, then cut out my fabric and started to read the instructions. OOPS! I quickly found out that the pattern did NOT include the seam allowance. I talk about this all the time in my classes, always check your seam allowance on a pattern. I had heard that some patterns don’t include it, but to be honest, I had never encountered it. It’s not just an urban sewing myth, they do exist!

The tunic dress is quite loose, so the biggest effect that not having the seam allowance made on this project was that it was impossible for me to put the sleeves in. There was just nothing at the shoulders for me to sew the sleeves onto. Thus, the dress turned into a sleeveless dress with bias trim around the armholes. The dress is still cute, but not exactly what I had planned.

Dress #8

Dress 8 – Burda E971 Tunic (round 2)
Fabric – Fresh Poppies by Amy Butler

I hope you don’t think that this is cheating, but I had to get this pattern right. I went back and added seam allowance on all the pattern pieces and started again. The second time around was pretty easy. I really loved the cute puff sleeves of the tunic. There’s a piece of elastic sewn into the sleeve cuff that makes those tiny gathers. It’s my favourite detail, I’m a sucker for gathering. I don’t often repeat the same pattern, but I’m happy that I did for this one, just for the sleeves.

There are some important lessons to be learned here. a) Always read through the instructions of your project before cutting out your fabric and embarking on a potentially heart breaking journey, b) a 1/2″ seam allowance doesn’t seem like a lot, but it has great impact on a garment and c) if something goes wrong, don’t fight it, just go with it and make the best of it. Mistakes are fantastic lessons and lead to unexpected discoveries. (or sleeveless dresses)

There’s only five more weeks until Labour Day and five more dresses to go….

Dress #8

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13 DRESSES : DRESS 6

Published on July 13, 2008 in stitchery and textiles. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
 

Dress 6, originally uploaded by the workroom.

Dress 5 – Burda 7798
Fabric – Navy Graphic Rhythms by Gerald E. Roy

Burda patterns often require you to look past the questionable photos and styling to see the real shape of the garment. If you take a look at the pattern envelope of this one, you’ll see what I mean.

This pattern has cute dart details around the neckline, an empire waist and a nice full skirt that is cut on the bias. I really liked the long, gathered sleeves with ties. I decided to create my own half sleeve that kept that detail. The dress itself was very simple to construct. The one hitch I ran into was finishing the slits on the sleeve. I spent over an hour re-reading the instructions, looking at the drawings and trying to figure out how the heck to make it work. In the end, I made up my own solution, which does the trick.

The fabric I used is from a collection by Gerald E. Roy called Graphic Rhythms. Gerald interpreted the rhythms from music of different tempos into visual linear units and created repeating patterns. The navy fabric also matches my Hunter wellies, so this dress has become my rainy day dress. It all feels very British. Now, I need to get my hands on a navy brolly to go with.

I wanted to let you know that I finally watched ’27 dresses’. You had to see that one coming, eventually. I was entertained, if only for the kinship to a girl with a closet full of dresses.

Dress 6

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13 DRESSES : DRESS 4

Published on July 8, 2008 in stitchery and textiles. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .


Dress 4, originally uploaded by the workroom.

Dress 4 – Burda Easy 7969
Fabric – Anna Griffin Floral Catalogue from the Blythe Collection

If you’re looking for a simple and quick dress pattern, this is a good one to try. There are no sleeves, no zippers and no darts in this dress. But even still, it fits very nicely. The encased tie around the waist cinches the fabric into pretty little gathers across the back side. The tunic has a very Grecian look, in my opinion.

I made three adjustments to the original pattern. When cutting out the fabric, it seemed like the skirt was going to be way too long, so I shortened the skirt pieces. Once I finished the dress, I realized I had shortened it a bit too much. I would have preferred to have a couple more inches in length. Next time I do this pattern, I’ll cut it out exactly as they have it printed.

After I put the dress together, the skirt was a bit too a-line for my liking. I felt that the silhouette would be better slightly straighter, so I ended up bringing the skirt in a few inches around the bottom.

The pattern also called for store-bought bias tape for the neck line and the arm holes. I made my own bias tape using the Anna Griffin fabric. Bias tape is the easiest (and dare i say, funnest?) thing to make. The key is using the right tools, the most important being a bias tape maker. I promise a little tutorial very soon on bias tape. I want you to love it as much as I do.

The Blythe line from Anna Griffin is filled with fun prints like maps, calligraphy, engraved drawings and botanical studies. I especially like this fabric because it feels like I’m wearing a vintage flower catalog.

What are your thoughts on the ‘proper’ thing to wear under a dress with no lining? Do you wear/own slips? Do you have another solution? Do you care? For me, it usually depends on the show-through factor of the fabric, especially on light-coloured ones. I’m thinking that I’d like to make a few simple cotton slips to go with my growing dress collection. Hmm… foundation garments may be the next personal sewing challenge.

Dress 4

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