Burda 7863 Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

burnt brown jeans; 6 different ways

24/03/2017 4:24 pm \ 42 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve been planning my upcoming autumnal/winter wardrobe, doing a seasonal clean out, or in today-speak; konmari-ing the heck outta it… and decided to bid adieu to these jeans. The last few times I’ve tried to wear them I’ve just felt vaguely frumpy in them and peeled them off straight away. I’m just not feeling this style any more, feel like it’s becoming a little bit dated. Is it just me, or are skinny jeans appearing decidedly passé right now? Anyway; OUT THEY GO!!! Well… maybe just to the time-out box for a while. I have this box you see, that I chuck doubtful clothes into, and in a few months or a year or so I’ll check them out to see if it’s easier to make a decision then. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even have that box since it’s a kind of hoarder-ish thing to have and really nine times out of ten the items within get the flick! but for the one item that gets a reprieve I’ve always been glad I kept it after all. Sometimes, you and your clothing just need a bit of a break from each other. A trial separation. A conscious uncoupling, with the door open to re-coupling. Yeah. *madly justifying hoarding tendencies to oneself*

Anyway, here are six of my favourite outfits with these hardworking jeans…

I first made them about two years ago, one of my many Burda 7863’s and they have been absolutely fantastic in their day, I have to admit it. Very stretchy, therefore super comfortable, and a terrific colour that seems to go with everything I’ve got. Having said that; a heckuvva lot of the time, I wore them either with this big loose ivory shirt as in the first picture… OR like at right, with one of my Pattern Magic twist tops. Here, with the forest green one. In fact, it would be pretty accurate to say these two outfits were both very reliable fallback “uniforms” for me for quite a long time…

At left; another frequently-worn ensemble, worn with my white drape drape t shirt, and my leather jacket. At right; I do still like them rolled up to three quarter length like this. Hmmm, actually I really like this outfit too, maybe I should keep them after all…. (worn with self-drafted Tshirt, cardigan, self-made shoes)

At left; they’ve frequently done service in casual, dog-washing, beach walking, gardening, house packing-and-moving mode too… worn with my over-dyed blouse, black thongs… At right; another winter-y ensemble… worn with my Pattern Magic twist tops, my shearling jacket, hand knitted gloves and my self-made desert boots.

Okaaay! I’ve just done an excellent job of talking myself out of getting rid of them! 😀 So maybe I’ll see how they go this autumn/winter before giving them the big heave-ho…

Anyway, on a slightly related note: I’ve read a few good strategies about helping to clean out unwanted stuff from your house, the one I like the most and have adopted a few times in the past coupla years is to just walk into your closet/open a cupboard and immediately throw out five things without spending more than ten seconds thinking about each thing. If you give yourself permission to do this once in a while; and I use that phrase because I have terrible hoarding tendencies and really DO need to give myself a stern talking to, mentally giving myself permission to throw things out seems to work for me… anyway, it can be an excellent and stress-free way to de-hoard. The trick is to first say sternly to yourself “OK, I’m doing this NOW” and then to march in and NOT think too much about it. Five things, just like that. *snaps fingers* It can be surprising how quick and easily you then immediately identify those things that are just not working anymore.

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7863, jeans

one week one pattern

12/09/2014 8:02 am \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! I’ve been taking part in One Week One Pattern again. Where we wear a representative of one pattern, for every day of a week. I am completely unable to resist a clothing challenge and particularly one tied up with sewing, so I signed up immediately 🙂
Before it started I did a quick recce of my clothes and checked the weather forecast. I have several contenders for the pattern I could have used but given the winter-y type of week we were expecting I went for the warmest option! my jeans collection, made using Burda 7863. At the time of signing up I had six left; two others have been chucked out. So quick sticks I made another, the last pale coffee pair, so I could get through the week without doubling up. Not that I’m, um like, weirdly obsessive about things like that or anything 😉

So, some thoughts;
1. black stretch corduroy:
probably one of my least favourites, which is kinda ironic given that black jeans are supposed to be such a fabulous wardrobe staple. I don’t know why I’m so ambivalent about these jeans. They are useful, but I pretty much only wear them when I’m travelling or if I’m in a rare mood for black.
2. burnt orange stretch corduroy;
old, very comfy and long term favourites, but if I’m brutally honest these look pretty awful now. For at home, doing chores, only. I’ve come thisclose to making them into a skirt. This might still happen at some point.
3. burnt brown stretch bengaline;
my cool new ones and the current favourites. I’m very much in love with everything about them – the colour! love it so much!!!! – and am really excited about their possibilities with my other autumnally coloured stuff.
4. white stretch denim flares;
still sort of nice, even though they’re not really very fashionable I still like wearing them a lot. I sorta go in and out of love with them. It’s nice to have some flares to mix things up a bit too.
5. olive/grey stretch gabardine;
My oldest pair, that have even outlasted my two other Burda 7863’s. I’ve gone through short periods of hating these too, but I always hang onto them because I absolutely know I’ll come around to loving them again. Actually I would be a bit devastated if they died. The fabric is really the nicest, classiest, and probably the best quality out of all my jeans, ever.
6. cafe au lait stretch bengaline;
my newest ones, made up quick so I could have seven representatives for the challenge and not really loved yet. I’m a bit uninspired by them right now but I’m sure they’ll come into their own soon enough. Maybe when worn with my lighter ivories and whites. I do like outfits that are a mix of pale neutrals.
To be honest… I’m struggling to like them. Something terrible happened. I liked them at first, and then all of a sudden the words “beige slacks” popped into my head. And the rose-tinted glasses fell away from my eyes and an awful new reality was revealed. In my group of friends we have a bit of a joke about “beige slacks”. As in, isn’t it the most un-stylish thing you can imagine. Not necessarily the things themselves, sometimes you see pants of this colour looking just gorgeous although, granted, not always. It’s mostly just the words, “beige slacks” that kill the dream, all your hopeful ideas that you might be looking nice today. I’m trying to tell myself that my jeans are nice, that they are cafe au lait bootlegs, which sounds kinda smart but I might be kidding myself. I think they might be beige slacks. Oh, the horror.
7. pale grey non-stretch corduroy;
made into a skirt; and yes these might not look like jeans but they do fit in with the group! originally this skirt was a pair of jeans made using Burda 7863. The knees got all stretched out and saggy, but the upper bit was fine and the colour is so great so I re-made them into this skirt as described here. I still love this strange little jeans/skirt, and think I’m within the rules to count them in my Burda 7863 line-up, yes?!
My OWOP14 Flickr set with links to the individual pieces worn each day can be viewed here…

So, obviously I love this pattern so I won’t go on about it. Jeans are comfy and practical and warm, so yay. But after a whole week of wearing jeans I am really looking forward to getting back to my skirts and dresses. I was so pleased I could wear a skirt on the last day, today!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, OWOP

cafe au lait bootlegs

03/09/2014 5:22 am \ 26 Comments \ Carolyn

New jeans/pants/whatevs.
Burda 7863, stretch bengaline from Spotlight.
So. I guess that’s about all I have to say! I’ve made this pattern what, nine times now, I think. Speaks volumes. The colour is softly pretty, a nice and easy and inoffensive pale neutral. I love it.
Maybe they’re a bit boring? Well, they’re basics. Basics usually are. I’m sure they’ll get lots of use.
Eventually.

The nitty gritty, re my usual alterations and fitting:
Extra 10cm or so added to the length at the lower hem, just in case. I always pre-wash my fabric; and make up the pants to the hemming stage, then wash again, then hem. It really helps guard against leg-length shrinkage.
Another always-addition is to added a bit of length onto the waistband length at CF so as to accommodate a zip placket.
And my usual fitting alteration to accommodate my slight sway back is to try them on inside out BEFORE sewing up the CB seam including the waistband, and to pinch it in; as described and pictured here. Works really well for a really good fit, every single time.

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863, stretch bengaline
Tshirt (under); Vogue 8879, ivory cotton jersey, details here
Jumper; the Hayward, knitted by me in Noro Ayatori, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, daily outfit, jeans

burnt brown bootlegs

10/08/2014 12:30 pm \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some jeans/pants/jeggings type of things… hmmm, I’m still not sure what to call these!
My oldest jeans, my olive/greys, are holding up so well, the best out of all my jeans! and I think it’s due to the fabric. They are made of a very stretchy and thin synthetic bengaline stuff from Fabulous Fabrics, and I’ve been keeping a look out for fabric like this in colours that would fit in with my wardrobe. Last week at Spotlight I got lucky at last. It’s not identical to the olive/grey fabric, but pretty darn close; and the colour! Dark mustard, burnt toffee, desert, tobacco, dirt, tawny brown, however you’d describe it; it’s perfect for me. I also bought some of the same fabric in a very pale coffee colour, so if I get enthusiastic I’ll make that up soon too.
I used my old favourite Burda 7863. This is my eighth? version of this pattern I think… man I’m so boring. Oh well, at least I know it works!

Pattern alterations; a sway back adjustment, rtw jeans order of construction and a zip placket, all these modifications described here. and a couple of decorative part-circles top-stitched onto each pocket,using a dinner plate and tailor’s chalk to mark. The designs are mirror image of each other on the two butt pockets.
This fabric has the stretch going parallel to the selvedge; so you have to remember to lay your pieces crosswise to the grain. And note to self, lay the waistband with the length crosswise too! otherwise you will have to rip it off and cut a new one. And replace it. Grrr.

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863, burnt brown bengaline, my review of this pattern here
Blouse; Burdastyle magazine 10-2010/102, ivory brushed cotton, details and my review of this pattern here
Socks; knitted by me, here
Shoes, Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, jeans

Purple jeans; 6 different ways

06/11/2013 6:34 am \ 21 Comments \ Carolyn

My purple flares have been such favourites ever since they rolled off the sewing machine; an unlikely wardrobe staple. Who would’ve thunk purple jeans would turn out to be such useful things in my life?? Ask the ignorant old-me back then and she probably would have been doubtful… anyhow they have been and I’m rewarding them with a little retrospective.
I made them originally in 2011 using Burda 7863, and in addition to these outfits here they have appeared in a supporting role in several other of my 6 different ways posts too. A few of the following pics are from previous me-made months, some not…
Below, at left; worn with a rusty corduroy tunic top. Boy that top was gorgeously toasty warm. I need another one before next winter; at right; worn with a little self-scarfed top and my brindle knitted cardigan.

Below: at left; worn with a purple Tshirt and a hoodie refashioned from a pair of jeans, at centre; with a grey-dyed-yellow woollen top, and at right; with a plain white Tshirt and thongs on my feet. Admittedly uninspiring, but I included it because this latter outfit has pretty much been my lifetime uniform and so is probably the most “me” ensemble here!

Below: at left; tucked into biker boots and with a long white top and my f-leather jacket, At right; and yup, this one does make seven different ways but (shrug) I almost didn’t include this last picture, they’re on the saggy and baggy side and look a bit awful now, and so faded!!! but I guess that just shows how much they’ve been loved. Worn with my green jacket-thing (later dyed) and a raspberry jersey scarf.

Hmmm; what colour to make next, I wonder… ?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7863, jeans

White-y tighties

06/09/2012 12:05 am \ 49 Comments \ Carolyn

hai there 🙂
oh sorry, were you expecting some fashion??
My set-up photo with just one lonely loyal dog sitting there really made me smile, so I had to put it in here. For fun.

I’ve made some new jeans 🙂
These are made in a thick but stretchy denim from Spotlight in a lovely warm vanilla ice-cream shade, and using Burda 7863. This is the seventh pair of jeans I have made using this pattern; it really is such a winner in my book!
I thought and thought and thought about the legs, whether to go skinny this time or not. Whilst I looovee my khaki skinnies, I really do think that a slightly flared leg is actually way more flattering to my figure type. And the reason we sew is that we can have clothes custom suited to our figure type and not be needlessly restricted to the silhouette being forced on us by the fashion powers-that-be for that season, yes? Yes!
So I cut the legs based as closely as possible on my purple flares, which I have to confess are (whispers) my favourites. Shhhh! I never say so out loud, for fear of hurting the feelings of all my other pairs of jeans, but yah… my purplies really do make me feel extra specially good about myself every single time I put them on. I can’t exactly put my finger on it; what is their secret. They just work. I am hoping these new ivory ones will be just as successful.
I cut my new jeans with the legs about 10cm longer, and with the slight flare, about 5cm in total from the knee out to the hemline. I did a small alteration to pull in the waist at the small of the back also, a standard adjustment for me in jeans, and made very easy with the two-piece, shaped waistband in this pattern.

For the pocket decoration; there are two intersecting curves of closely-spaced zig-zag stitch done in mirror image on each pocket. It’s hard to see them in the picture, white on white is hard to photograph! but I super highlighted the picture so it shows up as much as it does in real life. It does, btw. Show up, I mean. The pure white top-stitching thread I used throughout highlights the warm, slightly yellow-y creaminess of the ivory fabric.
Oh, and yes, in case you’re wondering; it is quite difficult to take a photograph of your own be-hind, oh yes indeedy 🙂
I washed the fabric before cutting, then I made the jeans; then I washed them again before hemming to really guard against shrinkage. I want these jeans to be plenty looong enough. I think all the washing really helped with the fit too.
I added a coin pocket and a zip placket and also slightly altered the order of construction of the jeans, as outlined in this post for my purple jeans; which results in a more ready-to-wear look. The pocket lining and waistband lining are cut from a sturdy but lightweight white cotton.

windy? o yeah…

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 with minor modifications, made of ivory stretch cotton denim; my review of this pattern here
Top; based on top “a” from shape shape (or Unique Clothes Any WayYou Like) by Natsuno Hiraiwa, made of blue shot cotton, details here
Cardigan; “wearing a square” from Pattern Magic 2 by Tomoko Nakamichi, blue/grey knit stuff, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, daily outfit, jeans, Sienna

Khaki skinny jeans; 6 different ways

15/11/2011 5:39 am \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

It’s hilarious to me now how when I had first set out to make these jeans I was slightly skeptical whether I would wear them much… they have so become the backbone to so many outfits! I think I was nervous about the skinniness of them; and whether I could even carry this look off. But I came around! I’ve worn them countless ways already on this blog… (I’ve just counted, they have appeared twelve times hehehe :D, but trust me I’ve worn them stacks more!) The firm but stretchy nature of the fabric make them comfortable and easy to wear, the very simple shape and the drab unobtrusiveness of the neutral colour mean they never steal the show, but just set off so much of what I’ve got, beautifully. They have been incredibly useful in my wardrobe.
So for today I had a bit of a play at mixing them up a few more times…

Admittedly, during the winter I have worn them almost exclusively with my biker boots. I really like the solidness of the boots visually counteracting the skinniness of the jeans above. At left; air force blue along with the khaki, and my crochet scarf; at right, looking a bit more classic when worn with my Chanel-style jacket

The jeans are skinny enough to pass for tights when worn underneath my (current) favourite dress; at right and looking a bit smarter; for a splash of colour I’ve always loved the slightly military colour combination of red and khaki together.

At left; if I was heading out to a summery soiree the jeans set off an unusually styled little top and jewelled sandals; and more casually at right; I really like the simple contrast here, the sorta “modern-ness” of the plain jeans when worn with a romantically embroidered floaty ivory top.

Which outfit am I wearing today? well the weather is now delightfully warm and today might be their last gasp before the really hot weather hits, and I am wearing the last casual summery outfit with the ivory top.
Which look here do you like the best?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7863, jeans

Turning old jeans into a skirt…

24/10/2011 7:30 am \ 30 Comments \ Carolyn

… I decided it was high time for another refashion since I still have a small mountain of perfectly good fabric in the form of old clothing sitting in my stash. eep! Do you remember these jeans? They had got a bit saggy and baggy about the crotch and seat area, thanks to me using almost-stretchless fabric. Thus I learnt jeans really are so much better with a bit of stretch in them… anyhoo so I could barely stand to see myself in them as jeans anymore but the corduroy was still in pretty good knick overall, and I still absolutely looooove the colour. It’s the perfect “white” for me, a sort of warm shade of grey-white that I love. Oyster white, to get all referentially descriptive, if you like that sort of thing. Yeah, I do too 🙂
So. I’ve seen dozens of jeans-to-skirt refashions on the net but none of them have ever ever appealed to me. Why? People can’t get past dealing with that big curved crotch seam, and will just leave it there, sew it down boom onto the front of their new skirt as is, and I just can’t bear that look. When I do a refashion I want it to actually look like a skirt, thanks, and not for people to look at it and go, “oh, she obviously converted her old jeans into a skirt, yeah. Hmmm. Okaaaaay… No attempt to do anything at all about that crotch seam…. And what about the rest of the fabric from the legs? Why not make use of that somehow?”
So I gave it some thought and came up with this refashion (details below), that actually used up nearly all of the fabric from my old jeans. The whole top bit, with the waistband, fly, side pockets, coin pocket and rear patch pockets is still there completely intact too. I think it ended up looking quite fun and flippy, and almost sporty too, don’t you?

Details:
Skirt; my own design, a refashion of an old pair of off-white corduroy jeans (originally made by me too, using Burda 7863 here)
Blouse; Butterick 4985, ivory eyelet cheesecloth with lace trim
Cardigan; Country Road
Scarf; Missoni
Shoes; Bronx, from Zomp shoes

It was a pretty simple refashion…. firstly I cut off the top bit, and unpicked the curved part of that offending crotch seam.

Pinned and resewed centre front and centre back respectively into a straight front and back seam… aaah; already, things are looking a lot more skirt-like here, right? I also re-double-topstitched that centre back seam down again to match how it was originally…

Now for the legs bit…
Measuring and allowing for an equal depth hem cut each two leg pieces in almost-half horizontally.

I wanted to keep the original hem down at the bottom of the legs intact, and so just unpicked a small area of hem near the outside leg seam… so I could unpick that long outside leg seam. I chose the outside leg seam for unpicking like this since I had originally double-topstitched the inside leg seam down, and so the outer leg seam was a far easier option here…!! And those double topstitched seams makes a nice random feature on the final skirt too.This gave me four largish pieces of leg, in pairs of two mirror images. I used the lower leg pieces (with the hem mostly intact) for the skirt front and the upper leg pieces (which as yet have no hem) for the skirt back, and checking to make sure the nap of the corduroy is all the same way as each other and the top of the skirt, sewed up the side seams, and centre front and back seams.

The next step was to arrange the excess fabric in the lower skirt piece into folds so that it fitted the upper skirt piece. This was just a matter of measuring and arranging the folds to be as near as perfect mirror images of each other, front and back, and checking every now and again to see that it was fitting into the top section.

Once the folds were all evenly in place I basted them all and then sewed the skirt top and skirt bottom together. I top-stitched each fold down in place by about 5cm vertically, some single- and some of them double-topstitching. Then hemmed the skirt back, to match the hem of the skirt front (which is already in place, and only required the centre front bit of the hem to be sewn into place…)

Voila! A new skirt, and with very little waste! The only waste fabric was from the crotch area, plus I ended up shaving a few inches off the top of the lower skirt section also to get a length that pleased me. Note, I took length off the top of the skirt, not the bottom, since I was keeping that existing lower hem in place. When re-fashioning a garment it is well worth incorporating those existing hems into your new garment somehow, since years of washing and wearing creates a permanent and very visible line of wear into the fabric, and a fold that will never ever iron out … thus removing length from that top area (that will just be disappearing into the joining seam anyway) is definitely the way to go here.