Tag Archives: Burda 8071

Drafting a new bodice…

17/12/2010 5:45 am \ 14 Comments \

For my Christmas dress this year I have visions of a dreamy floral dress; tight bodiced but with a big big skirt… this is not a look I’ve worn very often, if at all so it’s quite possible I am going to look ridiculous in this!  However whenever I see ladies wearing these big skirted bright floral numbers I think how lovely they look, really so feminine and pretty.  I’m not sure if I can carry this off or not, I hope so but we’ll see…
I’ve had this pattern for a while but not yet used it; one of those buy-one-Vogue-pattern-and-get-three-free deals.  I bought it because I was swayed by the nice illustrations on the front and thought, hey, a useful basic dress pattern, OK!  And promptly put it away, never to see the light of day again…
I like the skirt but the bodice is very not me… 

Just a bit too poofy and gathered and flouncy.  Even just looking at this pattern piece I already know this volume of fabric in a bodice would be just too over the top for my figure, the words “deflated balloon” spring to mind…  But I had a firm idea in mind of the kind of bodice I wanted for this dress; something with a bit of interest, some pleating but still quite fitted.  So the following is what I came up with, inspired by a dress I had seen somewhere, not sure where now…
Burda 8071 has a very simple, streamlined, princess-seamed bodice that fits me perfectly, so I used this to cut out two side fronts.  For the front; I cut out a slightly sloping centre panel, and two long rectangles for my pleated sections… (I did cut off those two jutty out bits at the centre top of the rectangles after taking this, just ignore them, sorry)

Carefully measured out the pleats, alternating 2cm and 3cm gaps, and pinned, folded and pressed in place…

At the back I sewed the peaks of the pleats in 0.5cm seams, and sewed the little skinny centre panel to the pleated panels at their centre edges. 

I then fanned out the bodice at the outer edges, leaving pleats of 2cm depth at the centre edge of the panels, and 1cm depth at the outer edge.  I’m aiming for a bodice with nicely sun-rayed pleats here…

Then finally used the Burda 8071 centre front pattern piece to cut out a centre front.  I left the top centre edge high and uncut, so the centre front is not cut as deep a “V” as the pattern piece above it.

Sewed the side fronts to the centre front piece…  For the shoulder straps I used two rectangles, slightly curved… pinned them how I wanted them to be on the bodice, with a little pleat at the bottom…

The lining pieces were cut with no pleating.

I also wanted a waist tie at the back of the dress, to pull in the waist and nip it in.  This was a simple matter of cutting out two long rectangles, of equal width to the back midriff pieces, with a long angled edge at the end.

These were sewed in the side seams of the midriff pieces, before attaching the midriff piece to the bodice.

For the skirt; the fabric I am using is not sheer so a skirt lining is not essential.  However I like for the innards of my dresses to be finished as completely and as beautifully as possible, and I also wanted a big flared petticoat effect with this skirt, so I cut out two skirt pieces using the facing fabric.  The skirt of this pattern is a quite densely pleated as well as flared skirt, and while I wanted the flare I didn’t want that extra bulk of a pleated waistline on the petticoat (slimline, please!) so I cut the petticoat pieces to be straight A-line, with no pleating at the top.

This is a work in progress…   I have several top-secret Christmas sewing projects on the go as well as this, and I will post pictures of these plus this dress on or after Christmas Day…
Later dudes!

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Floral floaty dress

02/12/2010 8:16 am \ 16 Comments \

Finished!
In sequinned and embroidered silk chiffon from the Alannah Hill outlet in Melbourne, and using Vogue 1152 again.  This second time in making up this pattern I followed the pattern faithfully.  Except to add about 5cm in length because I felt like my previous version is on the short side.  And I hemmed with a handrolled, handstitched hem, so the dress is technically just a leettle bit longer than intended because of this too.  I went with the original styling because I figured that the floppy sheer fabric would droop quite satisfactorily and thus work better for this “loose-fitting” pattern.  And it does, too.
Note to self; when the pattern envelope says “loose-fitting”, pay attention.
For the piping I used the tiniest scrap of some leftover fabric that my daughter dyed in a shibori method, as part of a school project.  And because I didn’t have any piping cord handy, I substituted boot shoelace; just as effective, imo.
Because the fabric is er, like, completely sheer and I don’t wish to make a spectacle of myself, I am wearing it over the champagne silk petticoat, made here using Burda 8071; and it couldn’t be a more perfect fit, cut or colour to work with this dress also.  A very useful petticoat, indeed!!
To read my review of this pattern and the previous alterations to the denim version, go here.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1152, sequinned and embroidered silk chiffon
petticoat; Burda 8071, champagne silk satin
Socks; knitted by me, white cotton
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti

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An unappreciated skirt

01/12/2010 2:58 am \ 8 Comments \

Rummaging around in my wardrobe I came out with this skirt which has only been worn a mere handful of times; poor thing.  I was so pleased with it when I had finished it, so I’m not sure why I haven’t been reaching for it more often.  I think, even though I’ve been trying to work my way through the wardrobe evenly, I still stubbornly and faithfully go for the same old favourites.  I think we fall in a habit of wearing certain items.  You know, you reach for the “safe” clothes time and time again, even though they may be looking a little shabby and past their best, and you fail to notice some of the new-ish clothes that you haven’t quite worked out how to work into your ensembles yet… exhibit A; this skirt.  I’m going to ease it into circulation more.
Also these shoes, which I bought probably seven or eight years ago.  They are really cute, but I haven’t worn them in about three years.  I’d been looking for a new pair of flattish black shoes to fit my very strict shoe criteria.  This is an annoyingly vague rule; shoes absolutely must excite me with some sort of “it” factor that I can only recognise when I see it.  Also, preferably, to be manufactured in a country with ethical employment practices…  but my search was failing dismally.  Then I came across these tucked away at the back of the wardrobe.
Jackpot!!

Details:
Dress, worn under as petticoat; Burda 8071in embroidered cheesecloth, to see this styled in 6 different ways, go here
Skirt; drafted by me, made from leftover linen scraps from my husband’s shirts, here
Cardigan; Country Road
Scarf; made out of an old tanktop, here
Shoes; Jocomomola

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A difficult dress

24/11/2010 7:23 am \ 9 Comments \

Oh, so much for horrific leavers rowdy stories… so far I’ve only come across small bunches of delightfully friendly, polite and sweet teenagers who immediately want to pat Sienna and make friends with her.  Having a dog takes down a lot of barriers…  and seeing happy teenagers having fun on the beach has just made me miss my own kiddywinks and I really wish they were here with me…  sigh…
My dress; first time here although it does not qualify as new.  I’ve really struggled with this dress.  This is its third incarnation, nearly two years in the making and I’m still not desperately in love with it… I bought this embroidered silk from Tessuti’s in Melbourne a few years ago, with the intention of making a full-skirted number inspired by a Burberry dress.  Full-skirted, fitted bodice, boatneck and with elbow length fitted sleeves.  I finished my version and it was a perfectly OK dress.  But it didn’t actually look very “me”.  I felt like I was dressing up in someone else’s clothes…
So I decided the full-skirt was the problem; I unpicked this and recut a more fitted skirt.  This was a little better, but by this time the allover embroidery and sameness of the fabric was just screaming at me “TOO MUCH” and I had to put it aside for a few months.  Or a year.  You remember how the von Trapp children in the Sound of Music were all dressed in the curtain fabric so all their outfits were over-the-top matchy matchy??  The dress was like that.  Eventually I removed the bodice and sleeves, recut the skirt again and bought some goldy green silk for a plain bodice.  Sleeveless.
Better.
But still not…. quite…
I look at all my sewing and judge it by this criteria; would I buy this if I saw it in a shop?  And this dress; well I’m not so sure.
The fabric is so gorgeous; soft gold, apricot and muted mossy sagey green, nothing not to love there.  I’m forcing myself to wear it, hoping I will love it more with use.  But I’m not ready to reveal it without a cardigan yet.  I still look at it and can see all the angst in its inception…

Details:
Dress; partly my own design with components of Burda 8071, green silk, embroidered gold silk
Cardigan; Nine, from Labels boutique
Hat; Country Road
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design

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An essential petticoat

28/10/2010 3:47 am \ 20 Comments \


The first time I wore this new cocktail dress was at a standing cocktail function; and all was hunky dory.  Felt a million bucks and the dress was perfect.  The second time I wore it was to a sit-down lunch and fashion parade at a fancy restaurant here, and a vitally important design flaw in this dress immediately made itself apparent.  I won’t embarrass anyone with any pictures, but the above picture with my new petticoat worn under the dress should give you some idea of the problem I faced… luckily I was out just with my own husband who could see the humour in the situation, and also luckily there was the tablecloth as well as a huge white serviette draped over my lap the whole time I was seated…!
This cocktail dress is really lovely and I am super happy with it, but I should have foreseen this.  I actually couldn’t believe it myself that I had simply not sat down in the dress up until that point and realised…!  The pattern is really a coat-dress, and has closure only at the waistband, and one button a little further down at about hip height on the inside flap.  Naturally there was going to be gape-age…!
So I bought some silk satin and made a petticoat, using an old standby sundress pattern Burda 8071.  I do already have a selection of petticoats, but since this one would undoubtedly slip into view when wearing this dress, I wanted it to match and blend in perfectly, and obviously be of a perfect length. For this reason I spent some time getting the hem length exactly right.  The petticoat sits just 2cm shorter than the dress.  The shoulder straps are of satin ribbon, and are adjustable.  Though unfortunately the only lingerie fittings I could find are these from Spotlight, which are just not very good… if I could find another range somewhere I would definitely swap them over.  Anyone know of a good supplier of lingerie fittings?
Viewing the petticoat modelled here by Bessie, you can see how much bigger than me she is.  The petticoat actually fits me perfectly, but I can barely squeeze it over Bessie’s hips, and as for doing up the zip, well no way Jose.  Even here it is stretched as tight as.  Having her is wonderful and certainly makes my sewing life much easier, but fine-tuning the fit of a garment is always something I have to do on myself, obviously!

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1155, bronze-y gold silk taffeta
Petticoat; Burda 8071, beige silk satin
Shoes; Misano, from Labels boutique

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Green Day

11/09/2010 5:06 am \ 8 Comments \

Aaah, social whirling over and life is back to normal around here for a while…  I do like to go out and get dressed up once in a while and the social season is certainly upon us now spring is here…  but I do hope nobody came here expecting a glamour-puss today because she’s nowhere to be seen!
A normal-ish Saturday so far, spent much of the morning waiting in a ginormous queue to organise foreign money for my son’s upcoming trip overseas; in a week’s time my youngest is going away on a trip alone for the first time (insert brave deep breath and lower lip wobble here…)
So today being a bit overcast and cool, I’m dressed for moderately presentable comfort and warmth; this is perhaps one of the more dubious of my Self-stitched September ensembles so please be kind!  The dress is a favourite seen here heaps of times  (but first and only time for this month! as per my self-imposed rule of no repeats, hehe), Burda 8071 made out of ivory broderie anglaise cheesecloth (to see this styled in six different ways see here)  This dress is really a summer-weight dress, and if I do wear it on a cooler day I usually prefer to wear my Metalicus petticoat underneath, but as I am strictly eliminating store-bought from this month’s clothing I had to think of something else…  The skirt worn underneath is possibly the only version I have of my old standby Vogue 7303 that is made to the pattern as it is in the envelope, and the hooded cardigan is knitted by me to my own design, and is perfectly snuggly for a moody cloudy day.

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, slightly stretchy white cotton/lycra
Dress; Burda 8071, ivory broderie anglaise cheescloth
Hoodie; my own design, Jo Sharp Silk Road DK in Ambrosia
Boots; Enrico Antinori, from Zomp shoes

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The colours of Spring

09/09/2010 9:23 am \ 19 Comments \

Today I attended a very glamourous luncheon and fashion parade with friends, and am now exhausted…   so please excuse any crazy bad spelling or random ungrammatical remarks in this post…
For this occasion I wore my new pink lace dress, and because it is still just barely into spring I took along my trench coat for the anticipated chill factor.  And ended up not wearing it… but here it is draped over my arm just in case (how many times do you take a coat “just in case” and it spends the entire function draped over the back of your chair?!)… 
Also for this special occasion gave myself the first pedicure of the season, released my poor neglected feet from the comfort of their winter wooly socks and given them the once over, including a coat of varnish in a gorgeous golden springtime glow.
He he, this morning I walked the dog in this dress and with thongs (flipflops) on my feet and got a few sideways glances; when I mentioned it to a friend later she suggested that people might have thought I was wearing my nightie?!  What do you think?  Does this look like a nightie?

Details:
Dress; modified Simplicity 3745, pale pink and caramel lace, see here
Petticoat; Burda 8071, pale pink satin
Trench coat; modified Burda 7786, beige cotton, see here
Sandals; Sachi, some little boutique in Melbourne
Necklace; gift from my husband
Nail varnish; Max Factor, Gold Peach

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Pink lace dress

21/08/2010 4:50 am \ 16 Comments \

I’ve made a new dress for spring, but I’ve persuaded Bessie to model it for today… because I’ve started to think about Self-Stitched September coming up where I’ll be documenting my handmade daily outfits everyday (hope that’s not going to be too boring) and no doubt I’ll be wearing it one of those days and will take a snap of myself then.  I’ve decided to challenge myself to wear totally handmade, save for tights and shoes… and to never double-up.  It will be a challenge, so I’ll see how I go.  May have to pop on a store-bought top or T-shirt getting to the end of it, but I’ll try not to…
I bought this pink lace back in the Fabulous Fabrics sale last December and finally got around to sewing the dress I first envisioned back then… the first hurdle was of course that the fabric is completely see through, so a slip was an obvious mandatory requirement.  For some strange mental reason, I determined to finish this slip to moderately high standards, yes, even though it’s a slip.  I get these funny urges sometimes, maybe it’s because of reading other peoples’ blogs about applying immaculate finishes that is spurring me on…  I’m not always this patient because sometimes you just want to get the thing done, no?
Anyhoo, the slip has French seams on the side seams, and Hong Kong binding on the centre back seam, where the invisible zip is inserted.  The lower hem and the bodice facing is all invisibly stitched by hand (OK I do do this to all my dresses), although I’m not 100% happy with how the hem looks and may do a different finish on this (any ideas?)… the silk satin won’t be pressed into a traditional double fold hem as flat as I would like.  The ribbon straps have lingerie findings incorporated to enable the straps to be adjustable.  The pattern I used for the slip is Burda 8071, and for the dress itself I drafted a heavily modified version of Simplicity 3745.  Heavily modified in that all the gathering and pleating and the zip has been removed from the dress in order to streamline the silhouette and to use less fabric.  The lace is a stretch so can just be pulled over my head.

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