Tag Archives: Burda 8497

Crisp white shirt; check

25/10/2010 4:40 am \ 27 Comments \

A while ago I identified a hole in my wardrobe; supposedly a basic that no woman should be without, and have now dutifully filled it.  One crisp white shirt; check.  Now my husband can relax that his white linen shirt will be safe from my clutches.  Well, mostly safe, hehehe (cue evil witch cackle).
I used Burda 8497; a wrap front and tie-at-the-side-of-the-hip style that is flattering to a person of my proportions, I think.  And a very feminine style.  Rather than a button up, which is a little more masculine.  The fabric is a poly-cotton, easy wear but not luxe, so I left the edges all nice and snowy-pristine with no topstitching and I think this ups the stylishness factor a touch.  This pattern just allows for ordinary fold down hems on the sleeves, which can be a little boring and middle of the road; so for this shirt I drafted sharply pointed fold-back cuffs which are each permanently sewn closed with two pewter buttons masquerading as cufflinks.  This gives the cuffs a vaguely evening-y or business-like air to them, yes?  And adds a bit of interest to what is otherwise a quite featureless sleeve.
And for my morning tea with some friends this morning I jazzed it up with a screamingly colourful in-your-face gypsy-ish skirt of many layers.
Aaah, the weather is so divine at present.  Walking along the beach yesterday and this morning was a sheer joy.  Everybody is making the most of these days to the max, whilst simultaneously trying not to whinge about the lack of rain …

Details:
Shirt; Burda 8497, white poly-cotton, pewter button “cufflinks”
Skirt; Vogue 7880, printed cotton
Sandals;  lasoffitadi Gilde, from Zomp shoes

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On mixing prints

15/09/2010 4:31 am \ 8 Comments \

Yikes!  Mixing prints!  So easy to get very very wrong…  Now (confession) I am feeling a leetle out of my comfort zone here with the mixing of prints this morning; well on choosing the python print top I did plan to then play it safe with plain black tights but then a little bout of craziness came over me, I threw caution to the winds and grabbed instead these tartan tights that I bought several years ago and that were still folded perfectly crisp and new in their cellophane packet…  I had originally bought these tights with the view of wearing them with a (hypothetical) little black dress but never did.  This is a different look for me for sure, but I reckon these two prints still work together in the one outfit because the colours in the prints are all alike and furthermore in the safe and sombre neutral tones of charcoal, light grey, beige (greige?) and brown, and black.  Plus the very plain little charcoal skirt is a haven of simple, unadorned and unpatterned in the middle to keep apart and help define and showcase the two clashing prints on either side.  So I’m OK with it.  Pushing oneself out of the comfort zone once in a while is good for the soul…
And we are now halfway through Self-Stitched September!  I am really enjoying this challenge of going all self-stitched! (although ahem, the taking of a photo every day is, dare I say it, a bigger one…!)

Details:
Top; Burda 8497 with fold-back cuffs and button cufflinks added, python print satin
Skirt; my own design, charcoal jersey knit
Tights; Tutuanna, some little shop in Melbourne
Booties; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes
Hat; op shop

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Riverside python

16/08/2010 6:39 am \ 7 Comments \

How much am I loving animal print right now?  Oh, way too much.  Somebody stop me.  I wore my new leopard print twinset, like all weekend, and am only not wearing it today because it’s in the wash…  and for today turned to the other animal in my wardrobe.  Hello, python print.  You’ve been languishing too long on your hanger, and it’s time for another airing.  Having a brown-ish tinge about it I wore it today with my tobacco wide-leg pants, that I’ve have for quite a few years now (not telling how many…!) Oh, wide legged pants, how much do I love thee?  Enabling one to step out on cold mornings with thermals on underneath and still look chic on the outside…  sometimes I worry the extra layer on underneath this style of pants makes for a big bottom look from the rear, so I decided to take a photo of myself from behind to check.  I think I’m being pretty brave putting it up here, no?  But I’m quite pleased the rear view isn’t too bottom heavy, so doubling up the love for wide-legged pants…
Met my pals for morning tea this morning, the fun part of the day; then office work this arvo…

Details:
Top; Burda 8497, with modified sleeves and cuffs, python print satin
Top (under); Metalicus
Pants; Morrison
Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes
Bag; Gucci

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Dog Beach

29/04/2010 5:28 am \ 9 Comments \

We’re having a real indian summer in Perth so this morning I took Sienna to Dog Beach and it was.  Just.  Heaven.  There was only a handful of people on the beach, being a weekday.  So normally I don’t like to get all pose-y in my photos.  Usually I just stand there feeling self conscious.   But today I felt in such high spirits I just did it.  Maybe I’m too old to be striking a pose like this but there was no one about to see me, so I thought what the hey!
After our long backpack-hauling slogs along the beaches on our trek I wasn’t sure I could ever again adore beach walking as much as I used to.  But this morning the old love for the feel of soft warm sand between my toes and the cool salty splash of the sea over my feet was reignited.  Bliss!

Details:
Top; Burda 8497, python print satin
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs

 

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Python alert

19/03/2010 4:43 am \ 7 Comments \

I finished my python print satin outfit!  Here in this photo I’m not sure if I look as much like a sleepy python draped lazily down a tree trunk any more than I do an extra from the set of Dynasty… all that satin….  At least I’m not sporting shoulder pads, but give me a dry martini, a grotesquely over-carved balustrade to drape myself over, or at least a gilt-handled door to slam and I’m your woman…
The top is out of Burda 8497, with the only variation in the addition of long pointy cuffs that are permanently sewn closed with these rather gorgeous metal buttons I found.  I considered making cufflinks out of the buttons and going down that path with buttonholes in the cuffs… but nah, this is a much simpler solution; not to mention looks better finished.  Given the struggles my menfolk have with cufflinks I like to just be able to throw on my outfit and swan out the door with minimal fiddling over my ensemble, so it was  “no” to the cufflink idea.
The skirt was kind of based on Vogue 7303, my old favourite which I use as a basic shape for so many projects.  I’ve had enquiries about this one, sadly I think it’s out of print (or I’d get another as a back-up for myself!) but some are possibly floating around on the second hand scene.  It’s really just a good basic pattern, of which there are many many new varieties available in dressmaking stores.
As I posted about before, the panels down the side are satin, which I pintucked randomly and ironed flat, aiming for a scale-y effect with debatable success…  At one point these panels, which are finished off properly, hung lower than the hemline in a randomly wavy point, but I decided this looked a bit odd and folded them up level with the rest of the skirt and tacked them up on the inside.  They’re still up there if I change my mind and want the skirt to look more gothic-y, I can just unpick the tacking stitches and let them fall down again.
The lining of the skirt (not seen here, but posted about yesterday) is jungle green bemsilk.
Over the cooler season coming up I plan to wear this to formal and semi-formal functions with my Icelandic shoes, pictured.  I just LOVE these shoes!!

Details:
Top; Burda 8497, satin print
Skirt; my own variation on Vogue 7303, satin print with satin side panels
Shoes; Kron by KronKron, bought online

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An edging finish using the fabric selvedge; a tute

25/02/2010 1:37 am \ 5 Comments \

So I set to work on making an outfit from my python print satin.  I want to make a skirt and a top this time, rather than a dress, so I can wear the top with other pants and jeans during autumn and winter.  For the top I’m using a wrap top pattern Burda 8497 and gave some thought to how to finish the edges.  I wanted a clean smooth edge with no visible stitching on view.  This pretty much ruled out any machine finishing, and while I’m more than happy to hand finish a hem I thought I’d try something else this time…
The Feb/March 2010 Threads magazine gave instructions for an edge treatment attributed to Madeleine Vionnet.  This method utilises the selvedge of the fabric, and the accompanying photograph showed a clean smooth edge with a rather attractive almost “piping” effect along the edge that I thought would be perfect, so here we go…
For this finish, cut the selvedges off the fabric, keeping about 1cm extra fabric, giving about a 2cm width strip overall.
Fold the fabric and press, so the “selvedge” side of the pressed strip is wider and overhanging the “cut” edge of fabric.  Lay this strip on top of the right side of your edge to be finished, with the “selvedge” edge up and keeping the selvedge edge longer than and overhanging the unfinished edge.
Stitch along the strip, keeping your stitching about 2mm in from the folded edge of the strip
Turn the selvedge strip to the inside and press.
According to the instructions in the Threads magazine no further stitching is needed.
My final verdict?  There seems no way of preventing the whole strip from just falling down and into view, so I would have to say it actually didn’t reeeally work all that well and I don’t understand how this method could be considered so fantastic.  I ended up hand stitching the hem down invisibly in the end anyway.  Alternatively you could “stitch in the ditch” along the edge and this could help prevent fallout.
I guess you could say it was a nice smooth flat hem, and the selvedge edge is clean and self-finished, so looks good on the inside.  I would use this again, but it might work better on, say, a neckline where there is no danger of gravity causing the strip to fall down and out, but if you are using this for a bottom hem then be prepared for further hand stitching for an effective hem…
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