Friday, 10 May 2013

Finally, a Burda Success!

For the past few weeks I've been in a weird sewing place - somewhere between Me Made May panic and holiday sewing (we are going to Sicily in mid-May - so some of my Me Made May photos will hopefully look more exotic than my back garden/ dining room!).

But I think this dress will hopefully cover me for both.



Despite having terrible reviews from most bloggers, I actually quite like April's Burda -- it's the first one I've bought for ages! 
Source: Ooobop

In addition to the cover dress - vaguely Laurel-esque?  Ok without the huge sew-on gemstones.  I have plans for this pattern, hopefully you'll be seeing it soon, acceptable muslin permitting! - I liked this pattern:

Source:  BurdaStyle (who make it very difficult to link directly!)

I wasn't so keen on the shiny fabric but thought it could make a good basic knit dress for holiday and at home.  I had some nice navy viscose knit fabric from World Fabrics (their website isn't great, but good prices, speedy delivery and the quality seems good from what I have seen so far!).

In terms of pattern modifcations, no way was I doing welt pockets in a simple knit dress so I left them out.  The pattern includes a belt but I don't love self fabric belts for this sort of dress and thought I'd be more likely to style it with a leather belt as per the picture.

Spotted anyone?
The pattern was nice and long so no length adjustments needed.  I did take it in at the sides slightly to give it a bit more of a waist and make it more fitted around the bust.  This was really due to my fabric choice rather than the pattern as the original size would have made it too bunchy around the waist to wear with a belt.  My only annoyance was that I didn't follow my sewing spidey sense and ditch the fiddly little neckband pieces.  I wasn't clear how much seam allowance to add and it was hard to attach them over the top of the pleats at the front neckline, meaning a bit of unpicking.  But again could have been due to my fabric choice being thicker than theirs.  I should have gone with my idea of cutting a wide bias strip (or I guess i could have just cut a straight grain piece since I was using stretch fabric!), which would have been much easier.  Still, live and learn!

It's not exciting but I like it a lot - it's simple and I reckon it will get worn a lot this summer.  Now I just need to find the perfect tan sandals to wear with it!

Photobomb!
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

15 comments:

  1. Nicole Needles10 May 2013 at 13:00

    The perfect holiday dress! You could get round the welt pockets by adding one of those double ended patch pockets, like you see on hooded tops. And you're little one is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sew little time10 May 2013 at 13:55

      thanks nicole! i'm not bothered about pockets. i have far too much to carry that i always have a bag - i find pockets in knits can stretch out of shape too.

      Delete
  2. House of Pinheiro10 May 2013 at 14:22

    Wardrobe builder, that's for sure ... Aww look at your cute daughter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sew little time10 May 2013 at 14:55

      thanks rachel! she is a complete little monkey!

      Delete
  3. Brooke10 May 2013 at 14:24

    It's a great basic dress to have in your wardrobe! I like it a lot with the brown belt. =)

    I have one that's very similar (it's even navy!) that I bought on clearance for maybe $3. It needs a little alteration so I haven't worn it yet, but I know I'll love it in the summer months. Yours is better because you don't need to alter anything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sew little time10 May 2013 at 14:57

      thanks brooke! i was amazed i had no pattern alterations. could probably be a tiny bit longer but hey ho. they are so useful when you want an easy throw on dress for summer

      Delete
  4. Anonymous10 May 2013 at 14:37

    Fab dress. Great for holiday or every day... or partay! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sew little time10 May 2013 at 14:57

      thanks janene. we just need nice enough weather for me to wear back here! c'mon summer!

      Delete
  5. elaineoc10 May 2013 at 19:53

    Looks great - much nicer in the knit than the shiny. Such a cute photobombing as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Hojnackes10 May 2013 at 20:45

    I love the dress! I think it's simplicity is a great thing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous14 May 2013 at 12:50

    I really like this dress. In fact it was one of my picks of that issue. I think you will wear that a lot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sew little time15 May 2013 at 22:55

      Thanks. It's going to be a good summer staple I think!

      Delete
  8. Rehanon Mackenzie15 May 2013 at 19:44

    Ooh this is divine! You look ace lady. Nice work :) xxx

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment - it's great to hear from you!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)