Burda Style Dress 10-2014 #105

When I first saw this dress I was really intrigued. I liked it, but I was wondering if I could really have success with the pattern. If any of you have ever made a dress from the Burda Style magazine, you may know what I’m talking about. I wasn’t concerned about the tracing (I’ve gotten the hang of that for the most part). But, the directions for these patterns are minimal, at best. It’s just very different from using a pattern from the “big four”. But I was determined to get it done!

And I’m so glad I did! The lines of the dress are very simple. And there are only three pieces, so I figured as long as I didn’t put the sleeves in some weird place, I’d be okay.

I think this dress could be made from a bold print (obviously) or a more subtle solid. It’s up to you. I think that’s what makes the best patterns and makes those patterns classics.

The sleeves are about 4″ longer than normal according to the pattern, so I actually shortened those when I traced. I actually didn’t have enough fabric and I really wanted to use this piece, so I wanted to make sure I could fit everything (I also don’t like super-long sleeves). I actually couldn’t get the neck/shoulder right because I couldn’t understand what the instructions were saying to do. But I knew what it was supposed to look like, so I basically had to work backwards for that section. After that, the dress was really easy. This is the kind of thing I can see myself making again. And maybe I’ll get it right next time – LOL!

Another skirt…

Initially I wasn’t going to blog about this skirt, but then I thought, “why not?” So here it is. It is one of my favorite patterns – McCall’s 3341. This is a very easy pattern for an A-line skirt which is flattering on just about anyone. This can be made in a few hours (yes it really is that easy). Honestly, it took me a few days because I got distracted – LOL!

This is made from a wine-colored corduroy. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern (which can be made in 5 lengths, by the way) but I did use an invisible zipper since that’s what I had and the color matched perfectly. There was a time, not too long ago, when I dreaded using invisible zippers because they were so difficult for me to get right. Now, I can hardly remember how to insert a regular zipper (I actually had to look it up). Practice makes progress as some people like to say.

The blouse in the picture is another McCall’s pattern – 2094. It may be OOP, but it’s a great basic blouse pattern with different sleeve lengths.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Happy sewing everyone!

BurdaStyle Pullover

It’s been a long time since I made anything from my collection of Burda Style magazines – but I really like getting them. So, I decided that I should do what many people have done and make at least one thing from the magazine every month. We’ll see how that goes, but anyway…this was the first thing I’ve made from them in quite some time. I always have to start with something easy and this pullover top fit the bill. It’s from 11/2012 #128.

I used a sweater knit that I had. The only adjustments that I made to the pattern was to raise the neckline by about 2 1/2″ and reduced the width of the cuff bands. Everything else was the same.

The back is longer than the front, so this is a great top to wear with leggings and the sweater knit just makes it really cozy.

So now that I’ve had success with this, I’ll have to challenge myself and try something with more than just a few pieces!