Amanda with mint: Burda 08-2011-119

My name is Lucia. I am a fabricholic. I buy and buy and never make anything. Here is to changing that!

A couple of years ago at a Stoffenbeurs in the Amsterdam RAI, I saw the most gorgeous cut fake fur in a shade somewhere between lilac and steel that I've been calling greyple (gray + purple). I quickly snapped it up and then proceeded to find some coordinating fabric for a dress or pants or top to go with it. Naturally I bought fabric for all three: a matching wool twill for pants, a wool blend in a sort-of mini-herringbone pattern for a dress and for the top a lightweight jersey with the most amazing hand in a saturated pastel mint that matches the herringbone wool.

The first fabric I worked with was the jersey, but I had trouble with the fit and it is still an UFO, so that post will have to wait.

Burda 08-2011-119

This post is about the mini-herringbone-like wool, which I just turned into a gorgeous dress via Burda's 08-2011-119. I am soooo proud of it! For one I actually finished it! But it also turned out great, if I may say so myself. Thank you Burda, your patterns are second to none!

All the details for future reference: I cut size 40 all around since I knew that the A-line skirt would fit my size-42 hips just fine. The pattern called for 2.05m of 140cm-wide fabric and I had only 1.80m of this 154cm-wide fabric. I worried that I wouldn't have enough but I didn't want it as long as in the original, so I pressed on. As it turns out, I didn't use up all my fabric, even though I did cut up the full original length! True, my fabric had no nap, nor a directional pattern, but I only reversed one of the smaller pattern pieces (the back sleeve). So, it seems that the Burda folks are quite generous with their pattern layouts, because I could fit my pieces even tighter than the size 38 layout. I'll keep this in mind for the future... In the meantime, what can I do with the 30cm left? A cute purse? A contrast piece on a skirt?




Lessons learned:
Seam pressing on wool is a million times better done on a wooden dowel. The padding on my ironing board is just too soft and the seams were getting that dreaded "home-made" look.

Pressing curved seams, especially the tight curves at the shoulders and neck in this dress, was really not possible without my brand new tailor's ham.

Topstitching of the A-line skirt seams came out a bit wobbly. I think it is because I topstitched from waist to hem, which is precisely the opposite of what Claire Shaeffer and Susan Khalje both recommend: always sew from wide to narrow. In this case that would have been from hem to waist. If only I had seen that advice earlier. I fear my topsitched seams will now never sit properly...

Finally, when I make this dress again I might try lowering the front neckline a good 5cm or so. With the neckline so high as it is, the fullness sits much above the bust and that is where it is really needed.

Amanda with minth: Burda 08-2011-119