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Wednesday 15 February 2017

BurdaStyle 3/2016 - 121 Dress

I'm very behind on my blogging and this post is not terribly exciting as it is a dress I've made before here and it's also another purple thing, what can I say, I have a bit of a problem!

03/2016 - 121

I made this version in a ponte knit which is nothing like the stretch crepe per the magazine, but a similar weight to the fabric I used in my previous version so I knew it would work.  My original post has more construction detail that I won't repeat here.  Once again I left off the zip and swapped the facings for bindings.

Changes I made this time were to sew up the slit and I scooped the front neckline a bit lower.  I also swapped out the sleeves.  The original is a one piece cap sleeve, the pattern piece is sort of rugby ball shaped and it does tend to stick out, which is OK, but I wanted something different this time around.  I just searched for cap sleeve on the BurdaStyle website and picked 01/2012 - 113, a 2 piece self lined cap sleeve.

The original sticky-out cap sleeve
My replacement sleeve

These dress form photos show the colour quite accurately, one that keeps popping up here!







As usual I had real problems getting the lighting right when it came to taking photos on me and I couldn't figure out why they came out so differently to the dress form ones.  



I came to the conclusion that as I'm using a self timer and have the camera on an automatic setting,  the settings are determined by my empty frame and then don't apply once I've dashed into position (so far I've looked in vain for a compatible remote which would fix things I think).  I've no idea if this is true, but I tried again with a manual setting and despite a couple of shots like the ones below I did sort of get somewhere in that the lighting is better although the focus is off a bit.


I really blame my photography for slowing up my blogging, but I'm getting a better idea of what to look for when it's time to get a new camera.  If anyone has any recommendations or tips though please do share them.  I know people really like to see the clothes on a real life body and I have to admit that it is really useful for me to to see things a bit more objectively.





11 comments:

  1. Really nice dress - and I like the changes you made to the pattern. As for photography, the reason the exposure setting is inaccurate is because the wall is bright white and then the exposure is not adjusting for the darker dress color. You can try using a middle tone gray card (basically, a piece of gray matte board) placed on a chair to make your exposure and focus settings. An SLR is certainly the best for control (mine is an aging Canon Powershot). However, I also have a small Sony Cybershot that I like when I just want something simple. Sometimes when I don't want to underexpose large areas of white (making it grayish) I cheat the automatic exposure by using the 'snow' setting. That also seems to preserve the detail in the darker areas somewhat. Thanks for sharing - I really enjoy your blog!

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  2. No need to apologise for purple or for another version of that lovely dress!

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  3. Lovely dress and well-sewn, Allison. Appreciate your sharing the changes you made to the pattern.

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  4. This is gorgeous! And as far as I'm concerned, everything could be that color. That would be ok with me.

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  5. The color looks like cobalt blue, which I adore, but I'll trust you that it's actually purple. I love it, including the sleeve swap. Also I completely stink at photography. Please share when/if you get a new camera. I'm currently saving up for one myself.

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  6. What a beautiful dress! Yesterday I was catching up on blog reading - your blog in particular, and I can't believe that I missed all those lovely creations of yours in the last few months. Everything was absolutely gorgeous.

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  7. So lovely and with an improved cap sleeve! Allison, I'm wondering if you could recommend fabrics that work with those pleats, I guess fabrics that have some body like a wool, would show the pleats without them drooping?

    Yummy mummy / Sew Stylish

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  8. Love the style of this dress and the new cap sleeve is so much better.

    Even with the remote I use for my camera at times getting the right colour is quite difficult. Like you I prefer to see garments being worn, I think fit is more important than colour.

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  9. Hi Allison, as someone else has already said, it will be the white balance, but you can manipulate the shot on your computer afterwards . If you shoot in "RAW" instead of JPEG there will be more image data to do this more successfully but it is still possible without this mode. Check your camera manual to see if you can do this. I'm not sure what photo software you have but iPhoto or Adobe Lightroom are what I use.

    Gorgeous dress and I like the sleeve modifications:)

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