Burda Style 10/2012 - 118 Dress

The first thing to note if you are making this dress is that (in my copy at least) there is a huge typo in the sewing instructions which is especially unfortunate given that it is the Sewing Course pattern.

The pattern pieces are the black lines on sheet B not A!  The instructions for the top versions are correct luckily - can you imagine trying to find the right pieces otherwise.  I think if you use sheet A you would end up with some kind of pants and a huge headache.

Once you have got that out of the way putting this dress together is very easy.  My sleeves are a bit long because I totally forgot to flare out the hem allowance (it even tells you to do this in the instructions) - since the sleeve itself is quite tapered if you don't flare it out then the hem allowance is too small - I just ended up taking a narrow hem.

I made this in a brown wool pinstripe which produces a slightly odd effect in that the front is on the bias and the back is on the straight grain, but I quite like it.  This will be a great dress for cooler weather, it reminds me of a woven version of the famous Vogue 1250 DKNY jersey cowl dress - just throw it on and you're good to go.  I've lightened all these photos so you can see the detail.



I have started a second version in the same cranberry wool that I made the previous skirt from and that gave me a lot more problems, I think because it has a slightly looser weave so the bias is more difficult to handle, in fact it is still hanging waiting to be hemmed.  More on that in my next post, for now here are photos of version 1.

Burda Style 10/2012 - 119 Knit top

Oh my I didn't mean to go awol for quite such a long time, after my UK trip I got my usual season changeover loss of mojo plus we decided to move apartments and it is only when you have estate agents and clients trooping through all the time that you realise what a messy business sewing can be.

In addition my old camera died and while the new one is undoubtedly superior I am still learning how to get it to focus less on my face and more on my clothes.  Also the self timer function is annoying - my old camera would do 3 shots at 10 second intervals, this camera either does one at a time or 10 within about a second which I am sure is great for photos of hummingbirds etc, but I just get 10 lousy shots of me instead of 1!

Anyway excuses excuses blah blah blah, let's just get on with it shall we and see if the photos improve over time, bear with me....

First up Burda 10/2012 - 119 jersey crossover top.  I probably already have at least 1 pattern like this somewhere but it seems I like to torture myself tracing new ones.

I made this with an odd shaped offcut of brown zig zap printed jersey.  It's a little loud and, well, zig-zaggy, but I think with a brown jacket on the top this will make a great fall outfit.

There really is nothing to say about the construction other than I raised the neckline about 1 inch and made the sleeve hem smaller due to fabric shortage, it's very straightforward to put together and dare I say that the instructions are even quite good!

 Ah it feels good to be blogging again, I feel more inspired to sew already!