BurdaStyle 5/2010 - 105 Knit Dress

I have made this dress so many times that I'm already on my second versions of them in black and navy which just get worn all the time!  It takes only around 1.5m of jersey, sews up in a couple of hours at the most, dresses up and down easily and is great for travel.  

05/2010 - 105 PDF Download

So, I've made two more to add to my collection (currently up to 5!) - a deep red ITY version and a black textured knit version.

I always add a bit of extra width to the skirt, but if you have less hips than me this dress would look even better with a narrower skirt.

Here I'm wearing it a bit dressed up with gold accessories, but I frequently wear them with my skechers pumps for a casual daytime look.

This is the fabric I used for the black one :

The only change I made here was to use a scrap of plain jersey for the neck binding and I decided to leave it visible instead of folding it to the inside just to reduce bulk a bit.  So this one has a slightly higher neckline.

I don't have any photos of me wearing this one yet, but I'm flying to Ireland for a wedding soon and both of these are packed (along with jackets and raincoats!) so weather permitting I will get some photos on vacation.

Palm Print Jersey Dress

This is a dress made from two different knit patterns, I've shown exactly which ones below, but really you can consider mixing up any of your favourite patterns.  Since this one has an elasticated waist casing and it's in a knit fabric there isn't any special drafting to do as the bodice and skirt can easily be made to fit together.

I used two patterns I have made before, the top is from BurdaStyle 08/2011 - 126 which I've made several times as a top with a peplum band and a raised neckline.  I also eliminate that centre back seam.  You can see a couple of versions here.

08/2011 - 126 Link to pdf dress pattern

The skirt is from McCall's 6744 although I changed the length to midi.  I'm finally coming around to appreciate this length now, maybe in a few more years I'll be wearing flounce sleeves and jumpsuits!

McCall's 6744 (out of print)


I used a green and black palm print ITY jersey - this didn't even get to live in my stash, I just knew what I wanted to do with it and bought and sewed it within a week.  Often I can get a bit paralysed by procrastination so this felt good!

The elastic casing at the waist is around 1 inch wide as I had that sized elastic to hand.  I also had enough fabric left over to make a self fabric belt so I have an option of wearing it both ways.

Part of the reason I made this up so fast was so that I would have it to wear on a short trip to Singapore which is where the photo below is from.  I always seem to decide at the last minute that I need something new for any trip, but at least I've learned to make something quick and easy!

McCall's 6744 Dress (out of print)

Knit dresses really are my everyday go to in our hot humid Hong Kong summers so I'm always happy to try a new variation.  I realise that goes against conventional wisdom to only wear natural fibres, but I've found that this is what works for me.   They are also fantastic for travel because they pack up pretty small and don't crease.

I picked up this pattern in a recent clearance sale and it is now out of print.  It seems to have been a popular pattern based on reviews I read, but I guess they've got to make room for the new stuff that is always coming out.

McCall's 6744

I wanted to make view C, another wrap dress, but I swapped out the wrap skirt for the plain one.  I made it twice actually, one knee length and one maxi, both ITY jersey fabrics.  It is basically a knit version of the dress in my previous post so I suppose this is the shape I am going to be wearing all summer!



When I took out the pattern pieces they looked huge so for once I checked reviews before cutting anything and most said that this pattern had a lot of ease and recommended going down one or two sizes.  I checked the actual measurements on the pattern pieces and decided to make the XS which is ridiculous as I am nowhere near that size (I'd usually start with a 12).  I know the big 4 used to get a lot of flack for having too much ease in their patterns, but I haven't found that to be the case in their newer releases (interestingly Beth said the same thing in the comments on my last post).

Once the sizing is sorted out this is a very quick and easy make - there's not a lot to say about it really.  I made the shorter black and white dress first and it feels a tiny bit high waisted for me.  On the second maxi version I ended up pressing and sewing the elastic casing down into the skirt rather than up as per the pattern instructions and that seems to be enough to sort out where the waist sits so I will make the same change in the future.

I need to remember to stitch down my seam allowances in the casing area before forming the casing as it was extremely frustrating when my elastic attached to a safety pin kept getting stuck underneath seam allowances!  I also stitched the bodice closed at the overlap by sewing on top of the existing line of stitching.

I can definitely see this being a staple in my wardrobe - long, short and with all the different neckline variations, both for the approaching hot summer days and with a light jacket over for in-between seasons and fierce air conditioning.

McCall's 7534 Mock Wrap Dress

The last month has been very busy with lots of house guests which means my sewing room has been out of action for most of that time.  Fun as it has been, I'm so happy to be able to get back in there and I have been working on a few dresses.

First up is McCall's 7534.

I do love the look of a wrap dress, but I dislike the potential wardrobe malfunctions that can occur with them so this surplice bodice dress with lots of variations caught my eye.  It's quite a basic design, but I like all the views which make it pretty versatile, the fact it has no fastenings and that it can be made in wovens, sheers and knits.

McCall's 7534

I made View A, minus the belt in this navy and gold bird print crepe.   I'm going through a bit of a nature print phase at the moment, my stash is sprinkled with birds and butterflies!

I eliminated the neck facings and just replaced with bias strips of fabric and made extensive changes to the fit of the bodice by draping on my dressform.  I really wish I had thought to make a pattern piece at this point mostly so I can easily recreate this dress, but also to see how it compares to the original.  I think I will go back and redo it in muslin fabric and create new front bodice pieces.

You can get an idea of what I did from the photos below.  The neckline length needed to be significantly shorter and I wanted it to hug more closely to the body as it was gaping a lot.  I pinned in some pleats at the waistline,  changed the angle of the wrap so that the front pieces no longer extend to the side seams and then I cut off the excess below the waist.  I did make sure I could still get it on over my head first!

Once that was done it was very simple to attach the skirt and insert elastic at the waist seam.  I took a bit of fullness out of the skirt at the side seams just because I preferred the look of it that way.

I only have dress form photos to show you at the moment, but when I make this again (and I will!) I will take some then.  I am currently sporting an attractive black eye caused by my skittish cat jumping off my lap and catching me in the face with his back legs.  I'm really embarrassed that I look like I have been in a fight, but I feel quite lucky that it's only superficial damage.  So for now.....

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.