Burda Style 03/2012 - 126 Pants

I can't remember the last time I made pants (I would call them trousers, but pants is quicker to type!), but thanks to my hip/waist differential it is difficult for me to get a great fit in RTW so they really should feature more on my sewing list.

I picked this pattern because I really liked the interesting seaming on these - not that anyone can really see it here.  I was intending to make them cropped which is how I like to wear pants in the summer, but I liked how they looked at the longer length too and thought stuff it, I'll just roll them up when I want them shorter.

Close up of front seam detail

This pattern has no side seam but does have seams on the front and back leg so there is scope for adjusting the fit of the leg.  Actually I found these to be a pretty good fit as they were, except for one thing which should have been obvious to me...the waistband is straight when I really need a curved one.

However I had stupidly already attached and trimmed the waistband seam so I fudged it by putting a few tiny darts into the waistband and taking it in at the centre back where there is a seam.



Other than the waistband "fix" the other change was to leave off the front leg horizontal seams and back welt pockets out of sheer laziness really as I knew I'd never use them and they wouldn't show up anyhow.

My fabric is a lightweight denim with some stretch, really nice which is good because I have lots more of it left.

The instructions were surprisingly good, even the fly front instructions made sense!

These aren't perfect, there's a bit of extra fabric in the upper front that kind of puffs out when I sit down in them and I probably need to go down a size, but they are probably still a better fit than anything I can find in RTW so maybe there will be more pants popping up here in future.

Burda Style 03/2012 - 108 Twist Maxi Dress

Technically the long version of this pattern was for a wedding dress, but I thought it would make a good holiday maxi dress made up in a cotton print.

Burda Style magazine 03/2012 - 108C

Continuing (unintentionally) on my animal print theme this is made from a purple and black cotton print.  The bodice is self lined - one thing I didn't like about the construction is that you line the bodice and then put facings on top, I suppose this helps stop the facings showing through on fine fabrics, but it would look neater on the inside if the facing and lining piece were combined.

This dress was the illustrated sewing course for a month which makes it pretty easy to make, even if you have not made a twist top or dress before.  The problem was the pattern came in tall sizes (5ft 9) whereas I am a average-ish 5ft 6 so the pattern needed shortening.  Now you can do this the proper way and take out length in the bodice and skirt or you can do it the cheater way as I did and just take a huge seam allowance at the shoulder and chop a good 12 inches off the hem.  This did end up with the neckline being not too low, but also took the above waist seam towards empire line territory which is not the best look for me.

The Selfish Seamstress made a fabulous version of this dress without altering the bodice at all so if you can get away with that then your waist seam will be in a more flattering place I think.  On me however the neckline was too low and too open and at this stage in the construction the only possible fix was to take up the shoulder seams.

The problem with the now empire seam is that you do get an excess of fabric from the twist right where you don't really want it.  Even my dressform which has flatter than humanly possible abs has a bit of a tummy in this dress.  For some occasions - like lazing about on holiday - this is fine, for others - say a wedding - well then you might want to do your alterations properly.

Burda Style 03/2012 - 128 Skirt

Well the sun that I was so excited to see last week has gone and it is now raining and chilly!  I'm soldiering on with summer sewing regardless.

I thought this skirt in the March 2012 issue of Burda was really interesting, although I rarely wear skirts with a tucked in top (I don't know why when I am happy to wear a dress?) so a bit of wardrobe experimentation will be required.  Still even just a few years ago I had never worn a shift dress and now, as you no doubt already know,  I love them so a bit of a shake up might be a good thing.

Here's the pattern per Burda

This is my muslin version (hence no pockets) and I liked it enough to stick a zip in and finish the edges to make it wearable, but I think it would work much better in something more drapy and weightier (but not bulkier) than my crazy raspberry hawaii print lightweight cotton.  This version will be fine for very casual hot days, or for beach holidays (I have one booked for May, yay!), but I think I'll make a more sophisticated version for city wear.

Waistband close up

Back view

I often buy cotton like this when I see it at the market to use as muslin if nothing plain is available cheaply.  Speaking of the market Nancy K asked if I could speak Cantonese and the answer, embarrassingly after 11 years here, is no not really, just the absolute basics.  This is usually enough and like markets anywhere in the world you can go a long way with fingers and a calculator.  Some of the stallholders have more than one stall or sit out the back drinking tea and playing mahjong and just leave a notice with their mobile number on to call if you want to buy anything.  Not sure my Cantonese is up to that so I tend to only go to the manned stalls - the market is pretty big so in a way this makes it a bit less overwhelming.

Worn here with the Jalie empire T I made recently.  It looks black here but actually picks up the wine colour in the skirt. Try and imagine sun, palm trees and blue skies....

If you decide to make this, in addition to choosing the fabric carefully, here are some tips;

This pattern has an unusual shaped front and I found it really useful to write "top" and "side seam" on my traced pieces (they are marked on the pattern).  The instructions are actually OK in that they worked, but I think one step in the instructions is wrong.  About 2/3 into paragraph 2 Burda says;

"Pull integrated yoke of left front skirt panel out from inside, through opening in right side seam..."

The opening is actually in the centre front seam.  Once the front is in one piece it is just like any basic skirt pattern so I didn't use the instructions at all after that.

I think this could work in a jersey without the zip.  I know there is a similar jersey skirt in the same magazine (#118) but it is just made from a rectangle of fabric which just sounds too easy to look good.  Has anyone tried it?