BurdaStyle 05/2017 - 108 Oversized Pocket Skirt

You often read about sewing bloggers saying that a fabric "spoke to them" when deciding what to make with it.  That happened to me here when this printed cotton sateen, which was always going to be either a pencil skirt or a shift dress, shouted very loudly that it wanted to be this skirt.  The funny thing is I was never particularly attracted to this pattern and I still think it is kind of a crazy design, but I could not get it out of my head and had to search it out on the Burda site.

The talkative fabric - printed stretch cotton sateen from Pattern Bee in Sham Shui Po as mentioned in my previous post here.  I think it was HK$60/yard, really nice to work with.

And the crazy pattern.  Yes the giant pockets do take up the whole length of the skirt!  I think to make them usable you would want to add a line of stitching otherwise you will have to fish your phone or wallet out from down by your knees!

5/2017 - 108

(Edited to add :  Oh!! Now I see the line drawing online it is supposed to have front pleats, this isn't obvious in the line drawing in my magazine and clearly I paid no attention to the directions either!  My pockets are attached the whole way down and looking at view B in the magazine, I think I prefer my wrong way better!)

It is an easy skirt to make, the only slightly annoying part is that you finish hemming the layers partway through construction.  I much prefer to do it at the end when I can properly try it on, but I think it would be a bit bulky if you try and do it altogether.  You also end up with slits in the underlayer (oops, no I sewed it wrong see my edit note above!) , but how much this helps with walking in it I'm not sure.  Fortunately I like the finished length although it looks better on me with heels.

Also if you follow my instagram (@allisoncsewing) you would have seen that the zip pull came right off just as I finished the skirt, so for now (and realistically probably forever) I have a ribbon pull.

Here are pictures of me wearing it - I realise I could have saved myself a bit of work and just made a plain pencil skirt, but it's fun to try new patterns and this one was really interesting to make.  Still haven't used the pockets yet....!

BurdaStyle 05/2017 - 110 Top

Burda frequently come out with slightly odd patterns that I am a bit unsure about, but when they are quick and easy, curiosity can get the better of me!  So I decided to try this simple tank top with ties from the May issue.

One of the versions in the magazine (110A) is shown in a poplin with the bands tied very loosely and it looks pretty awful to be honest.  However the other view - shown below, looked better and it helped me decide to try this in something quite lightweight and drapy.  I chose this very intensely coloured stretch silk that I bought in China a while back.  My weakness when fabric shopping is definitely buying striking prints with no thought whatsoever on how to use them.

05/2017 - 110

Unsurprisingly it is very fast and easy to make especially since I left off the back neck opening because I could easily get the top on without it.  I sewed the tie bands slightly wrong so my topstitching is visible as I did it after I had folded the bands towards the centre again, but it doesn't really matter.

I like the top more than I thought I would, the tie bands and the back section seams give it a nice shape, like a cheater peplum top.  I think the fabric choice is important to make this work because the fabric just falls into folds over the bust.  I don't know if I will make it again, but if I do I'd consider lowering the tie bands a bit.  It's probably a good (and very obvious) idea to pin them and try the top on first.

I had some cotton twill in my stash that matched so I also made a skirt, this is 02/2014 - 109/110 which I was pleased to discover I had already traced ages ago, although I don't recall ever making it before.   It's a basic, classic pattern.

As usual I used Sandra Betzina's method for the fly front.  Somehow I managed to sew and serge the centre backs together the wrong way round and in fixing that I had to borrow some seam allowance from the side seams so it is a bit on the snug side.  However even though this fabric has no stretch it does soften and after half a days wearing is OK, but I am annoyed at my stupid mistake!  Hmm it also looks like my fly is the opposite way to the pattern drawing....oh well.

I also tried it on with pants, these are Burda 03/2012 - 126 that I made back in 2014 apparently.  I should make these again so that you can actually see the interesting seaming on them, but I really like the fit on these and they are more lightweight than my regular jeans so work for summer.

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