BurdaStyle 08/2012 - 102 Dress

I'm on a bit of a doubleknit kick at the moment since I managed to pick up some nice quality fabrics in black, grey and this burgundy colour which is very much on trend for this season apparently.

I decided to make this dress for the August 2012 issue of Burda magazine.

It is surprisingly easy to put together - what I thought were going to be tricky inset corners are actually separate yoke pieces sewn on and then caught in a dart.

Make sure you label the small yoke pieces carefully so you can identify which way up they go and can tell front from back, there are some subtle differences in the shapes.

I made a size 38, going out to a 40 at the hipline which is my usual sizing in Burda and I found very few adjustments were needed, yippee!  The only changes I made were:

• Omitted the side zipper since the fabric stretches enough that I can easily get it on over my head
• The bodice is supposed to be lined, but as I didn't have any stretch lining to hand and the doubleknit has a decent weight on it's own I left mine unlined.
• Shortened the dress from mid calf to just above the knee, I just felt it was more flattering at that length on me.
• I found the neckline to be just a tiny bit low for my personal preference so I took the shoulders up a bit and took a very narrow hem at the neckline.  It's not as crazy low as some Burda necklines can be, but next time I'd just raise the neckline a bit at the cutting out stage.  Also I always forget but I think I am a little short in the upper torso so others mind find the neckline fine as it is.

The sleeves are quite dramatic and may not be to everyone's taste, but I like how they balance out my hips.  It would be easy enough to switch them to a simpler sleeve though.

I really love how this dress turned out and it goes together in no time, I really recommend it if you have this issue, I may well make this again.

Burda Style 08/2012 - 112 Skirt with Godet

I love pencil skirts and have a few already traced that I could easily use, but as I mentioned clearly I just get a thrill out of testing my eyes and patience on those Burda sheets.  This pattern is a bit of a twist on a standard pencil skirt though as it has a godet inserted in a side seam for a bit of swishy-ness.  I liked the asymmetrical look too.

I made this in a wool crepe which I am going to call cranberry colour, although it looks very orange-red here.

The pattern calls for a petersham ribbon waistband, but instead I just used an interfaced strip of fabric which is lazily just plonked on top the lining I added, stitched in the ditch from the right side for a fairly bulk free finish and held closed with a hook & eye.

The pattern is unlined, apart from the godet which has a smaller lining piece - a godet stay I suppose to help the skirt keep it's shape.  I decided to add lining and just used the same pieces (remembering - hallelujah! - to flip the front pattern pieces upside down) leaving the side seam open below the godet and just handstitching those edges to the godet stay.  It would look better if the godet stay was the same length as the lining, but the lining was a bit of an afterthought.  As was this photo - excuse the wrinkles!

I feel like I am getting ahead with fall sewing possibly for the first time ever!  Despite the (for me) bright colour I think this will work with a lot of pieces and end up being a versatile fall skirt.