BurdaStyle 12/2015 - 108 Moto Peplum Jacket

Despite whinging about Burda throughout 2015, towards the end of the year things definitely improved and one of my favourite patterns from the whole year was this jacket.

http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/biker-style-peplum-jacket-122015

There are 2 versions - a cropped collarless version, shown in boucle in the magazine and the peplum version with a mandarin collar, shown in wool and leather.

I made version B, but all in one fabric, a stretch denim.  I left off the armband pieces, sleeve zippers and lining and added topstitching to the section seams.

Tracing this pattern is a bit of a chore, there are lots of small pieces.  However once that work is done it goes together pretty quickly.  In fact I got a bit carried away and sewed up (and serged and topstitched!) the left middle front seam before remembering I needed to put a zip in it!



Ah, the zip.  This is where I ran into problems.  The pattern requires a 12 inch separating zip  I wanted navy with metal teeth and a nice zipper pull and I could only find longer ones.  No problem I thought, I can easily shorten it.  Ha!  I don't know if I bought the strongest zip known to man or I am a complete weakling, but getting those teeth off even with the recommended wire cutting pliers
was an exercise in frustration and really hard to do without damaging the zip tape or my hands.  All the tutorials I found online went into great detail about measuring the zip and then just basically said "now pull off the teeth".   I managed in the end, but I couldn't get the stoppers off at all to move them so I just sewed thread stoppers which will hopefully be OK.   I do really like this jacket so if I ever spot any 12 inch zips while shopping I am buying them!

As usual with shirts and jackets I put in the collar and facings before sewing up the side seams.  I find it much easier to handle the garment when it is still flat and that means I can do final fit adjustments in the side seams.

The collar is assembled like a regular notched collar, which is a bit fiddly - I'm wondering whether it would work to just sandwich the completed collar between the jacket and facing and sew in one pass. Other than that, I think this jacket is easier to sew than it looks (zipper issues aside) and of course the collarless View A would be simpler still.



I think denim is a neutral that works with just about anything - except more denim although that's just my opinion, I know it was a thing recently.  I also think this fitted style will work styled in lots of ways, say as a casual topper thrown over a dress to a smarter look over a pencil skirt.  I think I prefer it slightly unzipped than how the model is wearing it, but it's always good to have options.

BurdaStyle 12/2015 - 110A Dress

It feels like ages since I made a dress from BurdaStyle, there was a time when I made almost nothing else.  I really liked the lines on this dress, although I'm not sure how often I will have the occasion to wear it, long sleeve season is pretty short here and this dress is quite formal.

http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/34-sleeve-dress-122015

I cut a 38 grading out to a 40 below the waist and made a few adjustments during construction:

• This was the tall pattern, designed for heights of 5'9 rather than 5'6.  I shortened the dress by around 4 inches so that it was knee length on me.  I'm sure the pattern is drafted with extra length in the torso too, but I didn't find it necessary to alter anywhere other than the hem.

• I found the sleeves to be really narrow so I had to recut them in a bigger size which of course gave me all kinds of problems setting in the sleeve.  There is a dart at the top of the sleeve which is supposed to be sewn at the same time as the shoulder seam, but I found it much easier to get the sleeve in by stitching the dart first and then setting it in the standard way.  It doesn't look as smooth done this way, but I'm treating it as a design feature!

• I ditched the neck facing and instead used a folded bias strip to finish the neckline.  I topstitched the neckline to secure the bias strip and narrow hemmed the skirt and sleeves.  I find some fabrics are impossible to hem invisibly and I'd rather have neat machine stitching showing than my imperfect (not) invisible hand stitching.

The pleats in the skirt are held in place by a piece of lining that acts as a stay, it's a really nice feature.

The fabric I used is a navy drapy dress fabric, probably a poly crepe.  It has a nice weight and drape, but is not easy to press well.  The magazine sample uses a jersey for the short version and a stretch crepe for the maxi version although the fabric recommendations are "dress fabrics with or without elastane".  Some stretch would have probably avoided my tight sleeve issue, but otherwise it's true that stretch is optional.

Taking photos of navy clothing is as tricky as black, but hopefully you get the idea.  It's a cute dress, I just need to find somewhere to wear it!