Friday Freebie!
This is a FREE Gertie dress pattern published in Stitch Magazine and downloadable at sewdaily.com. It is tagged under Stitch with Style 2013. Just be warned, there are no directions! You have to buy the magazine to get those. Too bad this magazine isn’t distributed here. It will be like a directionless Marfy pattern!
My Burda Story
As I mentioned briefly, I am participating in the Burda Sew-a-Long with other ladies in the Southern Hemisphere courtesy of TheCuriousKiwi. Here is my “Burda Story.”
How did you discover Burda Magazine? The internet and Blogosphere way back in 2008.
What have you made from Burda Magazine?
This is my first and only Burda project I completed before moving to Brazil (not counting a downloadable Malissa variation I did before the English Burda merged with Burdastyle.com). It is 10-2008-114. After discovering Burda, I purchased 4 magazines through Ebay. This was the first one I purchased. I loved it, so I picked up a few more.
I ended up with 3 issues in English and one in French. For my second Burda project, I traced off a dress from the French 08/2008 issue, and had a huge flop due to the lack of directions. I wanted to wear it to chaperone prom.
This one was completed by Fehr Trade.
I love the bodice details! Anyway, after this second project failure and shelling out quite a bit on Ebay with shipping, I decided to stop buying the issues. I also did not have an effective trick for tracing off the patterns so I was using poster sized sheer vellum that I picked up from the local printer’s leftover bins. The paper was leftover from wedding invitations, so it was heavier and harder to work with than the drafting paper I use now.
I didn’t pick up another Burda until I found them on the newsstands here in Brazil. I left my few issues in storage, so all I have are Portuguese ones. What has been really fun is that they package old issues (mostly from 2010 and 2011) in sets of 2 for R$ 9.90 and the new issues are several months late for R$ 10.90. I am currently waiting for the February 2013 issue. I’ve collected 12 issues in the past 8 months, though I’ve missed a few and skipped a few. I really didn’t feel like buying winter issues when I was sweating buckets. Now that its cold I am slightly regretting that decision, but I do have plenty of stuff to choose from in the issues I do have.
Do you have a favorite issue?
It is so hard to choose! I would say my favorite right now is 01/2012.
Lots of arrows! I love the funnel neck jacket and the ruffle neck cardigan. I love the two plus tunics and the two sexy black dresses. I love the wrap top that is in several places in this issue. And finally the sexy undergarments that just scream “new techniques to learn.” As of yet, I haven’t made one thing from this issue. Funny huh? I now feel I should plan something for the sew-a-long from here, but what?
Anyway, I still hate tracing off patterns from those ridiculous pattern sheets, but now that there are NO paper patterns available and they are all in these magazine formats, I choose Burda as my favorite of the magazines here. I think many Brazilians sew for special occasions so the sewing magazines reflect that with a lot of cute cocktail dresses. I like that Burda covers the spectrum from casual to work to dress up clothes. I also love that large community that has developed online and the availability of English directions from Burda Style.com.
Fun Fact: I am now wearing size 44 again, which is the same size I made the 10-2008-114 top in. How exciting!
And now I am confused…
Sometimes it just takes a hands on experience for the light bulb to turn on. Other times its just a head-scratcher. Remember my BS 03/2011 #137 muslin? I did nothing to the CB, cut on fold, and this is what it looked like.
Then for the Burdastyle Sew-A-Long, I cut the same pattern, in a dark purple knit. I added the Center Back Seam and made a Sway Back Adjustment as explained by the Slapdash Sewist. As she explained it, it made sense: fold out where your sway back is, and this throws off the grain below the adjustment causing it to drape around the curve and it shortens the CB length. This is what it looks like.
Don’t they look the freaking same?? The purple one has less “puddle” but now what? Fold out more? Do I just have a freakishly huge sway back? Nothing in my research suggested a different alteration for knit than woven fabric, but maybe its that?Any ideas ladies? I am stumped.
Anyway, here is the front of the tunic, which I do love this tunic and wanted to wear it with my new Laura leggings, but I have misplaced them already. Hard to believe right? I took 1/2″ ease at CF and 1/2″ when I added the CB seam so its a snugger fit overall, so it doesn’t slide down my shoulders this time. I also doubled the height of the neckband and only tacked it down at CB to conceal the seam leaving the raw edge loose for best draping effect. This is a great addition to my winter wardrobe and it took less than 3 hours to cut and sew. I like this pattern because it has “true” raglan sleeves aka has a shoulder shaping dart in the sleeve head and it is not a sack. I will make it again sometime, but I think I need some ease in the hips to get rid of the fit and flare look since that wasn’t in the pattern.
P.S. I really just want to have a whine fest about how hard fitting a stupid t-shirt is. Sigh…
Another StyleArc and some other things
Well I am truly a StyleArc convert. I whipped up the Laura leggings expecting a saggy baggy mess and got the best fitting pair of leggings I’ve ever made. I’m not going to take crotch pics in leggings, sorry. That’s just a little too personal.
The only change I made was to shorten them by 3″. I found the fit very similar to the RTW pairs. This grey knit was leftover from my infinity dress and I am so happy to have a winter clothing item! I want to lengthen the back crotch seam a smidge for the next pair, but compared to the McCalls 6173 that were completely unwearable as a muslin, I am super excited and hope the other two pant patterns fit well with minor adjustments. One little odd note, this pattern had 1/4″ seam allowances which was smaller than the Laura jacket. Not a problem, I’m just glad I caught that before a started sewing at 3/8″.
I ran off this fun backpack for my husband. I upcycled one of his old uniforms that are made in this heavy cotton twill. He’s used it every day since I made it, which makes me happy since he’s never worn the shirt I made him.
I made this tank out of the leftover bits of fabric from my husband’s shirt and B5493. I love that it matches the maxi skirt I made but seriously this top is NOT flattering. It is comfortable! My son has figured out posing, so almost every shot had him blocking the skirt.
And finally, a simple upcycled knit pencil skirt that was a Burdastyle Lydia tee post-pregnancy size. After seeing the first pictures, I like the top better with the belt. I also failed with the sway back adjustment. There are a ton of tutorials online, and the one I followed suggested curving the side seams in order to smooth the fabric around the back arch. FAIL! If I make this top again, I’m going to have to put in a center back seam and try a different technique for dealing with my sway back. I will also consider adding waist shaping and a side zip.
That catches me up to the end of April. I have just my jacket muslin and a skirt muslin in process and I’m ready to start my May Burdastyle Sew-A-Long. I’ll keep you posted!
Holy Cow Batman, those are some darts!
Also known as the front bust shaping darts in my wool jacket muslin. They took 6 steps to finish! Crazy. Here’s how they started.
Burda’s directions left me scratching my head, so I had to muddle through hands on. I took pictures of the second one just to show you. Luckily all my mistakes in the first one were fixable, so I didn’t have to cut another muslin front. First I had to cut between the horizontal lines.
Second, stitch the vertical portion of the dart, which I did in two passes (the second time). First I started at the center and stitched up to the point. Then stitched from the center down to get the bottom point accurately.
Third, cut away seam allowances and press.
Finally, stitch the horizontal seam of the dart. Clip into the angle and press open.
And that’s how you make a dart with a 90 degree turn in it! Here they are all basted up.
Now imagine doing all the with these un-illistrated Burda instructions:
“Cut the fronts along the center between the marked horizontal edges, up to 1 cm before the front dart line. Stitch the bust darts. Clip the seam allowance diagonally into the corner at bottom end of dart. Trim dart allowances to 1 cm wide and press open, pressing points of darts flat. Then stitch horizontal edges of fronts together, right sides facing. Press seam allowances open.” from BurdaStyle English directions online.
Personally, I am a hands on learner and the block of text I found confusing until I broke it down and did it myself on the toile. I know we are all supposed to read through the entire pattern to understand everything before we start, but when its complicated, I don’t find that very helpful. Either way, this was a fun challenge and I’m glad I did it, though this could explain why this lovely jacket has so few downloads and no reviews that I could find online.
BF’13
Best Friend 2013 or BitchFest 2013-either way BF’13 is about being honest in comments about sewing projects. It all started with ReadyThreadSew’s post about honesty. So I made a badge. 
I would love if everything I made was perfect but I am not a Savile Row Tailor nor a Couture Dressmaker trained in Paris. I am learning and hope to someday get there. This blog is about my journey and I want to learn. If you see a spot where I can improve or have another way to handle a problem: share, comment, critique, etc. Feedback is the best way to learn!
If you want to foster this sort of reader relationship on your blog, grab the badge and help your readers know its a safe place for honest criticism!
My first Lace AND my first Couture project is finished!
Remember way back in February the Muslin with the side zip that wouldn’t pose? The result is all finished!
What a relief! I wanted to finish it up before our trip but I set it aside to clean the house since my Mother-in-Law was threatening to come back to Rio in our car. All I had left was the hand stitched hem and seam finishing on the side seam.
I am so happy my toile provided such a great fit (New Look 6515 OOP for the pattern info). This is an embroidered cotton eyelet and it is unlined! Oh LA LA! All those little white polka dots are my skin and a flesh-toned bra. In her couture course on Craftsy.com, Susan Khalji mentioned a lace jacket that someone was making and her flesh toned seam binding lace finishing technique.
Here’s a close up of the inside. Using a wide flesh colored bias seam binding, I covered as much of the S.A. as possible. I could have cut them a bit, but I was worried about stitching beyond the seam into the top itself, so I left it. This binding “erases” the fabric that would show through the holes, leaving you with this view on the right side. No promises that this is exactly what Susan meant since it was a comment she made, not a tutorial with pictures!
It is like magic! I loved this technique and I loved making this quasi-lace top. This is my first lace project and I know it will not be my last!
That being said, there are some wonky bits. I feel they all stem from one main problem: HEAT. I prewashed this fabric here in Brazil. The only hot water in my house is in a small tank for the shower. No hot water prewash in the laundry. I also have no clothes dryer (not a complaint). That meant that the first time this cute embroidered eyelet cotton felt steamy heat was under the iron, during construction. It rippled. The fabric shrank some and the embroidery did not. It is not too noticeable but it really irritates me since I did all the various couture steps, except underlining and lining of course. I finished and tweaked everything to make it as polished as possible and the one step I didn’t do was give the entire fabric a nice steamy press before laying out the pattern. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. Irritating, right?
Oh well, no one but the “trained eye” will notice. All my husband noticed, besides the “wow”, were the sleeves puffing up. He doesn’t like them and thinks I should switch them out for “something different or longer.” I feel like the material isn’t laying as well as I would like, but I have shoulders and he can just deal. I am not pulling it apart and potentially damaging something. Honestly, I kind of agree, but I thought it was the muslin fabric being heavy, rather than that my shoulders were more than the sleeve could accommodate.
Total Time: Started the end of January, worked around my “fast” projects, and finished today.
Overall, I love this top and the fact that I had a chance to test out Susan’s lace technique and practice some of the others from the course. I have a beautiful red cotton/silk satin that I want to make in this pattern as well so I’ll have another chance to get the sleeves right, if I don’t change it up a little. I really like Julia Bobbin’s Rose Sleeve.
