The Flowery Skirt

A jacket, a T-shirt and a dress

UFO

Finally the yellow jacket! Done halfway. I redrafted the pattern with all the adjustments and it looks fine. Right now it's drying on the rack because I made a mess while ironing. Turns out this fabric doesn't like to be ironed. It's another heavy knit I got from Grandma. I had to soak the jacket to let the fabric shrink back into its original shape.

Muslin

Burda 8/2007-105. Nice pattern, bad fabric choice. Not wearable. No stretch in it. Old pajamas and boyfriend T-shirts should not to be reused for snug garments. Anyway, the pattern needs adjustments so it's not a big waste. Not to mention the plunging neckline...

Sunday market find

A nightgown that will be turned into a shorter dress. It's too big, the bias tape has to be replaced 'cause it's worn out, but the fabric, a light cotton, is perfect. And I love the flowers!

 

Have a nice and creative day!

Dress Burda muslin

For the first time ever I'm attempting to make a "tall" Burda design. Cut a size 80.

I'm amazed how good it fits. But I want it to fit perfectly. So I can use it to alter the "normal" patterns. Not much to ask, right?

( Don't I look like a milkmaid? :-))

The following pictures point out some problems with the pattern and I'd love if someone could help me to resolve them.

1. Gaping front - might be an ironing problem? Did I pull too much? Is it because the facing wasn't reinforced? Bust needs more space?

2. Midriff - hitting my hipbone? Should it be shortened? Doesn't look like pulling.

 

3. Sleeve - too tight

4. Armscye - should be opened a bit

5. Creases at the waist - due to what? The back pulls down? Needs a swayback alteration?

Again, the same creases at the waist. How to get rid of them? Swayback alteration needed?

 

6. Length - long or mid knee? Shorter, right?

Would you make this dress in silk? I happen to have a crazy colored silk in my stash... Or is it more appropriate to use a crispier fabric, because of the facings and pleats and overall design?

Help, ideas, suggestions needed! And will be greatly appreciated. :-))

Dress Burda 2/2009-119

As I said yesterday, I didn't want to waste the fabric even though the goal was making a muslin for the top version of this pattern (model 118). So I made the dress Burda 2/2009-119. I'm glad I did!

 

 

Side note: The 2/2009 issue of Burda is full of great patterns. I don't understand what happened to them lately. I'm so disappointed. I certainly am not buying the magazine for only one pattern I like. Especially if it can be found in older issues or if it's easy to replicate. Any thoughts from you on this matter? Please, tell me I'm not the only disappointed one!

Pants Burda 1/2006-108 - WR

The pattern:

 

The fabric:

 

I used the yellow side of this old duvet cover.

The intention was making a muslin. Wearable, if possible.

The pants in progress:

Front looks good.

Length ok. I added several cm to the pattern.

 

Took in the back some.

The pants finished:

Nice front.

The back obviously needs a flat bottom alteration. Now I know that should be made right away, directly on the pattern piece, whenever I plan to make trousers.

Should I add back pockets?

Details:

 

Wearable!

Jeans muslin Burda 12/98-121

Finally a new muslin!

I liked the picture but the muslin looks very different on me. Ugh, that's exactly the thing I should avoid - narrow legs. I get accented saddlebags in these. There is a lot to do to fix the pattern.

The pants were too short so I added e few centimeters. I should have done it proportionally across the whole leg. The result is the wrong placement of the knee. That should be changed, and olso the lower leg width. Maybe I should start adding width a bit above the knee to get a nicer line?

The back should be taken in a lot. Then, I don't know if to lower the front or add 1,5 cm to the back to even them before I add the waistband. What do you think? Also, the back pockets should be placed lower.

 

And, of course, there is the need for a flat bottom alteration.
I also cut another lounge pants muslin and think I'm going to sew that first.

Finally the second muslin

No creases in the front! Yay!

The only thing to do was taking in the center back a bit. Almost perfect! The length, too.

 

I'm cutting the fashion fabric now. I'm so behind with this project!

P.S

Take a look at the Month of Pants  blog . Those ladies are doing a great job. Would you join us?

Month of pants - No 1

The pattern is from Burda Easy fashion F/S 2009, flared pants model F.

I chose it because I find it casual and elegant at the same time, and flared because it's the best choice for my body type. 

I measured my jeans, the pattern and decided to trace size 38.

Boohoo, the muslin was too tight. Fortunately I added 2 cm to the sides so I was able to unpick the side seams and sew again at 1 cm.

 

This looks much better. Which means I have to trace the pattern again in size 40. See how the flare makes the legs look longer and slimmer?

 

 

I don't think I'm going to sew another muslin. This looks good enough to me. What do you think? Should I cut the good fabric or fine tune another muslin?

Oh, I forgot, this is the fabric I planned to use:

 

A cotton-wool blend from stash. The wrong side will be my right side because I like it much better and it goes great with my new flowery tops!