Those folks at Burda are sadists. They love to torture their most loyal fans. And maybe we Burdaphiles are masochists because we keep coming back for more. When I decided to make this dress, I thought the collar was the same
Burda collar I recently mastered and I was looking forward to sewing it again. But, Burda had a different idea. This collar construction was totally different from the typical Burda collar, yet equally frustrating. Lucky for me, Karen
figured it out first and I was able to learn from her frustration and avoid my own. Thanks, Karen!
If Karen hadn't figured out the collar first, I might have given up on
this dress. Just for fun, I compared Karen's instructions with Burda's. I couldn't make much
sense out of Burda's instructions even when I already knew what to do! I haven't
complained about Burda instructions in over a year, but this dress
brought back all the bad memories of my struggles with Burda's
instructions.
To me, this dress had a "vintage feel". It reminded me of the shirtwaist dresses worn by Eisenhower era TV moms, but more updated. I knew I would have to wear a belt with this dress, and I'm not particularly fond of wearing belts. I think a dark gray belt might look better than a black one. However, the woven fabric doesn't cling to my body and gives the illusion of a waist. That's the look I was hoping for. I used a lightweight twill - pobably a cotton/poly blend – and it worked out well. The dress was shown in denim. The twill has the same hand as a lightweight denim.
I tested one of my "great ideas" while sewing this dress. Burda uses numbers to identify seams. It wasn't really necessary for this dress, but this information is particularly useful when assembling panels in a skirt and the panels look almost identical when they are separated from the paper pattern. Rather than write the numbers on the fabric, I used removable color coding stickers. It turned out, this "great idea" was only a "good idea". The theory behind the idea was good, but the removable stickers didn't adhere to the fabric very well. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Your dress does have a nice vintage feel. Pretty!
ReplyDeleteVery cute dress, Elaray and you are right a very vintage feel. I like your idea of the sticker dots, would painters tape work? You could write the numbers on with a marker.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great dress, very flattering and gee you don't have to worry about matching with a dress. Sorry can't resist teasing you here. It's really lovely on you and fits to perfection. I'll have to go back and look at Karen's blog to see what the issues are.
ReplyDeleteOh, I use either painters tape or drafting dots. Those little colored dots tend to fall off as you've discovered, as did I!
ReplyDeleteSo, now that I read Karen's solution, which was after the fact, what did you do a the back neck edge?
ReplyDeleteReally cute dress, I love the color. It looks great on you.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great vintage feeling dress! I second the suggestion of painter's tape.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous. The fit is great and it loks wonderful on you. Good job!
ReplyDeleteYou look great in your dress.
ReplyDeleteI use the blue painters tape (3M Scotch brand)and it works great.
You can also use it on paper and it is easily removed with no tearing :))
What a beautiful color and yes, a vintage look. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that this dress looks REALLY good on you
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice shirt-dress. Shirtdresses never go out of style. You can wear that dress until it falls apart, and always look crisp and up to date.
ReplyDeleteWow, looked at all of your clothing and it's wonderful. I haven't sewn clothing in eons! I quilt mostly. Loved seeing your fur babies too! Mine supervise a lot!
ReplyDeleteThe dress is a classic. Love the color. It looks great on you.
ReplyDelete