Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Finished: BSM 01-13-133B

When I was a child, shopping for a new Easter dress was an exciting event. My next door neighbor and I would show each other our new outfits. We couldn't wait to wear them to Sunday School and to see what the other girls were wearing.    When my daughter was a child, I shopped for fabric for her Easter dresses many weeks in advance.   It didn't matter that I made all of her dresses; making her Easter dress was special.

Burda Style Magazine 01-13-133
So perhaps it was a nostalgic longing that made me wake up last week and tell myself, "I'm gonna make me an Easter Dress!"  I didn't have time to shop for fabric, but I had a piece of tomato red crepe in the sewing room closet.  I searched through my Burda Index and found a suitable dress in the January 2013 issue.

The dress looks better in real life than it does in the photo below.  I used crepe which dressed up the design a little.  I like that the dress is fully lined with self fabric.  It made the crepe more substantial and the dress has an expensive feel.  I didn't have enough of the crepe on hand, so I had to make a trip to JoAnn's and try to match the color.  I didn't find a perfect match, but it was for the lining and no one sees it.

As usual, the slit in the front exposed way too much skin, so I raised it an inch and put a hook and eye in the middle of the slit to close it up a little.  If I make this dress again, I would also add some interfacing to the slit to give it a little more stability.  Another issue was the loose fit.  My top half is two sizes larger than my bottom half so the bottom half, beginning at the waist, has a very loose fit.  If I make this dress again, I'll blend down a size on the waist and skirt when tracing.

The dress fits more loosely than I expected. Making a muslin would have fixed that. In spite of the issues, I was happy with the results, primarily because I loved the fabric.  I had a new Easter dress and I felt like a little girl again.





And while we're on the subject … can I really tell how a dress is supposed to fit when the fashion photo looks like this?  Come on, Burda.  A little help please?


6 comments:

  1. I love your Easter dress. It looks beautiful on you.

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  2. Your dress looks much better than the magazine photo. This is great color for you.

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  3. Your dress is really pretty and looks good on you. Much, much better than the Burda Mag's version. Pretty red color.

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  4. Very pretty dress and it looks so good on you. The magazine photo doesn't give much information, does it?

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  5. Awwww...what a great story about the Easter dress and feeling like a little girl again! I think it looks great.

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  6. I'm so encouraged by how good you look in your beautiful dress. I've been looking at that pattern and wasn't sure how it would look on me, but it looks so nice on you I think I'll give it a try.

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