Sunday, January 4, 2009

Burda 12-2008 #121 Dress with Bias Bodice

Well, it's been long in the making. My sewing room has been in the 50s because of the cold weather outside. When it gets -20F outside nothing keeps my basement sanctuary warm. Right now it's -20F at the Airport and we are always 5 to 10 degrees colder than that. Brrrr. So the cold temperatures in my sewing room have kept me from spending long amounts of time in there. I can't sew with gloves on, I tried.

So, here she is . . . details follow each picture. Sorry the pictures are so big. Blogger used to change the picture size and then the picture would be the normal size when you clicked on it. Now it's not doing that anymore. Now they just show up the size that I save them. And, yes, I realize I could make them smaller but they you couldn't see the details.



Here it is with no belt. It has the same hip pleating that I liked on my LBD dress. It has a bodice cut on the bias and is fully lined. The cuffs are also cut on the bias.


With a belt (ends tucked in). I will probably wear this with the belt. I like the (new!) boots with it but probably not with the cranberry tights.


I like it with the ties out but am afraid it takes away from the hip tucks. A girl only needs so much there if you know what I mean.


Sleeves on the bias.


I think that from now on I have two alterations. Cidell talked about how she used the BWOF way of doing the alteration. I asked her about it and she directed me to the BurdaEnglish Yahoo group. I was already a member but I didn't know about all the files.


I love the fold-over flaps. They tend to flare up a bit so I'll probably invisibly stitch them down.


Isn't this dress better than this retro dress in the back? I totally need the swayback adjustment!


This was the only wonky thing I found about the dress. Well, okay, the second wonky thing I found. The inside of the bodice is lined with self-facing and lining fabric. Then you overlap the two pieces and sew that CF topstitching. How do you attach the inner lining and out fashion fabric while making everything look nice inside and out? I attached the skirt lining to the bodice lining as far as I could to the CF. The topstitching and overlap made it impossible sew it all the way across. The same goes for the outside fashion fabric. So, I have two little holes that I need to hand sew. I read BWOF directions and couldn't figure out what they did to make it look nice on the inside. Another option would be to treat the bodice lining and fashion fabric as one and sew it to the skirt portion (lining and fashion fabric) but I didn't want the seam to look like that inside.


I am excited that my seams mostly match. This glencheck is not a perfect square patter so there was really no way of matching the bodice unless I used the wrong side of the fabric and I wasn't going to do that.


Inside with lining showing. I used remnants for the lining and I didn't have enough of either color to do the whole thing. I rather like the effect though.




The "hole" created on the outside of the dress.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Great dress! Love the belt (both ways), and the fit is amazing! Sorry about the temps in your sewing space, why not relocate to another area of the house temporarily?

Anonymous said...

Dawn, Could you please post some more about Alaska? What region do you live in and how do you take the cold? Thanks Marie

snow said...

What a great job you did. It fit's you perfectly, and seams to match!Love it with or without the belt.The boots are pretty terrific too.
:O)

Christina said...

I like this soooo much! And the fit on you is really good.

cidell said...

Very, very adorable.

I have the same problem with blogger the last couple of days. I didn't check to see if you did this, but it's fine when you upload from your computer vs. a host site.

angie.a said...

Yup, this is fabulous. LOVE the glencheck, AND the belt. Is the belt part of the pattern? I like it both ways tho! Cute cute boots, btw.

kbenco said...

Very smart dress.

Anonymous said...

Looks fabulous..even like it with the cranberry hose!

Lena said...

Toll!
It fits perfectly your figure! You see so beautiful and feminine in this dress!

Alana said...

Looks great!

Dana said...

Another great looking dress! (I hope the heat works in your classroom - it's one of the reasons I'm not doing dresses this winter ;)

Shannon said...

That dress is exceptionally cute! Love it!

Little Hunting Creek said...

What a great dress, and it looks great on you. I like the two colors of lining - very cheerful. I complain that it is cold here in VA but clearly I do not know what cold is! My sewing room is cold too, but nowhere near 50!

teresa said...

This is beautiful on you. I think a belt made of the same fabric would look even better than the black. I love the shoulder seams too. Great job.

Myra said...

Nice pattern for you & in that fabric.

Rose said...

Lovely job! I like the way the design highlights the different directions of the fabric.

Tamara said...

The dress is very cute! I like the belt both ways.

I know what you mean about the cold! Yesterday morning at 9 it was -30 at my house (near the Campbell Science Center) and made it up -24 at about noon. As I am typing this using my mouse I am constantly sitting on my hands to warm them up because my computer is in front of a window (and it is supposed to be a good energy efficient double paned one). I wish it would warm up soon. As soon as it gets to zero I am going to get my dog out to the dog park. It will seem warm. :)

Lori said...

Great dress and the fit is fantastic.

Shelley's Garden said...

You did a beautiful job

Melissa said...

Bur, your room sounds dreadful! You need to get a dozen little space heaters!

Cute dress, it fits you beautifully.

Ruth said...

The dress is perfect, just perfect.

Alexandra said...

Great dress! You look fabulous in it. The belt makes a nice touch.

Vicki said...

Great job on the dress. Looks really cute on with the boots and belt. The lining is fun too.

Claudine said...

That's a beautifully made dress, and you look fabulous in it.

AllisonC said...

I love it, especially with the belt. I think Hong Kong is cold at the moment, not sure I would last long in Alaska!

2BSewing: said...

Dawn...The style/design of this dress was definitely made for you. Fits you perfectly and it's beautiful...Susan

Bunny said...

What a perfect little dress, Dawn! It looks wonderful on you!

I can so sympathize about the cold, having sewn in the basement in New Hampshire for 21 years. I used to sew with a coat on, a heater aimed at my feet, and another small heater up near my face! On rare occasions I would bring the machine upstairs, but then I would have to move it to eat. I feel your pain!

Amy Bailes said...

Dawn, you look great! This dress looks fabulous on you.

Tiger Feet said...

You have a real knack for spotting great patterns burdened by bad BWOF styling - this is so chic, but really doesn't look that way in the mag! Well done - love your lining too...

Gry said...

It is a really cute dress. You look great in it.