Thursday, May 1, 2014

Burda 05/2014 #106 Ruched Dress (Again!)

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I had to do it again. In another crazy print. This one is crazier than the last one.
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This is a great dress and it goes together super fast. I put this together in less than an hour. Although, remember it was already traced off because I made it last week too.
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Is this fabric not crazy? It’s again from my favorite place in National City! This one seems to make me look super curvy. I think it’s the bright white stripes.
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Oh look, here I am posing like a Burda model and hiding all the details!
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I thought I’d share my ITY coverstitch hemming trick with you guys. You know when your coverstitch machine is eating your knit fabric, or when it makes those annoying folds because it is pulling on the fabric? This seems to solve the problem. I cut my Sulky Water Soluble Stabilizer into strips about an inch wide. Then I just feed it under the foot when I’m hemming. It seems to give it enough body that it won’t pull and tug on your poor knit. I use this trick on most of my fine knits.
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Here’s what is looks like before I trim it off. Then I stick it in a bowl of hot water and it disappears. The coverstitching never skips, pulls, or breaks.
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If you follow Burda’s directions, they have you fold the cowl-neck first and then put on the arms which means you have this weird finish on the edges when they meet the cowl. I tried it another way. First, I finished the raglan-arm pieces and CB with a fold-over strip of self-fabric. Next, I sandwiched the cowl around the side fabric. I made one stitch on each side and voila, the seam is encased in the cowl and no weird seam between the cowl and the raglan-sleeves.
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I drew a diagram, but maybe it just makes it more confusing.
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Next up: a one-hour dress beginning to end.

12 comments:

The Material Lady said...

That looks even nicer than the first one - and I understand your cowl instructions just fine :)

Kathy Sews said...

Love this pattern... and the fabric is KILLER!!

raquel from jc said...

WoooHooo!!!! This version is the best! Love it, and thanks for the tips. I just finished with a dress for my daughter ( simplicity 2250 Cynthia Rowley- a nightmare but so pretty) and next is this dress.

Almeda said...

Lovely!!! Did you line your dress? Thanks.

Da99516 said...

Nope, it's just the knit fabric.

Kristy Chan said...

Very cool fabric, perfect for this pattern. Thanks for the tip on the cowl, I'm planning to make this dress when my issue finally arrives - there's always a better way than Burda!

kathyh said...

This dress is stunning on you.
Love the fabric .

Levone said...

Love this dress! Thanks for the tips as I'm planning to make the top soon.

Nancy Degnan said...

Thank you SO much for your diagram of how you did the cowl facing on this dress! Reading your description not only helped me see how to do it better than Burda, it helped me understand what Burda wanted me to do in the first place (darn their cryptic instructions). My dress turned out cute, but not near as cute as yours!

Da99516 said...

YAY! I'm always glad when I'm able to help somebody!!

Milca G. Sheney said...

LOVE how you finished the cowl, fantastic idea! :) I may have to get myself this pattern.

wardrobecrator said...

I've sewed this dress too! So grea model! And it looks so good on you!
And i made the cowl by the same way! It's really much more better and looks more profesional.