Burda 06-2008-123 Neckband Tutorial

The directions for the neckband in BWOF for this top are a little confusing. I did it this way and figured it would be easier to show you with pictures instead of words. Angie.a. also wrote a little ditty about this but mine involves no handsewing.

1. This is after you have attached the shoulder trim and the yoke sections. At this point you should have front attached to interfaced front band and back attached to interfaced back band.
2. Attach the front band by sewing it to the interfaced front band, RST, at the neck edge. Do the same for the back.
3. Fold the bands together RST and sew the small section just until you get to the front. You can see in the picture below what I mean. This means you only sew 2-3" for the back and 4-5" on the front. (Up to this point, everything has been the same as Angie.a.'s tutorial)
4. Turn the front neckband right side out. Leave the back one inside out. See below.

5. Slide the front band inside the tube created by the back band.

6. Make sure the edges are even and then sew around in a circle like you are setting in a sleeve. The picture below makes it look like you sew all four layers together; DON'T. Excepting the seams, you should never sew more than two layers together at any point here.

7. Clip seam allowances and turn back neckband right side out. I would double check everything is in the right place before you clip the seam allowances.

Hope that helps.

I'm on Fire. . . .

This is #123 from the June 2008 BWOF. I was inspired by jemima bean and her version of this top. I even chose the same color of fabric. Mine is a little baggy at the shoulders, I should have measured the shoulder "holes". I still need to hem it. It is way long on the arms and at the hem. I am trying to decide where the best place is to hem it. If I unfold it, it goes below my butt. The sleeves go to 7/8 sleeve length. I graded it down to a 34 too. This is Juliette fabric from Fabric.com. I'll have to remember to stock up on this stuff. It is really soft. I just hope it doesn't pill with repeated washings.


I'm not sure it is a favorite but I like it for a summer top. There seems to be some bunching in my armpits but I think that might just be what you get with this type of sleeve. I've never made a dolman sleeve before.

Burda 11-2008-130 Safari Dress Full Review

Pattern Description:

From Burda: (They are talking about the coat/dress combo) The pockets are subdued, the tabs and self-fabric belt narrow and the collars delicate; no wonder this dress and coat outfit is particularly suitable for petite women! It's equally important for both garments to be appropriately shaped and knee-length to form such a figure-flattering duet!

From me: pleated dress with waist-shaping darts (6 in front and 4 in back), inverted box pleat at hem, and invisible zipper in the front.

Pattern Sizing:17-21. This is a petite pattern. I made an 18 because the measurements correspond. I'm 5'5" so am not technically a petite size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes and no. I thought I wanted a safari-type dress to go with my fabric and made several mock-ups with different colors of contrasting pockets, tabs, and collar. In the end I decided not to use any of the extra embellishments. The overall shape of the dress looks just like the picture but I left off all the "extras".

Were the instructions easy to follow?Yes, they were very nicely written and I understood them for once. Of course, it is a pretty easy pattern. It has three dots and I'm not sure why. Even if you added all the extras, nothing on it is hard. The tabs and belt are easy to do. Maybe they made it three dots because it takes more time to add all those extras?

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I really like how this turned out. I was apprehensive because this fabric was cute but I thought a little too cute, like Great-grandma Ethel cute. But, with this fitted dress, I really like it. I love the box pleat detail (from the inside, from the bottom). I love how they attach the facing to the sides of the pleat. I was worried when trying it on that the pleat would fall because it was so wide. Burda solved this by connecting the edges of the facing to it. The only thing I don't like is the back facing. I can never get those things to stay put and they always look like crap. Stupid facing.

Fabric Used:This is a twill cotton twill. It is thin enough to be nice for a hot day but not so thin you would have to line it. Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:Since this is a petite pattern, I wasn't sure how it would fit. I should have done a muslin but decided not to. It fits great though. I already do a shoulder to bust tuck on regular patterns so maybe my upper body is petite? I didn't un-petite this pattern by doing any alterations. The bust and waist are where they are supposed to be. I shortened the sleeves and made them cuffed. Would you sew it again?

Would you recommend it to others?I probably won't sew it again but you never know. It is cute.

Conclusion: Nice, simple dress pattern with nice fitted lines. That, and it's easy. The whole idea came about because of this review and this invisible zipper. Who can resist a baby blue invisible zipper?More pictures:Bodice, front, and back.

Burda 11-2008-130 Safari Dress

So it didn't turn out as safari-y as I had planned. I put on the khaki pockets and tabs but that just made it look like I had two patches on my chest screaming, "LOOK AT ME!" so I took them off. I liked it better without the tabs too. This kinda looks like a housedress doesn't it? I wore it all day today because it was actually hot (70!) and muggy out. I'm an Alaskan gal, I don't handle heat all that well. This fabric is a 100% cotton twill. It is pretty light and airy but thick enough I didn't have to line the dress.


I can't do an actual review right now because I just bought a new computer and am in the process of moving eveything over to the new one. Sheesh. That's a lot of work.


When I post the review, I'll give ya'll the low-down on the inverted box pleat because I think they did something really cool to stabilize it. But, it is hard to explain without pictures.

Burda - 011-2006-130 Safari Dress Detail Color

1. White batiste
2. Almond cotton sateen
3. Stretch twill. The back of this actually has flowers on it. I don't think they would ever show on this dress.
4. Brown stretch sateen
5. Dark brown embroidered stretch twill
   

My favorites right now are #2 or #3. #4 is not bad either. Hmmmm, more pondering.

Burda - 11-2006-130 Safari Dress

Instead of sewing practical things like pants and more t-shirt-y tops I thought I would sew this cute little dress. It is a petite so I'm not sure how that will change the fit. I will not do my shoulder to bust tuck seeing as there is probably less room in that area already. I have this cute turquoise flower print that I want to match with a brown and maybe a white. This is the line drawing with several possibilities. What do you think? I am thinking of making it short-sleeved. And I really have never had luck with a back facing pieces. I am planning to leave it out but not sure what to do about the front facings. They have to be there to finish off the zipper in the front. Hmmmmmm . . . tuck them into the shoulder seams? Use the back facing piece?? Sigh. They never work for me. They are always a dismal failure and stick up funny.

I was inspired by Blooms review at Pattern Review a few weeks ago. And then, a week ago I won this BWOF on eBay (along with two others -- woohooo!) and decided it was meant to be. I am planning on making the size 18 which corresponds to my measurements.

Whatcha think? I am leaning toward the short-sleeves with the white collar.

ETA: Thanks Melissa! She told me where to find the BWOF Workshops for making petite adjustments. I'll just do the opposite of what they did to un-petite it. It shows that on a bodice you would shorten the shoulder to bust height by 1cm and shorten the bust to hip area by 1cm. I will leave the shoulder to bust tuck but will compare the other one with another pattern. Thanks Melissa.

More on Fall Wardrobe

So I was checking out my favorite fabric store for inspiration and look at all the pretties I found:

All the fabrics have been linked so if you click on them it will take directly to the page over at Gorgeous Fabrics.
Swiss Dot Voile
Charcoal RPL
Jersey Knit
Tropical Pinstripe Wool
Wool Twill
Stretch Wool Twill
Jersey Knit
Jersey Knit
Silk Charmeuse!

I am a little bummed because I figured there would be a SWAP-type of thing over at PR for the fall but they only have a mini-wardrobe. I think I'll use that as a springboard to make my own SWAP type wardrobe for fall.