June Burda Magazine tunic blouse

At long last, I finally got around to having Tim to snap some pictures of the June Burda top that I made.

This is the kind of garment that I just luuurve.  My office is pretty casual, I work at a computer most of the day, so I wear it just like this both to work and on my days off.

Fabric
I used a cotton chambray that I bought from the Britex remnant table during their 2009 Black Friday sale when I was with my sewing BFFs Cindy and Leslie.  It's heavenly, like something you'd expect too see in a nice men's shirt.

Notes on construction/alterations
It's your standard woven shirt construction, nothing that'll surprise you.

Anthropologie Puckered Pocket Blouse, $98

The front bodice has both a pleat and gathers where it meets the front yoke.  The design is very similar to  the Anthropologie Puckered Pocket Blouse, which has a pleat at the front yoke and also has pleated sleeves (and, interestingly, no pocket mentioned in the online description).

You are supposed to cut 2 back pieces, stitch them together at the CB line and topstitch along that seam. This is a straight seam and I accidentally cut it on the fold.  I thought the back might look too plain, so I cut a 1" strip of my fashion fabric, tucked the raw edges under and topstitched it along what would have been the CB seam.  It's kinda straight.  Kinda.

Baby's in bed and mama's off to Trader Joe's

I guess I should also mention that the top 2 buttons are on the v-neck and not intended to be buttoned, I just included one of those.


Conclusion
Like I said, I love this shirt.  Before I made this, I was all set to make the dress version too (style 105).  Now I'm not so sure that'd I'd love it as a dress.  We'll see.

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I have several other new pieces to share with you. Swimwear(!) for me, and clothes for the kiddo. Stay tuned.

Burda/Blumarine wrap dress

The last thing I need in my wardrobe right now is an animal print wrap dress, but I just couldn’t help myself! I’ve already traced 2 patterns from the June 2011 issue of Burda magazine, which was exciting after nearly a year of issues that didn’t thrill me.

BurdaStyle magazine 6-2011-139

Photos from style.com

I am a sucker for a sewing pattern that has a designer’s name attached to it, and the Blumarine wrap dress in the latest issue of Burda was no exception. The dress is from the Spring/Summer 2011 collection, which is full of soft color and animal prints.

I was even more excited once I realized that I already had the nearly perfect fabric for this dress (I am on a mission to sew up my stash - which is taking up precious real estate in a huge dresser in my daughter’s room (AKA my former sewing room – sigh…)). In 2009, I bought an animal print jersey during my vacay in Italy . Bingo – animal print Italian fabric to go with the Italian label dress!

Fabric
Rayon/lycra jersey (I think) from Bassetti Tessuti in Rome, Italy.

Notes on construction/alterations
I made my pre-pregnancy size 38, but I could have probably benefitted from a 40 in the waist and the hips.  Even though I'm back to my pre-baby weight on the scale, my measurements aren't there yet, a fact about which I'm still in denial.  The line drawing and runway dresses appear much more loose and drapey in fit than my dress does.

The Burda magazine instructions do not call for any interfacing at all in this dress, but I decided to apply interfacing to one side of the collar and one side of the front band.  The jersey I used is super soft, so I used Sew Exciting's Pro-Sheer Elegance, it's a barely-there fusible interfacing and was perfect for this project.  I also fused bias tape to the shoulder seams to prevent them from stretching out.

If you decide to interface the collar, it's important to use something that leaves the collar very soft and malleable.  The collar and the front band are both stitched to the bodice along the same stitching line, and the collar needs to be able to fold back over the front band.

The bell sleeves are fun, the perfect long length (on me, at least) as drafted, but they do have a tendency to slide and bunch up around your elbows if you lift your hand up (i.e. while sipping a cocktail, as one very well might be doing when wearing a dress like this).  In fact, while I wore this dress, I was thinking about the thumbholes that Trena added to her ballerina wrap sweater...

Conclusion
We had a babysitter booked for Saturday night, and I finished this just in time to be my date-night dress.  The v-neck of my dress isn't as low as me as it appears in the runway garments (all a matter of how much you cinch the dress I think), but I still needed a U plunge bra in order to not have to worry about exposed undergarments.  If I were to make this again, I would add some length to the skirt, since I personally think this would look best on me if it hit right at the knee.  And, I would love to raid Tany 's jewelry box for the perfect bling to accessorize this!

First birthday dress

We celebrated L's first birthday recently and so of course the occasion called for a new dress. Well, two dresses - one for her professional pictures and another for her birthday party.  I had an idea in mind of a dress with a crossover bodice, but I couldn't find an existing pattern for one in my stash, so I did a little bit of redrafting.

I started with Burda Magazine 11-2007-136, which I chose because the fitted bodice and full skirt were a good starting point, then muslined it to check the fit, omitting the collar and shortening the sleeves and skirt.  After that I altered the pattern again to remove the puff sleeve gathers, raise the waistline, and make a crossover front bodice.  It sounds like a lot of work, but things go very fast when you're working with tiny pattern pieces.

This is the birthday party dress.  The fabric is a girly sweet cotton lawn from Denver Fabrics (also available in another colorway, if you're interested).

The leggings are Ottobre 1-2011-9, I'm going to make another pair of them and I'll talk about them more after that.

I made the same dress in white swiss dot for her professional photos.  The bloomers are Burda Magazine 7-2008-134 (also made them a while ago for my niece).

And I made the fabric flower belt and hair clip in a few different colors since I wasn't sure which color would look best with the photo backdrop.  That was a busy week.  But I love how the photos turned out.

Here are a few more photos from L's birthday party.  The party was totally for me, not for her.

One of L's friends gave her a set of butterfly wings, they were adorable but she kept taking them off.

Oma flew in for the party too.  We made fringe streamers using the tutorial from Oh Happy Day.  They were gorgeous and so easy.

Initially, she wouldn't dig into her cake, I had to give her a slice and she ate it as daintily as a one-year-old could.  It wasn't long before it was all over everything though.

We hung a fabric bunting in the entry way.  I found the fabrics at The Quilting Loft in Seattle and priority mailed them to my mom the week prior to her arrival because I knew I wouldn't have time to make it. I'm so lucky to have a mom that sews, too!  It made such a difference, too - really added to the fun party vibe.

We also hung a collage of pictures of L's first year (on the TV, which was the only good place for it); I totally swiped that idea from a birthday party we were at a few weeks ago.

Coming up - women's apparel! Yes, I actually sewed something for myself. I promise this blog hasn't gone totally baby.  I made a Tracy Reese/Vogue dress, I love it.

Burda maternity tunic

Burda Mag 8-2007-122

This is my most recent maternity garment that I've made, and it'll be my last. I still have several other tops and dresses to share with you here, but they are all in the laundry! Soon.

I remember falling in love with the style of this maternity pattern was first published in 2007, and promised myself that when I was pregnant, I'd definitely make this top. However, now that I've carrying a mini-watermelon of my own,  I noticed something I never noticed before - the "maternity" model is not pregnant!   Perhaps this shouldn't come as a suprise, considering Burda uses not-so-plus size models for their plus size clothes, and they'll use the same woman to model their regular and petite garments. But what really annoys me is that they could have made her appear more than 3 months pregnant by throwing a pregnancy pillow on her, easily found in an maternity store dressing room.  Without that, it makes it hard to imagine how this would look on someone with a real belly.

34 weeks

Since my last Burda maternity pattern in my regular Burda size was an oversize disaster, I decided to make this top one size smaller, a size 36.  Maybe not the best idea, since as you can see, the fit of my top is not nearly as drapey as on the "pregnant" model...

 

I'm not sure what the model is wearing for bust support under her top, but the v-neck is so low, you really do need to wear a top underneath to cover your bra.  I love me a deep v-neck and I'm not typically bothered by Burda's affinity for cleavage, but in real life, the only way to swing look this is to layer with a cami.

The purple fabric I used is a Vera Wang jersey, the same fabric I used for a cut-out shoulder Burda dress last summer.  The only alteration I did was to finish the back neck with a bias strip instead of a facing.

Like the Burda mag maternity t-shirt, the bust is slightly too big; if I were to make this top again, I'd pinch out about an inch of length from the upper from bust pieces, and add several inches of width to the lower front.

Only 6 more weeks to go!  So far I am still feeling pretty good, just moving around a bit slower than normal, which is actually a nice change of pace...

Study in empire crossover tops

Browsing through my BWOF back issues, I found this knit empire waist tee maternity pattern, 08-2005-123, that looked like the perfect piece to help get me through the next 3 months. Seeing this style, though, reminded of a Jalie pattern that I've had in my stash, yet to make.

Jalie 2804 just won a place in Pattern Review's top 10 patterns of 2009, and while it's not marketed specifically as a maternity top, it's said to be appropriate for that purpose too, and ever since I first saw these pics of Emilie during her pregnancy (check out pg 3 for top 2804 in a white sleeveless version), I mentally filed it away as a promising pregnancy pattern.

Since the two patterns are fairly similar, one designed as maternity wear, one winning accolades from seamstresses all over the internet, I decided to make both as a "compare and contrast" study, with the thought that I could take my favorite pieces/features of each top and morph them into one uber-fabulous pattern.

Fabric
100% cotton knit from Denver Fabrics.  For the "real thing", I would certainly use a knit with lycra for better recovery, but the 100% cotton worked for the test garments.

Size
Jalie 2804 - I cut an S based on my pre-pregnancy measurements. This is my first Jalie pattern so I figured I'd just start there.

BWOF 8-2005-123 - I cut a 38 since that's my regular BWOF size.

Both patterns were sewn entirely as directed per the pattern instructions and with no alterations. Anyway, take a look, I think the pictures speak for themselves...

 

 

Are you totally cringing at that BWOF top? I still am and it's been almost a week! It's AWFUL! The bust is waaaaay too big. Yes, the girls grow, but not that much. I would never fill in the top. And the loose bust makes the tight belly section look almost comical. I hate the way the top hangs down below the belly, as in the side view.  Talk about schlumpadinka...

Here's the Burda mag model photo.  It's a little more fitted and actually looks decent. Nothing like mine!  Maybe if I went down 2+ sizes?

Jalie, on the other hand, is golden in my book right now! I need to go up a size or two because, frankly, this top makes me feel slightly like a sausage in casing, but that I can deal with, especially once some lycra is added to the mix. Yup, new Jalie fan over here *waves hands*. Good thing too because I just bought their new cardigan, leggings, and the criss-cross top! The criss-cross top seems to have mixed reviews, but it's said to be good for nursing, and the pregnant model on the envelope looks good in hers so I'll see if I can make it work for me.

Needless to say, I won't be morphing these two patterns into one. I'm just going to work straight from the Jalie. I found this great blog post by Morzel that shows how to turn 2804 into a nursing top, so that's my eventual plan.

If it doesn't fit, make it in a knit

I realize I haven't done a good job of sharing my baby bump with you so far.  But rest assured, it's there and growing day by day, well beyond the "is she or isn't she?" stage, thank goodness.  It's definitely to the point that most of my regular clothes don't fit and my new requirement for tops and dresses is that they must be either knits and/or have an empire waist. Let the maternity sewing officially begin!

Burda magazine 2-2009-110

I have been coveting this BWOF pattern every since I saw Birgitte's fun silk charmeuse version. Even though it's not a maternity pattern, it has the necessary characteristics - an empire waist and a flowy, roomy area below the bust.

I flat-measured the waist on the pattern and found it would have plenty of room and then some, so I went ahead and cut the top in a purple silk/cotton woven shirting (I've mentioned before this is one of my favorite fabrics ever, it's available here at Fabric.com and I've seen it at various indie fabric stores; I used it to make this purple dress and this green dress). I cut my regular, trustworthy, Burda size 38 and set to work. Here's the outcome:

I knew my bust had grown, I had to buy new bras after all, but it never dawned on me that I'd be playing for Team FBA now! Sigh... I did wear the top once, to my BurdaStyle sewing club get-together last weekend. The poor little buttons are just straining to keep the top closed; if I just button the bottom two and wear a cami underneath, it's still obvious, so I think that'll be the last time I can wear it until I have my post-pregnancy, post-nursing bust back.

Back view - love the shape

27 weeks

My only modification to this pattern was to gather the sleeve hems onto a narrow sleeve band, instead of finishing the sleeve hems with elastic in a casing, which I think tends to looks Becky Home Ec-y (that doesn't mean you won't ever see me use that finish, though!).

Still, I couldn't get the style out of my head, I really like it and I find the style to be flattering as maternity-wear. Lightbulb moment - make it in a knit! The bodice is close enough to fitting, a knit would easily accommodate the negative ease situation, and no FBA necessary!

I rifled through the stash and found some chocolate rayon/lycra jersey (same stuff I used to make Simplicity 2850). My modifications:

1) I cut the upper front bodice on the fold instead of in 2 pieces, and scooped out the neckline a bit. Not having to stitch up tiny bias button loops and a bias band finish for the neck were major timesavers!

2) I lined the bodice with black tissue knit, mainly to give it an easy neckline finish.

3) I borrowed an idea from Jazz Couture's gorgeous LMB tunics to finish the sleeve hem with a self-fabric drawstring in a casing. My drawstrings don't look quite as delicate as hers, next time I would sew them a bit more narrow.

4) Because of the stretchiness of the knit, I was able to omit the invisible zipper in the side seam.

I am so happy with the knit version of this pattern, and the best part is with all of my modifications, it's a pretty quick little garment to sew up.  I have plans to make another, in a dress length, and I think I'll change up the front pleat for a little variety.

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Next up, a comparison of a BWOF and a Jalie - both empire crossover knit tops, but two oh so different outcomes...

Carolina Herrera fabric meets Burda jacket

Burda magazine 9-2009-127

I finished this jacket during my recent sewing retreat, except for the last few buttons which I was just too tired to do then. This past weekend I added those, stitched in my label, and voila, it's done.

Fabric
As described before, the fabric is wool and organza by Carolina Herrera. The pattern calls for 1 and 5/8 yards of 60" fabric, but I purchased 2 yards so I could match the plaid at the seams, and I needed every inch of that 2 yards to successfully do that! The lining is Bemberg rayon. The interfacing is Pro-Weft fusible from Sew Exciting.

Notes on construction/alterations
I considered lengthening the sleeves on this jacket but in the end decided against it.  I actually don't own any 3/4 sleeve jackets yet so I figured I'd see what they're all about. 

This jacket pattern does not include pockets, and I forgot to add them.  Just something to consider for others who want to make this up.

I bagged the lining, using the instructions in Cecelia Podolak's Easy Guide to Sewing Jackets, like I usually do. I don't know what I would do without that book!

I briefly considered bound buttonholes but since my machine buttonhole sample turned out so nice, I went with those instead. 

Conclusion
I think this would be great in a solid color with a matching skirt to wear as a skirt suit, as suggested in the magazine. The shawl collar didn't turn out as large as I was expecting, perhaps it's because of how my thick fabric affects the turn of the cloth.  If I were to make this again (which I would most certainly consider), I might redraft the shawl collar to be a bit wider.

I don't think this is a jacket that I'll wear often, the fabric is a little too delicate for that, but with the right outfit and in the right weather conditions, it'll be just the thing.