Burda Style For people who sew

I fell for this Marc Jacobs embroidered silk from Mood months ago. I saved it in my list of must-get fabrics while I searched for the right pattern. I wanted the pattern to be playful for the sake of the dots, while also being serious enough to live up to the silk. Enter BurdaStyle’s Graphic Dress 09/2012 #113. I liked the carefree nature of the Peter Pan collar, as well as the design of the front facing that lent a tuxedo vibe to the dress. Add some of Mood’s rhinestone buttons, and you’ve got a great combination.

Overall, I’m incredibly happy with the outcome. The final dress is just as I imagined it. Cute enough to wear with leggings, but dressy enough that I could easily go from work to a night on the town without too much effort.



I just love how the rhinestone button at the very top sets off the Peter Pan collar. Another favorite little detail: the double rhinestones on the cuffs.



My least favorite part of the dress right now is the hem. I was hoping for the dress to have more of a feminized-husband’s-tuxedo-shirt thing going on. I actually hemmed the dress higher than the pattern suggested in the hopes that it would be a little bit shorter than the already pretty short version the BurdaStyle model is wearing. But, alas, she must be much taller than me. After looking at these photos, I think what I’m going to do is recut the hem to have the curved shape of a man’s shirt at the bottom. What do you think? Would that be a huge mistake, or would that help me achieve the look I was going for?



Another thing I want to do is make an ivory colored slip to wear underneath this dress and then pair it with some bright colored tights. I’m thinking I might make a pair of hot pink of tights (perhaps using the BurdaStyle Carol leggings pattern?) since I got a lot of compliments on the way to work this morning when this dress was peeking under my pink peacoat (read: my husband said he really liked the pink of my coat with the dress – but, that was all I needed to get my day started off well!).



This dress marks my first real effort to modify a pattern based on comparing my measurements to the flat pattern measurements, a technique I’ve been learning in Sandra Betzina’s Pant Fitting Techniques class on Craftsy. I figured this drapey pattern would be a good trial for translating what I’ve learned for pants into tops. I think I did a decent job taking the pattern in to better match my measurements, but I could have left myself a bit more ease across the shoulders and bust. I also could have made the cuffs just a smidgen bigger.

Also, thanks to the confidence I got from all of your comments on my blog last week, I followed my instincts instead of the directions for sewing in the collar (after removing 5/8" from the width so it better framed my long, skinny neck). It was nice to read that there are many different ways to sew in a collar and that you guys often break away from instructions as you see fit. Thanks for so much wonderful input! How I love the wonderful online sewing community.

See, the dress does look good paired with a bright color! Now, go make one yourself! Happy sewing!

This post can also be found on Mood Sewing Network. I used my MSN allowance towards the purchase of the fabric and buttons.

BurdaStyle member Amy (a.k.a. ahearta) lives in San Francisco and spends her days working as a scientist. She’s enthusiastic about sewing, and started her blog, Sew Well, to reflect on her efforts to sew well.