Burda Style For people who sew

When I start a sewing project, it is usually stretched out over days, sometimes even weeks. I get so excited about a project and start it even when I know don’t have time to sit down and focus on it. I was just wondering how long it usally takes everyone to complete projects. Especially suits, I’m still working on a suit I started last summer.

Oct 9, 2009, 03.17 PM by sewmajesty

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20 Posts

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  Oct 9, 2009, 10.59 PMby katexxxxxx

  It depends on the size and the urgency! I did a wedding dress in 5 days recently, but still have a few projects dragging on for various reasons…

  Start to finish, a complex wedding dress takes between 50 and 90 hours of work, including drafting the pattern, fittings and toiles. But you can’t do it all in one week! At least, not usually!
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  Oct 10, 2009, 09.42 PMby sewmajesty

  Wow. That’s some fast stitching. I just drafted my first pants pattern and hopefully I can be done before Monday. But I am extremely slow at this, to think someone completed a wedding dress from start to finish in the time it usually takes for me to finish a shirt.
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  Oct 11, 2009, 08.48 PMby katexxxxxx

  I recently went to Germany to help a friend make her wedding dress. Pattern to almost complete dress in 5 working days. This wasn’t a particularly structured dress, but it does have a cute little jacket to go with it…
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  Oct 12, 2009, 04.10 AMby willozza

  I’m a beginner and it takes me forever to finish something. I envy people who can finish a garment in a few hours or 2 days. For example I am working on a men’s short sleeve collared shirt at the moment. So far, it has taken me about 4 hours to trace the pattern from Burda pattern, cut and mark the pattern pieces. Then it has taken me another 15 hours to sew the shirt. And this was a muslin to test the fit so I haven’t had to finish the seams etc.

  Now I have to start cutting out the pattern pieces for the real garment.
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  Oct 12, 2009, 05.32 AMby kaitui-kiwi

  I get a little sad when a garment is almost finished becasue I enjoy the journey. It takes me a little bit of sewing each day sometimes over 2 weeks to complete a project, sometimes I have 2 on the go at once. I just enjoy the fun on piecing it together and seeing it “grow”. However I do know what you mean, some sewers seems to just churn out the pieces and I do envy them, there a several patterns on my to do list and to get through them is going to take me soooo long :) My current goal is to make my everyday wardrobe (that is for work and play) at least 80% my own, (no more clothes shopping for me, now it’s fabric shopping!) it’s a big goal for me, but it is fun to decide which piece is next on the list and remembering to add in some basic “neutral” pieces ot pull it all together.
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  Oct 12, 2009, 07.09 AMby victors

  We have a 2yr old who thinks everything he lays his eyes on is his and will not leave anything alone so I have to wait for husband to be in to get cracked on with things. I am attempting to make a coat but its dragging on forever, crazy working times for him =not much sewing for me. I hate having ‘almost done’ stuff lying about, if its lurking for too long I lose the impetus/desire to complete it, which is a huge waste!
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  Oct 12, 2009, 11.21 AMby katexxxxxx

  When my son was that age we had a baby gate between the living room and the kitchen, and I sewed in the dining area. He could see me and I couls see him, but he couldn’t get underfoot or into stuff he wasn’t supposed to.

  I learned a lot of speed sewing techniques at that point! ;)
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  Oct 13, 2009, 03.28 AMby oscarthegrouch108

  i almost always have multiple projects in various stages of completion. right now i have a near finished dress (just needs the zip), a finished tunic and another to cut out (paid project, waiting for both to be done), and a pair of work pants cut out (with nothing sewn)…….and those are just the projects that have gone the full creative circle for me (thinking, find the pattern, re-think, fiddle with the pattern, make a muslin (optional), cut the pattern, main sewing, mull it over some more, finish sewing). *note this cycle is just what i’ve observed myself doing with nearly every project. i really wish i could make up my mind easier

  with that said, actual cutting and sewing time i have churned out a dress in about a day and a half sewing at a comfortable pace with breaks and such. it really depends on the project and the motivation. if i’m in a good mood and motivated, pulling an all nighter is easy :)

  and now that Mr. Serger has decided that he likes me again, i can go even faster!
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  Oct 13, 2009, 10.15 AMby katexxxxxx

  75% of any project is planning and preparation. I count that as sewing time, along with fitting. It’s as much a part of the making as the physical sewing.

  I’m working on a dress right now:

  1hr design/drawing 2hr printing and tiling up the pattern and cutting it out 1hr trying the pattern on the dress dummy just to be sure… 1hr laying out the pattern and cutting it. 1hr sewing the major seams on the serger 1hr for the fiddly bits and the hems.

  7 hours work, and only 2 of actual sewing. This one will be posted off to the customer this week.
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  Oct 13, 2009, 10.03 PMby tsuyako

  I get 90% of the way done with any project and then stop. Don’t know why but I do. I have a very large UFO pile that I’vea actually finished recently!
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  Oct 13, 2009, 10.59 PMby Ami Taf

  I get that feeling too, sometimes I get bored with one project and rush through it even though i started out pretty excited. i chuck it aside and start on something else, then return with renewed vigor. the time it takes depends on what i’m doing. if it’s something i’ve never done before it’ll take longer, but once you’ve done it once, it’s a breeze subsequent times.

  i see myself as a multiple-projects-type person. the minute i can draft, cut and sew in my minds eye, it’s pretty much over for me. since i mostly make my own patterns, the challenge is in the design, everything else is to basically get it over and done with.
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  Oct 14, 2009, 03.37 AMby kiwistitcher

  I take ages to finish a project as it has to be perfect & will ofter unpick several times until it is just so. Even those supposed 2 hour projects can take me all day & I have a brand new modern machine & have been sewing for nearly 30 years. I always think sewing is a journey & while its great to finish – I enjoy just tinkering away
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  Oct 14, 2009, 10.59 AMby katexxxxxx

  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 2 HOUR DRESS! :P

  Honestly, like kiwistitcher, I’ve been sewing a LOOONG time (about 47 years in my case – but I started young! ;) ), and I’ve never managed to make a dress in 2 hours. Not when you factor in cutting and adjusting the pattern, pinning it and cutting the fabric, fitting the frock and then finishing it off. Closest I’ve got was making 3 dresses with the same pattern in three different fabrics for a lady. I stacked the fabric and cut all three at once with the rotary cutter, and set up both sergers, one in blue and one in lilac, and hammered all the main seams together in one morning. It took all afternoon to do the hems and finishings, and these were drop-on frocks with no zips. But I’d already made a toile and fitted it… That took another day’s worth of work, so 3 2hr frocks in two days.

  And if you have to wash and press the fabric first, add another day for that!

  I love the process as much as the finish, but my most favourite bit of all is that first exciting CUT into nice quality fabric.

  1 Reply

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    Nov 24, 2009, 07.54 PMby ichigogirl

    Yup, there IS such a thing as a 2 hour dress. My cowl-dresses take about an hour and a half all included, but I admit they’re VERY simple, AND it’s jersey = less work and less need for fitting.
    I’m not a very fast sewer…
    But normally a dress would take me the amount of time you mentioned earlier + an hour or two for mistakes… I’ve been working on a rather simple blouse for about 9 hours now…

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  Oct 14, 2009, 02.54 PMby ojglo1

  HELP! I have not finished sewing a dress in about 3 weeks! I’m a beginner and only just started sewing. When I’m not getting the right pattern, I usually lose confidence and stop sewing for a day or two. Please, I need advice on what to do.

  1 Reply

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    Oct 16, 2009, 12.35 AMby willozza

    I’m a begginer as well and sometimes it feels like you are going no-where. But like what KateXXXXXX, just keep on doing it and you’ll get it done.

    When I lose motivation, I come to websites like Burdastyle and check out what everyone has made. Then it’ll give me the motivation to finish because I want to wear things I have made myself.

    I’m a very slow sewer but I would like to think that it’s because I put in alot of effort the first time to sew it right so I don’t have to do lots of unpicking. Also, I tend to spend a bit of time at the ironing board pressing my stitches to give it that professional look. So that at the end, I am proud to wear my finished garments.

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  Oct 14, 2009, 03.34 PMby katexxxxxx

  Just keep at it. The only way forward is to keep practicing. I was also very slow when I started. :) You do get better at it as well as faster, but practice is the thing, as with any new sets of skills.
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  Oct 15, 2009, 11.41 AMby katexxxxxx

  The Fast Frock – and a jacket made in an afternoon! http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/fast-frocking
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  Nov 24, 2009, 01.09 PMby badkitty-1

  I always have a huge pile of UFOs :(

  Stuff for clients always comes first but I am forever doing samples or designing something just for fun or if I see a pattern that catches my eye (these are all corsets, I don’t sew much else these days and NOTHING is ever for me). I have about 3 corsets for clients, 2 samples for a shop and a whole load of other ones on the go that I make to use up all the fabric that I buy compulsively. I sew in fits and starts and have been known to draft and make a corset in about 6 hours (it was for a photoshoot and they needed it for the next day). Most of the time I need a huge kick to get going and I am quite a perfectionist when I do. Seeing some of the prolific sewers on here though is quite motivational and definitely makes me want to sew more. Why can’t there be more sewing hours in the day? :)

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    Nov 24, 2009, 05.04 PMby wzrdreams

    I feel you. I have stacks of impulse fabric and drafted patterns lying around all over the place. I’m knitting for $$ right now so my personal time is way too limited. I have a pile of finishing I need to do and 2 projects cut, and 1 that actually sees my sewing machine (thread and tension are set…. I’m sticking to it as long as I’m motivated). I try to work on atleast 2 steps of a project per night… that keeps the flow going (slowly).

    My primary WIP is a green wool chawl collar jacket. This project taught me to always steam press wool (with interfacing if you are fusing it) BEFORE cutting…. steam pressing DOES shrink wool, so pre-shrinking isn’t just for washables.

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  Nov 25, 2009, 10.54 AMby molly85

  I must be the slowest of all the Burda group! Granted, I only get to do an hour or two each night, if at all. It still takes me ages to do anything – I am a beginner (and fussy!), so I have ended up re-doing parts of what I’m making. I could only stick to one project at a time though (although I have a bag of fabrics for future projects!)
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  Nov 28, 2009, 07.46 PMby gedwoods

  I find your comments very encouraging, KateXXXXXX. When I began sewing, I found projects typically took 50 to 70 hours to complete, which was very discouraging. Now my time is down to about 30 – 40 hours (although this includes drafting the pattern, since I work from basic slopers and not finished patterns), usually sprawled out across 3 weeks or so. I still feel this is long, but I guess if an experienced couturière such as yourself takes 50-60 hours on a complex wedding dress, then I’m not doing as badly as I thought! I find I do get bogged down in the final stages of a project, however – especially making adjustments and doing the final finishing. Sometimes these steps take me months to complete (even though the actual time involved may be only a few hours)!

  I did manage to start and finish three outfits for a deadline event within a month of part time sewing, which is still my record to date. However, the outfits only needed to look good, they didn’t have to fit for everyday wear. Over my first year-and-a-half of sewing, I have worked on some 25 garments, but completed only 15 or so of these, so I’ve definitely got more room for improvement!
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  Nov 29, 2009, 02.35 AMby sweet-saboo

  projects for other people usually get the “midnight oil-plow through ‘em till they’re completed” approach, but projects for myself, well, i’ve just gotta be in the right frame of mind to design/redesign something and go through the process of fitting/ & re-fitting till it’s both comfortable and behaves properly when worn! that’s why sometimes it takes me a while to complete a project…just finished a couple of summer things that had been lingering in the UFO pile since last spring – had to make room for fall/winter projects….currently working on an overall skirt in a drapey deep grey gabardine, am applying a softly gathered full skirt about a handspan below the hipline…and hoping it doesn’t make me look like i should be assembling amish fireplace mantles….