Burda Style For people who sew

Description

My cushion-making partner in crime donated the baggy monstrosity to me and told me to do whatever I wanted with it – see the original dress in the last photo.

So I came up with something very different to a baggy, shapeless maternity dress. I started by unpicking it, then ironing each piece to flatten it out. Then I made a whole new dress out of it – a tiny, low-cut, fitted, halter dress. It’s completely different from the original dress, and not really something I would normally wear, but it’s good to try new things when sewing, right? The bodice pattern came from Style 1911, and was matched to my trusty pencil skirt pattern, with the high waistband removed. I also chopped four inches off the bottom of the skirt.

Since I’m not exactly ahem blessed in the bustal region, I decided to add some straps to hold it up and prevent an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. I had more than enough of the grey fabric to make up the new dress, but decided to add a bit of interest to it by using a tartan fabric for the midriff. The midriff piece was an offcut from another shapeless monstrosity – a 1980s maxi-length skirt I’d recently shortened.

The other adjustment I made – which can’t be seen in these pictures – is to add boning to the sides of the bodice (sewn into the lining) for more support. Yes, boning! My first time! It adds some structure to the top, and prevents it from slipping and sliding about too much.
Blogged about here

Material Notes

polyester fabric, wool, vintage zip, boning

Difficulty

Intermediate

Categories

Season

Fall

For

Women

Garment Type

Dress

Style

Evening Wear, Grunge, Preppy, Punk

Material

Polyester, Wool