Burda Style For people who sew

Description

I made this maxi-gown for my friend Holly out of the most luscious silk chiffon. It’s entirely lined in black silk satin (charmeuse), so it’s really lightweight and flowing and beautiful as it moves. She gave birth early, so it’s also good that the design isn’t obviously “maternity” and should work well for the next few months, too.

It was my first experience sewing silk chiffon, and I was expecting it to be a PITA, but it was surprisingly well behaved. The narrow hem edges on all five drape pieces took a while, but it took a crease nicely and didn’t shift which sewing. Even the invisible zipper in back was easy to install since I cut the Centre Back pieces on the selvedge to avoid fraying. I treated the lining and chiffon as one at the zipper (since the chiffon didn’t seem stable enough to support the zip on its own) and then completed the centre back seams separately further down.

See loads more photos plus more info about this dress over at FehrTrade.com!

Material Notes

Dark purple silk chiffon from Ditto Fabrics for this dress, and black silk satin (charmeuse) for the lining, which means it just flows and drapes like an ethereal dream.

Difficulty

Advanced

Categories

Season

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

For

Maternity

Garment Type

Dress

Style

Bridal, Classic, Evening Wear, Romantic

Material

Chiffon, Silk

Credits

Pattern

Burda magazine 08/2008 #125