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Wednesday 19 February 2014

Burda Style Magazine 11/2012 - 138 Vintage Reproduction Dress

This was the popular vintage reproduction dress from the November 2012 issue of Burda magazine.


I don't usually read the instructions before delving into a project so it was good to read Melissa's review of this pattern which highlighted this little gem that Burda put right at the end.

"Burda’s instructions have you stitch these darts closed for the first 2cm, then baste closed for the rest of the length, then press. Then if you skip to the very last step in the instructions, they say to unpick all the basting stitches, but warn that if you ever want to launder it, you need to baste them all closed again (this time without any of the thread-traced guidelines!). W-t-f? Who in the history of NEVER would ever do that?"

Well quite!  Maybe when this pattern was originally produced people still did things like that.  Melissa handled this by carefully marking all the curved darts and leaving them sewn closed, you can read all about her fabulous dress here - Fehr Trade.  I have gone for the completely opposite and far lazier approach to not even sew them up in the first place - I just marked the ends with snips and folded the pleats in the fabric.



Once you've dispensed with that step this is a fairly quick and easy dress to sew up.  You can't really see in these photos but where the centre front bodice meets the skirt is more of a curve on my version rather than a point like the line drawing.  This was not planned I just merrily stitched it all together before realising it looked different!  My collar also flips out a bit, but at least it is doing it symmetrically, I should have used a stiffer interfacing.

Honestly I think this dress would be more successful on someone with a smaller bust than me as the pleats don't really stay where they are meant to (serves me right for not going with Melissa's stitched up approach!), but I am pretty happy with it and enjoying wearing this midi length.



I've used an aubergine (if I'm honest it's just purple by another name!) coloured doubleknit which has enough stretch to eliminate the zip although the recommended fabric for this pattern is jersey, I guess test trying it on and decide if you need a zip.  I also eliminated the back split, which I usually do if I can walk in it OK.


Savvysista commented recently whether my lack of lining in all these doubleknit dresses meant that they rode up and I really had to think about it because it's not something I had ever thought about or noticed.  Then I realised that I usually wear a half slip under knit dresses whatever the weather just to help smooth out lumps and bumps.



So much for my hopes of doing more interesting photoshoots!  I realise I must talk about the weather a lot (I'm English, it's in my genes) as Haramiya asked how I could stand the weather in the summer here.  Well I've lived here almost 13 years now with no plans to leave.  It's true that the summers can be pretty oppressive with high temperatures, humidity, monsoon rains and the odd typhoon, but I think you do adapt to the weather - physically, psychologically and practically - it's probably the same whatever climate you deal with.  If I travel to Europe now I generally find it freezing and too dry and I definitely find it easier to deal with Hong Kong summers than I would with US and UK winters.  That said if you come to visit avoid June - August and do drop me a line!

I'm currently having fun with my next project hammering studs into boucle, stay tuned.  Studs could very well replace doubleknit as my latest obsession.



29 comments:

  1. Thank you for your answer. I think it's great to be able to adapt to a different culture and climate. ;)
    Next time I visit, I'll try to arrive during a different season...and I will definitely ask you for advice on where to buy fabric. :D

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  2. Lovely dress Alison, the pleats look great :)

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  3. Great dress! This post just moved the pattern way up again on my list of things to sew.

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  4. I've had my eye on that pattern since the magazine came out - yours is another fabulous version! Seems like the pattern is a total winner (other than the crazy sauce instructions), and I should totally think about stitching up myself a version sometime.

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  5. Love your version of the dress. Looks like it's good with the pleats stitched or not stitched.

    As to aubergine and purple: the way I see it aubergine has far more red in it, making it a different color from purple. Who cares, both are beautiful colors.

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  6. When I saw this dress in the magazine, I didn't like it - it looked like that the model is either pregnant or the stomach area is little baggy.
    But your dress looks fantastic, nothing like this :-) Great work!

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  7. Another great dress, Alison! The style is so pretty with those pleats in the bodice. I agree the instructions were a bit crazy!
    Nice job!

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  8. This looks really great, I actually quite like the way the collar curves open instead of standing straight up.

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  9. I have also sewn this dress for my mom! :) It took me all day but it was worth it.
    Link: you can see my mom's dress here :)

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  10. I love this! The example dress made the model look preggers, so I was avoiding the pattern completely.

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  11. Oh, I made this one too! It's gorgeous. Like you, I never read instructions so I assumed that the darts have to be sewn shut. Which I did and I'm very pleased with esults.But I love your option for a more relaxed approach and the choice of fabric is perfect!

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  12. I love it however you sew the pleats. It looks great on you.

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  13. Great dress.

    I like sewing blogs that show the interiors of houses around the world. Travel books show plenty of outdoor sights, but I want to see how home interiors reflect locale and the personalities of their inhabitants.

    Augergine is a very specific type of purple. I believe it is meant to suggest a European eggplant. But I get my veges from a CSA (community supported agriculture farmer directly to consumer) run by a Japanese-American farmer. So he sends me Japanese egglants, which are so pretty that I delay cooking just to look at them. They taste pretty good, but the color.

    Oh, the colors. They shade from deep, deep purple to light, and then to white, yellow and green. Then you cut them and see the creamy insides. He also sends me purple cauliflower.
    http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/2013/05/me-made-may-13-themefriday.html

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  14. Oh, ha ha ha, my first thought was to wonder how you got the collar to flip out so nicely like that! Great dress on you, despite your reservations.

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  15. The dress looks BEAUTIFUL on you! This one goes straight to my wishlist!!

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  16. I love the collar like that too!! Great dress, nice job!

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  17. Love the dress - I would call it aubergine. :)

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  18. The dress is really gorgeous, it is quite simple yet elegant in a way. I think the fabric you use perfect but I wonder what it will look like if you had used a jersey fabric how about georgette fabric?

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  19. This pattern caught my eye the moment I saw it. Love your version and the colour is great on you.

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  20. I like it even better the way you sewed it. Very flattering.

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  21. How wonderful to see this dress! I have a version in teal wool crepe cut and waiting to be sewn. Thanks for the tip about the darts (even though I haven't read the instructions yet). I love this on you - it's such a nice silhouette.

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  22. I really like the look of this dress with the collar flipped out. I can't believe how such a little detail changes the look so much. It looks great on you. Aubergine is a so much more elegant color name than "eggplant"!

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  23. Another great dress! I have been enjoying sewing with knits - so quick to whip up a dress or top. Looking forwarded to seeing your studded boucle

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  24. I remember this pattern! Your version turned out so well -- the collar flip is cool and I like the ease of not having stitched-down darts along the front. I used to have the "riding up" problem when I wore a knit + tights -- a lot of people I know are obsessed with Spanx these days to address the issue (among other issues!). Looking forward to seeing the studs!

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  25. The blog is good enough, keep up writing such type of posts.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GR0ESK0

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  26. Love this dress. I've got two pieces of fabric in my stash waiting to be made up in this pattern. One a floral very similar to the 1956 original, & one a textured grey. I like your version with the loose pleats - I think it captures the design style better than the sewn down version.
    Any tips on lining? My attempts at sewing a fabric sold as knit lining were a dismal failure, but I don't want the dress to ride up. It is the main thing putting me off making up my fabric :-(

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  27. Hi Karey I can't reply to you directly so hopefully you will come back here and see my reply.

    I rarely line my knit dresses, instead I tend to wear a half slip in a silky stretch fabric (I get mine at good old Marks & Spencer, but I'm sure you can find something similar easily enough) which stops any underwear lines showing through and stops them riding up or sticking.

    I hope this helps, I think you should dive in and make the dresses!

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