This post is mostly to document some recent projects I’ve made using my much-beloved Burda 09/2006 #114 wrap dress pattern. I now have a total of eight in my wardrobe! Since this dress requires a minimum of three yards of 60″ fabric I’ve also freed up some stash storage space.
Previous versions: gray silk jersey, complete with shoulder epaulettes and pocket flaps and black silk jersey floral print.
For most of the dresses I skipped the flaps and epaulettes (along with the sleeve tabs). I feel like they are more timeless with just a collar. I used the medium Pro-Sheer Elegance interfacing for the upper collar and lightweight Pro-Sheer Elegance for the under collar and neck facing. For the silk jersey and matte viscose jersey dresses I sewed in hanging loops made from 3/16″ cotton twill tape to the underarms. (ITY doesn’t wrinkle so I didn’t bother for either of those dresses.)
I found that construction went faster and I seemed less tired after they were done when I went about things like an assembly line vs completing one dress at a time start to finish. I cut out the dresses over the span of two days (cutting takes about 30 minutes per dress). Then I spent another day doing the fusing and serger work, which takes around 20-30 minutes and consistes of finishing the edge of the neck facings and sewing/pressing the long edges of the tie belt pieces. I then focused on sewing the rest of the dress (around two hours and 15 minutes per dress), excluding hemming. I then set up my coverstitch machine and hemmed all the sleeves and skirt hems over the span of the next few days. Between pressing up the hems and actually sewing them on the coverstitch machine takes around 15 minutes.
This eggplant dress was made from a silk jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. I bought it four years ago! Wide width silk jerseys that are both reasonably priced and in colors I like can be difficult to find, so when I come across one I like I buy it and stash it.
This red dress was made from a crimson ITY knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. 
Ann’s description of it being a “rich deep color that will look great against so many skin tones” is so accurate! I dislike buying red fabrics online because so many of them have overly warm or orange undertones, which look hideous against my cool toned complexion. This one is one of the most neutral red fabrics I’ve come across. As you might have noticed in the photo I like to wear it with lots of gold toned jewelry.
The black dress is also an ITY from Gorgeous Fabrics.
It is just like the crimson ITY in both weight and behavior (great drape without being clingy and presses well). This is my go-to little black dress. (And yes, I always wear it with those heels!)
I am not the biggest fan in the world of polyester, but I wanted to add some dresses in my wardrobe that I could just throw into the washing machine and put on in the morning without having to worry about pressing. This ITY knits have the advantage of being more durable, resistant to shrinkage, and colorfast than silk jersey. I’m really impressed with them – they have a nice, heavy drape and don’t seem to be as bad with static cling as other ITYs I’ve come across. Highly recommend!
This navy dress was made from a matte viscose jersey, also from Gorgeous Fabrics.
Like my ITY fabrics it was a more recent purchase. I’m not entirely thrilled with how this one came out. I machine washed and dried it, and somehow it grew after cutting. Just before I hemmed it I washed it on hot and machine dried it on high, and it seemed like it helped shrink it down a little, but it is still a little too big. Not sure if I’m going to keep this one or not…
This black dress was made from a wool sweater knit I purchased from Fabric Mart’s “Julie’s Picks” swatch club more than four years ago. For this one I included the front pocket flaps and shoulder epaulettes. I also made the sleeves full length.
It is a medium weight sweater knit. I would describe the weight as being comparable to a thick cotton interlock.
I made this dress sometime last winter but just got around to photographing it now. I’m mostly including it in this post so you can see how the dress looks when made up in a fabric like this. Unfortunately it is too warm to wear to work (my current office is 72—77°F most days during the winter). In addition to the drape being rather meh (which I anticipated) the fabric also attracts pet hair like a magnet! Always good to have a warm semi-casual dress at hand though, so I’m going to keep it just in case.
